Divorce, American style: What if one mate says no?

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Wise insights.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

It is sad but also puzzling.

[k omalley]

It's sad, puzzling, and for lack of a better word, well it's bizarre. How can one write about marriage the way MacFarlane does and then do the very thing he was warning against a short time later?

[Mike Duke]

http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=17344

Check out the above link for a truly unbelivable irony. Written just one year ago and all about 'fasting' to 'love your wife even more than before'. I think you HAVE to come to the conclusion that this guy had weaknesses like the rest of us and wore a kind of spiritual make-up to cover up his blemishes. Maybe that is why he talked and wrote about marriage as much as he did, BECAUSE he had deep seated problems and the writing was a kind of therapy for him.

The devil can win one or two souls by attacking the likes of you and me, but by attacking someone like Macfarlane who has made himself a very public figure and dragging him into a scandalous situation he can affect the faith of thousands that saw Bud as a standard bearer for the faith. The devil is highly-intelligent and he is clearly going to direct his resources where they do the most damage.

If he doesn't pull himself together (and soon) not only does Bud lose his lovely wife and four lovely kids, he is going to lose his reputation, many of his friends, his extended family and presumeably a large part of his income. You have to wonder whether he might not be mentally ill. Could a sane person knowing all he knows about the TRUTH be willing to throw all that away?

[Mike Duke]

Corruptio Optimi Pessima, as they say in Latin

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

You have to wonder whether he might not be mentally ill. Could a sane person knowing all he knows about the TRUTH be willing to throw all that away?

Or perhaps under attack by a demon? The influences can be subtle, especially in the beginning.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Corruptio Optimi Pessima, as they say in Latin

Translate please, lol! I'm just a baby traditionalist :-)

[Mike Duke]

Try cutting and pasting the Latin phrase into the Google search engine and it will translate it for you. (Amazing stuff technology).


Here is a very astute article on the MacFarlane's problems for those concerned and confused by them.

http://exceptionalmarriages.com/weblog/BlogDetail.asp?ID=14145

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

*ahem*

"The corruption of the best is the worst of all."

:-)

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Here is a good quote from the above link.

"Stop confusing piety with a rightly ordered heart. The former flows from the latter, but the former does not necessarily prove the latter."

[k omalley]

"Could a sane person knowing all he knows about the TRUTH be willing to throw all that away?"

His apostolate will lose all credibility if it hasn't already. Yes, you do have to wonder if he is ill. I know of two cases where wonderful family men started to act totally out of character. Both of them turned out to have brain tumors. OTOH it could very well be an attack by Satan to bring down a ministry which helped people to live a holy lives.

[Siobhan]

The public image of a couple and the reality can be very different. There must be cooperation with grace. But this sounds as if there was cooperation with something demonic playing on very human fallen broken emotions.

That this makes no sense and stinks of the spirit of confusion should tell us all of how much the demon is enjoying this. I am raining on the Enemy's parade, by interceding for Bai and Bud -- for a miraculous reconciliation through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I will be making this a big part of my prayer time before Jesus in Adoration, and I will ask St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother for their intercessions.

Sometimes these kinds of things happen -- to call the Bride of Christ to PRAYER with a shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. After Johnette's Simon died in the car accident, I began to see a pattern of assault and attack on leadership lay leadership across the Church. Not like the scandals we've seen with the priests and the media that isn't merely random sorrowful events, sad failures of the human spirit. But there is something dark and sinister afoot.

In prayer it feels as if we need a St. Joan of Arc to rally us and to call us to arms spiritually. To PRAYER. To PRAYER. Perhaps you are hearing this call now to pray for divine protection and for the banishment of the spirit of confusion. It is a good time to turn again to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. For me it is a time to pray the Litany of the Holy Angels.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

In prayer it feels as if we need a St. Joan of Arc to rally us and to call us to arms spiritually. To PRAYER.

Absolutely! She is one of my favorites. May God grant us some very powerful saints for the dark times ahead.

[nina0113]

ping

[tiki]

Oh my goodness! I read the article and thought "Surely it isn't that Bud!" I will pray.

[nina0113]

Two letters from Bai Macfarlane's sister are posted here:

http://fonticulusfides.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to March 23. It also explains the name issue - she has never used her first name, and used it in this instance to try to preserve her family's privacy.

Steve and I are both shocked and sorry to read about this. When we first met, and he learned that I was signing up for RCIA that fall, he lent me Pierced by a Sword. I've read both the other books too, and have many of the Catholicity tapes. I've been signed up for the Catholicity e-mail message for years, and looked at some old ones last night - as of MAY, his son was making First Communion, and he wrote very movingly of telling him to offer it for his future wife. How could he have abandoned his own wife only three months later? I think he must need either an exorcist or a neurosurgeon (or Jimbo's Right Hook, for those who've read PBAS). All we can do is offer our prayers for the family.

[Mike Duke]

Importantly there is a letter from his wife Bai about the situation in the link above. Worth reading, so I am cutting and pasting below to save you the bother of searching the blog for it.

IMHO If he hasn't even told he wife why he is leaving her then the chances are he has probably got some kind of mental health issue or hormone induced mid-life crisis. He's 42 so the right age. His behaviour otherwise doesn't make ANY sense, whatsoever. That could well mean that, in time, when he seeks help and recovers he'll return to her cap in hand. I'd say your prayers here are likely to be answered so KEEP praying. I said an extra 5 decades this morning for them.

----

Dear friends of the Mary Foundation

I do not know the true reason for Bud's recent behavior. Of course I want an intact family for my children and myself and I pray and that Bud will eventually be inspired to discover the reasons he was unhappily married and work to solve our problems.

I also pray that his mysterious behavior will cause the minimum damage to those I love. As co-founder of the Mary Foundation, I always have loved the Mary Foundation because I love what it does. It disseminates high quality evangelical information to countless souls through the work of evangelizers who want to spread the good news, through audio recordings, cd's, books, and the internet. Besides asking for prayers for our marital situation, I ask that evangelizers continue using good Mary Foundation information as they had in the past.

Some people have suggested that the Mary Foundation shouldn't survive because of Bud's behavior.

But I wonder, who REALLY runs the Mary Foundation. Bud and I used to say it is MARY'S foundation; we are just instruments. If it is the devil's plan to destroy the good work of the Mary Foundation by somehow inspiring Bud to act so "contradictorily", then let the devil be tested. If God allows the Mary Foundation to 'go down' under these circumstances, He can raise up other works, but I hope all of your prayers will melt Bud's heart, and the Mary Foundation can continue to do good work.

Holding on to Hope, while fighting fear,

Bai Macfarlane

[Mike Duke]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3199035.stm

Suggests that creative types (artists, writers, musicians) are prone to mental health issues and Bud is nothing if not creative.

[Siobhan]

In the last couple of years, Bud lost an enormous amount of weight if I recall correctly -- at least that was my impression.

Having done this with one of my sons -----Our Bud needs a full endocrine work-up. We need to see what's up with everything from all testosterone levels to thyroid et cetera. He needs an MRI of the brain. A small stroke can cause this kind of change in behavior. And a good evaluation for depression et al.

And he needs some REAL CATHOLICS to step up to pray the ROSARY for him STAT every day.

[Siobhan]

"We need to see what's up" = just an expression ... I don't need to see a thing, but for Bud's sake and for Bai .... they need to look into this. So Bud if you are reading this thread. Go to a doctor and check these things out.

And go to Confession.