Happy Easter.

I could moan and bitch right now about being alone at Easter. About missing my family. And believe me, I do miss my family. It hurts.

But this morning. I forced myself to go to Mass. And during the Homily, I heard a message of Hope. It's the first Hope I've had in a long time. and I choose to share that with you instead.

Over the last few Sundays, I've gotten the impression that there was a miracle of Pentecost going on. The sermons have seemed specifically targeted to my circumstances. I don't know if the rest of the congregation heard the same Homily I did, or not. I didn't ask.

The message I heard today related to Good Friday, and Easter. You can't have an Easter Celebration without looking back to Good Friday, and Good Friday is meaningless, without Easter. And the theme of the Message (and I've been hearing variations on this theme all through Lent) is that God has something good in mind for me, too. I can't point to specifics, it's just the germ of an idea, that these bad times I have been going through are not the end. That there is something wonderful waiting for me at the end of this painful experience.

I have Faith. And I will freely admit that it's a weak Faith, but it's there, quietly refusing to stop knowing that God is here, in the midst of things, working things out for the good of His wayward child. I'll be honest, I don't know why, I gave up on me years ago.

Now I have Hope, that there is something good waiting for me, as this unfolds to it's ordained end. I don't know what it is, but it's enough for now. I have the hope of a whispered and half heard Promise. Just. Keep. Going.

And oddly enough, I have Love. There's the obvious, I love Progeny. But even after all that's happened, I still love my wife. She told me that she's happier, now, without me. So out of love for her, I will not deny her her happiness, even if it means my own pain. I miss them. Terribly. But love means looking towards the good of the beloved, even, sometimes, at your own expense.

She's told me she's filing for divorce. And that she doesn't trust me with joint custody of Progeny. She's told me she "might remarry me in the future, if she can learn to trust me again," which strikes me as trying to let me down easy. If divorcing me is what will make her happy, then so be it. I do intend to fight to stay in my little girl's life. I can't do otherwise.

I will freely admit that I may go back to "woe is me" tomorrow. For right now, in this moment, I'm going to cherish this gift of Hope my Lord has given me.

Regarding the Religious Freedom kerfuffle

It's summed up nicely in the first antiphon for Morning Prayer in my Breviary today(Wednesday of Holy Week, for future reference).

"Evil men said: Let us make the just man suffer, he sets himself against our way of life."

It is, quite simply, a war of mutually exclusive ideas.

Seriously, in this day and age, are you completely unable to get a cake made by someone else? You HAVE to force a Christian to go against their principles?

I get that their side and mine disagree. I even get that there are some Christians who would absolutely love to force gays to act straight.

Here's my solution. If it's not biblical, let me know.

God gave us Free Will. Some people abuse that Free Will by going against His Will, and do so knowingly. God freely respects that choice. I suggest we do the same.

This is not to say we can't be like John the Baptist warning people of the consequences of their decisions. Not condemning, mind, warning.  And for the love of all that's Holy, don't go full Westboro. Never go full Westboro. DO NOT BE HATEFUL. Witness to the Truth, in Love. Witnessing to the Truth in Love was how Jesus got the despised sinners, e.g. tax collectors and prostitutes, of His day to repent.

Thing is, just like John the Baptist, we risk, when we do so, losing our lives for the sake of the Truth. John called out Herod and his wife for incest. He lost his head for it. Jesus ticked of the Religious Authorities of his day who were more interested in secular power than in doing the Will of God, and got Crucified. This is what it means to be a Disciple of Christ. Your reward is not in this life. Remember that.

God has a sense of humor...

So today, I went to Confession. Because the hurt and hopelessness just got to be too much. Given what's going on in my life, and what day it is, I'm sure you understand why.

After being Absolved, I went to Mass. And these were the readings.

The Homily(Sermon for my Protestant Brethren) also seemed... directed.

I still hurt. But so did St. Dismas.

Remember me, when You come into Your Kingdom...

Please pray for a friend of mine

She had to make the most difficult decision any woman can. She recently found out she's pregnant, even though she had herself sterilized because of life threatening issues with her past pregnancies. She is the sole breadwinner in her home, her husband is disabled. She already has 2 little ones at home. She opted to have an abortion, otherwise her Doctor tells her she will die. She confided this to me today. She feels very ashamed.

I am Catholic. I have a moral objection to abortion. I can point to people like St. Gianna Molla, who heroically chose to die rather than abort her baby.

I did not do so. I did the only thing I knew to to do. I said, "I'll pray for you."

I could have chosen to take a hard moral stand, and did not. I hope I did the right thing in the eyes of my Lord. All I could think was "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." She chose to confide in me, seeking understanding, and I think, compassion. That had to be extremely difficult for her.

So please pray for my friend and for her unborn child.