He and his wife had married in their mid-twenties. Shortly after they married his wife began behaving oddly, and soon was diagnosed schizophrenic. After that she had good days, bad days, and terrible days. On her worst days she abused her husband. When this fellow was having an especially difficult time he would talk with me.
Some promises entail enormous sacrifice, nothing less than a cross.
Our Lord made a promise too. Our Lord made a promise to all humankind. The truth is, self-renunciation worthy of the name, anywhere in life, is never less than a cross. We should never pretend anything else. It is not a day in which we gloat over the superiority of some nations while despising the inferiority of others.