Elephant Graveyard

There is a powerful scene in the movie The Lion King where Simba and Nala wander off and find themselves lost in the Elephant Graveyard. The Elephant Graveyard is a very scary place, filled with the bones of many dead elephants and vicious animals. They are terrified as they try to find their way out of this […]

Few True Friends

Unfortunately, going through a divorce these days is a very public matter. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, Twitter, and email, it seems the entire world knows all the details of your personal life and trials. You can’t help but feel tried in the court of public opinion. As a result, the tendency is to try […]

Car Wreck

I often equate recovering from divorce to recovering from a near-fatal car accident. You emerge from divorce with your emotional well being on life support. Every day can bring an avalanche of pain. Relief can be nowhere in sight. Just as physical therapy is used to help mend a broken body, your faith can help […]

Hopeful News for Divorced Catholics

Read my remarks and insights in CNN's extensive coverage of Pope Francis's Exhortation "On Love in the Family"

I assumed that Friday, April 8, 2016, would start out like every other day that week. It was Spring Break and I had spent the week sharing some major quality time with my 6-year-old son while my wife was in Florida relaxing with some of our other kids. I was wrong. The pope had published his post-synodal apostolic […]

Got Your Back

With St. John Paul II’s canonization on Divine Mercy Sunday 2014, it is good to be reminded of what this amazing pope and saint said about divorced Catholics. He has our back! I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced and with solicitous care to make sure that they […]

A New Path

The face was pretty, yet the eyes held a deep sadness. I would guess that “Sandy” was in her late 30’s. She came to one of my workshops searching for answers. While she couldn’t quite seem to put the questions into words, her being there told the whole story. “I have been divorced about a […]

You Want The Truth?

“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Those were the famous words that Jack Nicholson delivered so passionately in the movie A Few Good Men. And he was right. Many people can’t handle the truth, especially when it sheds light on poor choices or brings on consequences. This is often the case when a […]

Dialed In

“Just a little more to the right. No, too far! Back to the left… Just a hair more… Almost… Wait… That’s it!” were the instructions I was barking at my brother one Spring morning when I was a kid. We had won a crystal radio kit the evening before at a Boy Scout meeting and […]

Love Never Fails

“My daughter wants nothing to do with me.” John said with a quiver in his voice and tears welling up in his eyes. John proceeded to tell me how his kids had become alienated from him because of his divorce. His phone calls went unanswered, and his texts were never returned. He was hurting, and […]