“I hope he rots in Hell!” the woman (let’s call her Marge) sitting in front of me said, her voice filled with bitterness. I sat and listened attentively for the next fifteen minutes as she described in vivid detail all the nasty things her ex did and all the pain he brought into her life. Listening […]
I remember when I was in the throes of my divorce, one of my co-workers said, “I know this is difficult. You deserve to be happy.” I thought, “Yea, she’s right. I do deserve to be happy!” Back then, I approached happiness like some kind of life achievement, like graduating from high school. I wanted to […]
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 mend a […]
As a kid, I can remember watching the old Frankenstein movie, starring Boris Karloff. The part where Frankenstein came to life and sat up with screams of “It’s alive!” from the mad scientist always scared my socks off. Not only was Frankenstein scary looking, his actually coming to life seemed very implausible. It was always […]
When (or if) to take off your wedding ring is an interesting question. There are many different perspectives, for sure. Here’s mine: I remember very well the words I said to my wife (and she to me) on our wedding: “Monica, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity.” A wedding […]
No matter how many divorced Catholics I talk to, I’m always filled with a sense of pain for them. I’ve been through a divorce and know how difficult it is. What hurts more are the Catholics that leave the Church after their divorce. I know the very thing they are searching for, peace and joy, […]
October 1, 2014 Dear His Holiness, Pope Francis; His Eminence, Walter Cardinal Kasper; The Synod of Bishops, and the Catholic Church at Large, I am a divorced Catholic. In fact, I have been divorced twice. I have also been annulled and remarried twice in the Church. I am in a sacramental marriage to Monica, a […]