Dear Fr. Ivo da C.Souza, The best of wishes for 2010 to you and yours.
I found your first post (directed at me) for 2010 very intriguing, and I thought that I'd respond to it. There are some bits with which I agree with you, some with which I have some queries, and I do have a question at the end - which might benefit from the proclaimed expertise. ICS[1] : Catholic priests and sisters may know much more than you about love, marriage and family problems... jc 1: I AGREE with you entirely, but only because, just about everyone I know - knows much more than I do about everything i.e. including love, marriage and family problems... == ICS[2] : marriage courses are given by priests throughout the country, as well as abroad. Young people are having excellent counsellors among Catholic priests and sisters. jc 2: I AGREE with you entirely. What I am not sure is the attendance. Is the attendance of these courses voluntary or is it mandatory for couples to attend these course IF they wish to get married in the church? Voluntary attendance would have given a possible clue as to how "excellent" these courses were/are. Would you disagree? == ICS[3] : Let the married person "sacrifice" his "girl-friend"... jc3: I do have a problem with that answer. But first, please allow me to restate my point (to which you made the above response) i.e. "I definitely would NOT know about a Married person having a girlfriend" I personally do not believe that women are pieces of furniture which can be discarded at will, or mere pieces of meat which can be 'sacrificed'. What if the woman was led to believe that the 'married man' was a bachelor" ....... Just sacrifice her? My advice would have been simple, albeit naive: As per Konfewcius: Married man have only One girl-friend. Her name is wife.. == Now ....a problem for which I will pick your counseling brains: Maggie (22) is married to John(23), a traveling salesman. They have 1 child. One day, the doctor telephones John and tells him that he has HIV and TB. Maggie overhears this conversation via the telephone extension. Later that night, John goes to the "taverna" to drown his concerns ....and returns feeling very jolly. He takes Maggie into confidence and tells her that he would like to have another child. Maggie telephones Fr Ivo and asks: a: Should I use the condom? b: Should I take the chance without the condom? c: Should I just drink carrot juice every day and hope that nothing bad happens to me? You know Father, if I do not "give in to his demands", John will throw me out of the house - He has become very hard-headed over the past 4 months. If he throws me out, what will I do for food and shelter for me and my child? I have no job nothing! OK ...one problem is enough for today sincerely jc