Unearned Luck

So much is being put out there in the Catholic blogosphere right now about how bad divorce is, the deleterious effects of divorce on children and that married Catholics should never consider divorce.  Most of this, though, seems to be written by young married Catholics who are much more committed to their faith and to the reality of marriage than many of their brothers and sisters in the faith to whom they are writing.  While what they are writing is not inconsistent with Catholic teaching, such columns are doing very little to address the problem of divorce among Catholics.  If anyone is truly interested in ending or greatly reducing divorce among Catholics, we need to start by telling people not to get married in the first place. Divorce is largely a product of a marriage that never should have happened in the first place.  In my own case and in the case of so many others with whom I have spoken, one or both of the parties involved was absolutely convinced that t...

Tom pulled the 1997 Buick Park Avenue into the driveway and pushed the button above his head to open the garage door.  As the door slowly responded to the pulling chain, he took his wife’s hand and gently squeezed it.  “I love you, Baby.” Doris wrapped her arms around his and squeezed tight laying her head against his shoulder.  “Oh, Honey, I didn’t know I could ever love anyone as much as I love you.  It’s been forty-seven years and you still make me giddy as a schoolgirl.” Tom laughed.  “Better than Oil of Olay, huh?” Doris smiled up at her husband.  “Yes, much, much better.”  She reached up and kissed him. When they stopped kissing, Tom sat and looked into his wife’s eyes.  “Honey, the door is open now.  How about we find a much more comfortable place for you to lose yourself in my eyes.”  She caressed his face. “Uh, yea.  This armrest is always in the way.”  He pulled the car into the garage h...