New Math

vfrese@divorcedcatholic.org — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 15:58:32 +0000

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 would come rushing back like a pack of ravenous wolves. What made it worse was the hopelessness that settled in when I resigned myself to believe that I would feel this way for the rest of my life.

If you could sum up my life as a math equation, here is what it would have looked like:

Hopelessness + Pain = Suffering

That was math I could definitely understand. I was living it everyday. Fortunately, Jesus taught me some new math. It looks like this:

Hopelessness + Pain + Jesus = New Life

You see, Jesus created a whole new equation for life. It was through His suffering and death on the cross that allowed for the resurrection. Without the cross, there is no resurrection, only suffering and death. With the cross, there is the resurrection and new life. A new life filled with hope, peace, and joy. His suffering meant my suffering could end. And so can yours. Give Jesus all of your suffering from the death of your marriage. Nail it to His cross. When you do, you will share in the new life of His resurrection; a life that frees you from pain and fills you with hope, peace, and joy.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. – 1 Peter 1:3

Originally posted 2014-10-10 06:00:56.

Scars

vfrese@divorcedcatholic.org — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 18:35:31 +0000

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 scars were a sign of new life. Without those scars, there would be no resurrection!

The same is true for you. New life is created by your scars–if you let them. Ignoring or denying the scars left by divorce makes all your pain and suffering in vain. Instead, acknowledge your scars by connecting your suffering with Christ’s. Doing so allows you to experience the power of His resurrection in a real and personal way. Your scars–and the suffering that created them–are now a powerful sign of how Christ’s resurrecting power created a new life filled with purpose and promise. Now that’s something to be proud of!

But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly. – 1 Peter 4:13

Originally posted 2014-10-03 06:00:41.

Vince FreseResurrection – Vince Frese

New Math

Scars