A Family Christmas

Dear Catholic New Media Friends and CatholicMom.com readers,

After preparing for Christ’s birth during these past four weeks of Advent, Christmas is finally here and our Lord Jesus Christ is born today. This is the time that many families gather and celebrate the true meaning of the Christmas season. As the secular society is all worn out and tired from the Christmas festivities, we know that the joy of Christmas begins today, December 25th.

For my family it has been hard to gather the past few years because about 3-4 years ago, a terrible event occurred: my mom divorced my dad.

Now I don't want to put the blame on one person and as is the case with many children of separated parents, it is a struggle that we have to suffer. I try not to let this stress me out, but it especially saddens me during this time of the year-- a time that brings joy and happiness to people across the world. It’s still hard to write or speak about this family struggle because even after a few years, it still saddens me. How could this happen?

As I pray, this has been on my mind. I still feel like there is a possibility that my parents could still get back together. But, seeing my mom happy with someone else and my dad now meeting someone else, I'm not sure if they are ever going to get back together. I do know that anything is possible with God if we just believe and that the power of prayer can go a long way. From my dad's viewpoint, when my mom left my dad got really hurt, as everyone in our family did in their own unique ways. As for my mom, she may have lost trust in the commitment. This brings tears because I visually recall my mom saying a while ago when she and my dad were still married that a divorce would never happen in our family. So then one asks oneself how could someone break a commitment.

Another thing I struggle with is that in the eyes of our Catholic Church, they are still married:. So then why is the faith commitment of marriage and the societal commitment of marriage two different commitments?

I pray that God will help us to deal with our struggles and to stand firm in prayer. Have a blessed Christmas season.

Take Care and God Bless,
Daniel