Divorce: what did Jesus have to say on the subject?

Dear friends,

A few weeks ago when Peregrinus had to take a break from preparing commentaries because of other work pressures, he suggested to me that we re-run in his absence a series we ran right back near the beginning of Catholica on Divorce. It was an excellent suggestion but because of the amount of other material coming in to publish I wasn't able to get around to it.

Peregrinus suggested one of the reason for re-running the series is that last time we ran it over four consecutive days and he felt that running it over four weeks might be better in giving time for readers to reflect on it more and encourage better discussion in the forum. I think that is true. I am increasingly noticing in Catholica that there is often a lag, sometimes of a few weeks or months even between when someone first raises an issue and when the good responses start appearing on the forum. Evidently the commentaries doe causes a lot of reflection and mulling and it can be sometime before respondents get to the point of expressing themselves on paper (or should we say "on the screen" these days?).

Besides Pere's suggestion I think there are two other excellent reasons for re-running this series. Firstly, Catholica has grown considerably since August last year and many of our new visitors and subscribers might have missed this little gem in the now mountain of information that is now available on our website.

Secondly, and I think this is perhaps the strongest reason for re-running this series over a long time span. Catholica is different to other internet initiatives. We are not some newspaper "dressed up" and presented in a new format "online". We are not trying to build some massive subscription base as most internet initiatives are seeking to do. What we're trying to do is "build a cyber community". The personal experiences of many of us who came together to get this initiative off the ground is that very often the times when people are most receptive to thinking about spiritual issues is when they come across some time of crisis in their lives. Obviously times of divorce and relationship breakdown are one of the major times when people might be searching the internet seeking assistance. At Catholica we are not trying to build up some "vast repository of official Church documents". What we want to build up is a repository of basically "ordinary, moderately intelligent people" talking in ordinary language about how they have handled these times of challenge in their lives. So, the principal reason why we are re-running Peregrinus' commentary on Divorce at this time is in an endeavour to try and ignite further discussion in our forum that, perhaps even many years down the track, some "lost soul" might come across doing a "Google search" and which provides them with "just the answer I need".

So, without further ado, could I recommend that is well-worth the time to re-read what Pere wrote back in August last year, or it's well-worth reading for the first time if you are a newer member of our community. We welcome your own reflections on your own personal experiences, or on what Pere has written in our forums. As this can be a sensitive issue, it is one of the occasions when some might like to make more use of our private forum. (The private forum is not searchable by Google or other search engines but nevertheless plays an important part in the overal facility we are endeavouring to provide here.). <Click HERE to read the First Part of Pere's Four Part Commentary on Divorce>

Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world,

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher