That Broken Thing

No wonder my generation thinks marriage is broken. No wonder we look at it and reject it out of court. The love of self has completely poisoned marriage and "till death do us part" now mean "until the feelings go away". When the man and woman (or even just one of them) seeks their own apparent good regardless of the other, the marriage is damned.

All I can see when I look at my parents' marriage is misery and pain. My mother thinks my father makes no effort to understand  her, and my father feels she hates everything he does; that he cannot make her happy. Were they wealthy, I have little doubt my mother would leave him.

How does it come to this? How, after more than thirty years, is it reduced to childish screeching and shouting? Why must it be this way? What went wrong?

Can it be made right?

I Am A Seminarian!

On 16 June, I received a letter from Reverend James A. Wehner, S.T.D., rector of Pontifical College Josephinum. I have been accepted! I depart for the seminary on 17 August to begin a two-year program of Pre-Theology, followed by a four-year Theology degree. In six years, by the grace of God and constant intercession of the saints, particularly the Blessed Mother, there shall be a joyful ordination to the diocesan priesthood. The path I began to follow five years is nearing its end - ordination as a priest; thereupon a new path will begin; serving Our Lord as a priest in his holy Church. This path is far less clear, and as my examining psychologist noted, there is no way of knowing just what will happen after I am ordained. Ordinarily, given my penchant for detail, order, and intricately-laid plans, this might worry me, but I have only to fulfill the next step: prepare for my August departure. I have a list of books I hope to read, a distance I hope to run, intimacy with my Lord, his Mother, and my guardian angel I hope to gain, and music I hope to learn. Added to this are letters I need to write and other, less important details. There is much to do.

Yet I am not overwhelmed. This is the most exciting part of my life, and truly, each day is better than the last, for Christ is new every morning, pouring his blessings out upon me anew. Surely David spoke for me when he said "my cup runneth over". In the face of my mounting duties, I am but transcendently happy.

Off to joyful, leisurely labor!