|
Office of Family Life Reaches
Many Areas of Family Matters While Rachel’s Vineyard is an important ministry offered by the Office of Family Life, (as demistrated in the story below) numerous programs through the Office are funded by your ADF dollars. Marriage preparation of various types are provided both on an Archdiocesan level and the parish. Marriage enrichment comes in the form of Worldwide Marriage Encounter as well as Refocus. For marriages in crisis, Retrouvaille offers an intense but effective chance to regain fading relationships. Beginning Experience strives to enable the divorced, separated and widowed to cope with their grief and come to terms with their pain. An annual seminar on how to provide grief ministry in parishes is also a function of the Office. Natural Family Planning is vital part of the mission as instructors aid couples in learning methods that are in line with Church teaching. Project Gabriel has given service to countless young women in crisis pregnancies. Its emphasis on parishes being directly involved with helping and supporting these women has been invaluable. A parenting workshop emphasizing Catholic values will be held this spring. It is important to note that many of the above mentioned programs are now being offered in Spanish as the challenges of the meeting the needs of the Hispanic population becomes paramount. In short, hundreds of families needs are being met by your contribution. Rachel’s Vineyard One of the Loving Seeds Planted by Office of Family Life As a young Catholic woman in the 1970’s, I made the tragic decision to have an abortion. I felt so badly about what I’d done that I quit going to Mass and turned away from God. My life quickly spiraled downward into what would become years of despair, addiction, and silent shame. Circumstances brought me to Oklahoma, where I began to hear the Gospel once again. I came to believe that God is a loving God, who loves the post-abortive woman, and is willing to forgive her for what she’s done. This marked the beginning of my healing journey from the pain of abortion. I entered into 12-step recovery for alcoholism where I began dealing with the issue of my abortion. I steadily continued on my journey of faith, which led me back to the Catholic Church after spending many years in the Protestant churches. My official homecoming to the Church took place one beautiful Saturday afternoon in the spring of 2002 when I decided to go to confession. The priest was loving and compassionate towards me. I left the cathedral that day with the very real sense that God loved me and had forgiven me of all my sins, including my abortion. This would seem to be the happy ending to my story except that I still found myself dealing with recurring feelings of guilt and shame, even after having experienced the forgiveness of God. I read a notice in the Sunday bulletin about an upcoming Rachel’s Vineyard retreat and it occurred to me then that perhaps I still needed to do more work on my healing from the aftermath of abortion. I decided to contact the Office of Family Life and was wonderfully surprised by the warmth, acceptance, and understanding that I found there. I decided to attend the retreat. What I found at the retreat was exactly what I needed, although I didn’t know it until I got there. I found people there that understood abortion and the effect that it has on a person’s life. I found people there that accepted me for who I was and genuinely wanted to help me deal with my pain so that I could get on with my life. I found people there that really cared. And I found a safe and loving place to grieve the loss of my child and to let go of my guilt and shame. That was several years ago. God continues to heal my life. I no longer bear the guilt and shame of abortion. I know that God loves me and has forgiven me, and He has given me the grace to forgive myself. It was this ability to forgive myself that was missing in my recovery from abortion. It was what I needed, and what I found, at my Rachel’s Vineyard retreat. - Anonymous |
