more from the discussion board.....

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  Its a good distinction to makethat the Catholic Church has never been against divorce for the sake of protecting life, or even for less dire reasons, but rather only against divorce for the sake of remarriage. Divorced Catholics ought to be in no way stigmatize, its only those who remarry that dishonor their sacred promise to love until death.
  
  Karen might be getting a restraining order and civil divorce, but she still must love her husband, even if she never sees him again, for the rest of her life. By abusing her, Karen't husband dishonored his sacred promise to love, and sinned, endangering his immortal soul as well as her happiness. Leaving him is, in fact, part of that love, because in doing so she is preventing him from sinning!

  last Thursday · Report
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  Ask A Catholic Priest We are made to love, even in the face of evil, even in the face of sin, even in the face of heartache and pain. Thats it. Our God who loves us made us to love. The world is what it is because people fail to love. What you have to ask your self is this: is the solution to respond by loving more or less?
  
  Love doesn't mean allowing yourself to get beat up, but it does mean never giving up on someone, even when they hurt you. Its scarey for us to even think about loving like this--thats why Jesus did it first for us from the Cross. The Cross is the standard of our Christian Faith!

  last Thursday · Report
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  Karen Yin Chuan Hau Father, I suppose that is the reason why I had endured all these years because I thought it was God's plan for me to teach him a new way and hope that in love he would change but instead of learning right from wrong, he became a monster always pushing the limit and knowing that I would still just stay.
  
  I agree that I will love him for the rest of my life as he is the father of my children and that only God's grace can help him as i certainly cannot.
  
  And to re-marry or not ? I think as a mother to three beautiful children I am very very wary of the other kind of monsters that lurk out there.
  
  FYI, my husband does not believe in God and we only had a civil marriage and not a church one. So technically speaking was i living in sin then ?? hahah
  
  Only God knows the answer . What say you Father ?

  last Thursday ·
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  Ask A Catholic Priest @ Karen--There can only be a Sacramental Marriage between Christians, so while you should have sought the Bishop's permission to marry your husband one way or the other you would not be bound to him by the indisolubility of the sacrament. This means you are free to marry (in the Church) all you need is to ask for a decree of nullity, which in your case is a formality.
  
  I think it is beautiful that you were trying to save his soul. You probably shouldn't have allowed him to abuse you for so long, but it was truly noble, if not morally necessary, for you to try to make it work for so long. You should still do all you can to love him by praying for him! Thank God for good gifts He gave you through your bad marriage: the strength you learned and for the beautiful children He gave you! And don't be afraid to love again! Just make sure you pray to God about what He wants for your future! God Bless you, I am keeping you and your children in prayer!

  on Friday · Report
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  Karen Yin Chuan Hau THank you Father ..but I am now in a happy place with my children and only hope to be the best mother I can be. Please pray that I am able to care and provide for them and that they will overcome this episode to have a normal happy childhood. I want them to be strong.