DECISIONS DECISIONS

One of the hardest decisions that I have made in my life happened when my husband and I were just courting.  I was a, should we say, a regular Catholic, a devout Novus Ordo Catholic.  My husband was a traditional Catholic.  From the limited encounters I had with the Catholics inclined to traditional practices (i.e., those before Vatican II), I concluded that most of them were too holier than thou and in my words, Pharisaical.  My husband-to-be then was quite different, however.  He was nicer than most and quite faithful.  There was only one problem for me - did he believe, like many in that Catholic circle did, that the Seat of Peter was vacant?  I could not be married to a husband who thought so.  I valued my Catholic Faith much and I did not want to be separated from it, a fact which  could happen if I married someone who did not accept the present Papacy.  This concern crept in my heart when, in an effort to explain some of my issues,  my husband-to-be referred me to a website that contained some vitriol about the Church and the Pope.  After some thought and prayer and a lot of tears, I decided that I would break off my relationship with my husband-to-be so that I could remain faithful to my Faith.  When I told him of my decision, he laughed out loud and explained to me that I just did precisely what he told me not to do - look at the nasty stuff in the website.  It was unfortunate that the place where he found the answers to my questions also contained bitter, if not downright mean, words against the people and institutions I loved.  But at least, that event clarified one thing for me - my prospective husband believed and accepted the Papacy.  My main concern was addressed and our relationship prospered and now, we have 4 children after almost 8 years of marriage.