The best way I can describe the suffering from my divorce is it was like a heavy weight strapped to my back, combined with a gnawing ache in the pit of my stomach. It was always there. The only relief I would get was when I slept. Unfortunately, the second my eyes opened, the pain […]
About a year after my divorce was final, I was invited to go on a spiritual retreat. During the retreat I heard a talk about the need to forgive those who have hurt you. Well, I could definitely relate to the being hurt part, but, frankly, the thought of forgiving my ex just made me angry. I […]
Mercy is experienced when God, who is love itself, loves us. It is a great form of love because it is given to us even though we don’t deserve it. We don’t need to do anything to earn God’s love. He pours it out to us freely. The greatest example of God’s mercy is when He […]
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 was recently at an arcade with my children when I encountered Sean, a young 12-year-old boy. He had approached my kids, who had nearly run out of money and tickets. They had been conspiring as to how to combine their ticket-earnings to redeem for a toy which would be pleasing to both when Sean […]
Going through my divorce was so painful. The life that I had built, the dreams I had, were now crumbling around my feet. The pain was overwhelming. I developed different ways to cope with this pain. Some of them were good, and some not. To find peace, I dove back into my long abandoned hobbies. That […]
“This is the third time this month you have been late picking up the kids. You are going to have to figure out a way to be more on time,” I said coldly. My former spouse just looked at me with a mixture of embarrassment and exhaustion. After the kids were gone and the house […]
“It had been more than fifteen years since I had been to confession.” Steve reluctantly revealed to the group during a Divorced Catholic session. He went on to tell us how he finally worked up the courage to get in line one day after Mass and go. It was a huge milestone for him. While […]
When the thought to move my kids to a totally new area of town after my divorce first entered my mind, I dismissed it as nonsense. I was a single parent, and I was up to my eyeballs in the day-to-day reality of raising three kids on my own and running a business. Plus, I […]
The stress and strain of divorce is so intense. The emotional pain is overwhelming. It is a battle just to get through the day. You can’t think straight. You walk around with an ache in the pit of your stomach. Often you are afraid of what the future will hold. You can’t imagine a day […]