I don’t think there has ever been a more public display of human suffering than the Passion of our Lord. His suffering was not limited to one particular place, witnessed by a few. His suffering was through the streets of Jerusalem with thousands witnessing the entire grueling ordeal. In the midst of that suffering, Simon […]
One day, I had taken my four-year-old to the park to play. He loves the swings, so he made a bee-line for them as soon as we got there. In his typical independent way, he wanted to learn how to “pump” his legs so he didn’t need me to push him anymore. The more he tried, […]
“Realizing I had no other choice, I lifted the dryer and turned it upside down and out dropped my cellphone,” Sara said as she described how she solved the dilemma of her cellphone falling down the dryer’s lint vent. This would be surprising enough if a burly football player-type had said it, but this was […]
Divorce always sounds like the word “divide” to me. I am no Latin expert, but my guess is they both have the same root word. Sadly, divorce is a time marked by division. Much of what you love and cherish has been lopped off. You tend to be consumed with fighting to keep what is […]
At a recent Recovering from Divorce session, we were discussing the always popular topic of dating and intimacy as a divorced Catholic. There is always a yearning for clarity from the participants on this highly charged, and often controversial, topic. I was presenting the Church’s teaching on chastity when one of the participants blurted out, […]
I often use the metaphor of a car crash to describe a divorce. Like a car crash, the people going through a divorce emerge very battered and bruised with the scars to show for it. Most people view scars as something bad, something to hide. But that is not how Jesus viewed His scars. His […]
The list was quite long. It was my friend Sam’s list of all the things he wanted to make sure he got done during the week. He was beginning to panic as he thought about getting everything done while juggling work, parenting, and life commitments. Being a single-parent meant he had to do much of […]
“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 […]
“If God really loves me, where is he now when I need him the most?” That was the thought that ran through my mind often during those first weeks and months when my divorce hit. Sure, I read over and over in the Gospels how God will never abandon me. How even the hairs on […]
After my divorce I was carrying a very heavy cross. Surprisingly, what made my cross so heavy was not the usual challenges of being a single parent, financial uncertainty, or dealing with a difficult ex. I certainly had my share of these challenges. What turned my cross from wood to lead was my difficulties with living […]