Reclaiming Our Children

Tale of a Tree

So, one of the things I hold dear to my heart during this season, is my "Mercy" tree. 

If you have ever been on one of the  Entering Canaan advent retreats, chances are you have seen  it.

My "Mercy" tree began as a "Troop" Tree.

I decided, the year my son was serving in Fallujah, that I wanted to remember him and all those serving in a special way, and so I made my   Troop tree.

The tree had the pictures of the guys in my son's unit...a reminder of the sacrifices of all who were serving and away from their families.

It was a tough Christmas as it always is for those whose loved ones are in harms way.

Mike came home safely, but many of his friends did not. We still live with the pain of those who have taken their own lives, were injured, or have never been able to reconcile the PTS of the experience.

After their service, I changed the tree into a "Mercy" tree. I replaced their photos with those of the Divine Mercy and displayed it for both those suffering PTSD as a result of war, and for the women and men  suffering from a past abortion.

Although it holds a place of prominence during the Advent/Christmas Season, it is something I keep out all year to remind me that the season of "Mercy" is always present to us, available through the life of Jesus.

This tree is a  reminder to  always trust in His love for us and to be grateful for the tremendous gift of His  forgiveness and healing mercy which is always there waiting for each one of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent

The Lord has done great things!

There is much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, especially my faith which urges me always closer to the heart of Jesus.

For sure I do not always feel thankful, especially in the midst of some suffering He may be sending me. Moving closer to His heart, many times, means suffering.  But, I know in spite of my feelings, I desire to do His will and also that He is working in my life in wonderful ways because I know He loves me.

God knows I have not always felt like that and on days when I am “whining,” I am sure those good friends who listen to me may find it hard to believe, but the truth is, though I fall and complain and frankly, at times resist, I know God knows I truly do love Him and want to do His will.

I am especially thankful this year for the gift of life in my beautiful granddaughter who brings me great joy. I am thankful for my family and God-given friends and the wonderful people I am blessed to work with, especially the priests. I am also thankful for suffering which causes me to grow in love, but most importantly, I am grateful for those who share their hearts with us. The women, the men, the siblings… all those who step out in trust of God’s healing mercy. You are truly a gift to be thankful for!

Yes, the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with Joy! Praise and thanks to God from whom all blessings flow, especially the blessing of His unfathomable mercy and forgiveness!

Blessed Thanksgiving !

Theresa

There is No Sin that God’s Mercy Cannot Reach - Including the Sin of Abortion

“He abandons no one, and always shows his tenderness and his boundless mercy — and therefore this is what we must bring to all people,” Pope Francis

“He abandons no one."  A comforting thought for many who have experienced abortion and who have been abandoned by those they love.  It is hard to put into words the deep seeded abyss of total abandonment by those you trusted and thought loved you.  Yet that is exactly what many women feel when they are pressured to end the life of their unborn child by abortion.

Whether it is a husband, boyfriend or parent, there is a deep need to trust that - in spite of giving in - things will be okay because you need to keep believing in their love. Sadly, often after the abortion, this is not the case. Relationships are damaged and end, and many are left with empty hearts and empty arms.

He always “shows His tenderness and boundless mercy."  He is there to provide, whether abortion is chosen or not.  The tragedy is, most women do not learn that until it is too late, but even after the terrible experience of abortion, He is there with His mercy waiting for and calling each one of us.

Whether abandoned by someone, or feeling abandoned by God, or any other reason that somehow made you chose abortion, forgiveness is waiting for you if you are contrite. Today, Pope Francis came out with his new Apostolic Letter giving priests “indefinite power to forgive abortions.” He assures us that, "there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled."

I pray as this Apostolic Letter gets around, that those who have been living in fear and feeling unforgivable will come to find the mercy of God is waiting for them.  Click here to read and share the Letter.

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Are you living in darkness and depression after an abortion?
Unable to get past the pain of your loss?
There is Hope.  There is Healing.  There is a way out of the darkness.
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Year of Mercy

Merciful Companions for Women & Men Suffering from Abortion

A new initiative in the Diocese of Los Angeles...

Merciful Companions, an initiative of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles assists men and women who have experienced an abortion. The organization launched on Nov. 9 following almost a year of preparing program materials and recruiting volunteers. The archdiocese felt there was a lack of a local comprehensive post-abortion healing program — a serious need for a city where the abortion rates are above the national average. In Los Angeles, more than 1 in 3 women will have experienced an abortion in their lifetime.

The depression, nightmares and withdrawal from family were just some of the symptoms that made Claudia realize the abortion had damaged her in ways she could not have predicted.

A 22-year-old trying to finish her college coursework, Claudia [full name withheld for privacy reasons] had made the decision to end a pregnancy. She acknowledges that the decision was a result of giving in to pressure — both from people she knew and from secular society.

Claudia says she fell for something that someone else wanted even though it meant being untrue to herself. “I felt very forced to make this decision that I did not want to do. And in our society, they want to say that women get this choice. And, in reality, it’s not their choice.”

Claudia wasn’t able to shake the experience. Raised a Roman Catholic, she found it more difficult to be close to her faith. She wanted to quit school. She stopped eating and lost 30 pounds. “I didn’t want to get up in the morning,” she says. “There was no way of denying what this was.”

When Claudia told her secular friends — who approved of her decision to end the pregnancy — she found their answers anything but helpful. They would disregard her feelings and encourage her to just shake it off. They would say, “It’s not that big of a deal,” “You’ll be OK,” and “Everything happens for a reason.”

But their responses didn’t match with what Claudia was feeling. “I was grieving my loss and the loss of my child, and that’s [the answer] I got.”

But when Claudia turned to her church, she says she found people who understood her pain. “I definitely felt the support from different priests and different religious leaders. They were very compassionate to me.”

Claudia found forgiveness from God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but, although she knew that God had forgiven her, she says it was difficult to forgive herself. “After I had gotten that type of healing from God, I had to get it from myself. For me, forgiving myself has been a little harder.”

She drew strength from her faith and her family to find this healing. She says it took a lot of reflection, but she began to feel worthy of love and to again believe in her own dignity. She joined Rachel’s Vineyard, a retreat for post-abortive woman, and wrote letters to herself and to her child. “I memorialized the part of me that I lost that day,” she says.

During the second day of the three-day retreat at Rachel’s Vineyard, Claudia made a promise. “I made a promise to God and to my child that I was going to take the pain and experience and use it for the good.”

She remembers being inspired by the devotional quote, “God can turn broken pieces into masterpieces.”

Read the rest here. 

The Abortion Fight is NOT about Women's Safety

I somehow feel as though the rats are scurrying. Panic is setting in as the issue of abortion, still controversial after over 40 years, is being challenged. The same old chants of “my body, my choice” are piercing our ears while millions of us know now, through experience, it is not our body at all.

Donations are pouring in to Planned Parenthood in the name of Mike Pence, who promises, with President Elect Trump, to cut federal funding.  The panic of shouts of “fire” is deafening, as we are told women’s rights are in jeopardy, but the truth is, this issue is not about women at all, but about abortion at any time, in any place for any reason.

 Perhaps the extremists should have quit while they were ahead.

For over forty years I have watched as the pro aborts deny the experienced of millions of women hurt by abortion. I have read over and over, studies by so called professionals  saying that there is no adverse impact from abortion, while at the same time having had my own experience and ministering to hundreds of women each year who feel otherwise.

I have seen their efforts to fight against any legislation that may truly protect women from coercion, unsafe conditions in so called clinics, violence by husbands and boyfriends and denial of the person hood of the unborn child in spite of scientific evidence.

I have read article after article of fear instilling threats to “reproductive choice” while rarely one stating the damage of abortion. (Can’t find us journalists? Give me a call )

Planned Parenthood and others like NARAL, etc. want us to pay for abortions even if it is against our beliefs. They also want to profit over baby parts that they get permission to use by taking advantage of vulnerable women who believe they are doing what is best for them by aborting.  They make big bucks at the expense of those who are desperate, even covering up child abuse and not reporting incidents with minors. Enough is enough!

Families are dealing with the fallout of abortion watching women they love suffering emotionally from abortion , some never able to have children because of physical damage. Relationships are being destroyed and other living children scarred, wondering why they were lucky enough to survive.

I have no doubt many will comment on this article denying once again our experiences and the truth of what abortion is and does, the problem, however, is that people are not listening as much, because they know the truth from personal experience. As each day goes by, more and more are breaking through the lies, sadly, many times because of devastation in their own families.

No abortion on demand is not about women. If it was, they would be truly protecting women, and listening to those who it has hurt instead of denying their feelings, .Their continued lies and deception is really not surprising given the fact that the very case of Roe vs. Wade was based on a lie.

Sorry Planned Parenthood and others. You can get millions of donations from “Pence”, and spend millions of dollars as you did in the election to protect your god of abortion, but America is waking up, and those of us who know the truth are speaking out.

Women deserve better, much better, than abortion.

Chillin' It

I don't know about the rest of you but I am so glad this election is over. No matter how hard I tried not to get caught up in all the debate (if that is what you want to call it), I found myself moving my gaze away from Jesus, and engaging in the politics.

It has been nice to defuse this past week, and that is why when I came upon this polar bear at the Bronx Zoo the other day, in one instant I totally related to the way he looked! Worn and chillin' !

I don't know if all the craziness and drama are ever going to be over, probably not, especially with  so many news site which are not legitimate news sites at all, but who people believe and repost stories.

Presidents change and what is here today may be gone tomorrow but the one steady truth is always there, the truth of Jesus Christ.

Like the bear in the picture I pray to keep on chilling and do what He asks of me one day at a time. No matter who our president is ,His love and Mercy are everlasting leading us one heart at a time to salvation.

Postabortive Lenten Retreat

Join us on a journey together towards healing after abortion.  The Entering Canaan Lenten "Mercy" Retreat is for those who have experienced abortion and have already begun their healing journey.

"To the same Father and to His mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child."  Saint Pope John Paul, II

Our retreat will be at the beautiful and serene St. Mary's Villa in Sloatsburg, New York, March 10-12, 2017, with Rev. Solanus Benfatti, C.F.R., as our spiritual director.  To register or for more information, please call Theresa at 877-586-4621 or email [email protected].  The cost for the retreat is $150.  Scholarships are available.

Meditation on the Eucharist - Election Day

The following reflection was taken from the book The Holy Eucharist, by Jose Guadalupe Trevino:

"Did you ever consider well, dear Christian soul, that, when the Sacred Host is publicly exposed, Jesus is not on His Eucharistic throne to receive the adoration of the angels and to enjoy the company of the blessed? These He finds in heaven. But He is on His Eucharistic throne to receive your adorations to listen to your confidences, and to console and alleviate your sorrows and trials.

Come, then, and adore that Holy Host. When Jesus is offended everywhere, when His royal dignity is mocked and His sovereignty denied, it behooves noble souls to come and acknowledge publicly that He is our beloved Sovereign and divine King, and that to Him all praise, honor, and glory are due.

Come and adore that Host of mercy and peace. Show Him your wounds, tell Him your faults, expose to Him your miseries. You do not insult Him who shed His blood for all the sins of the world, when you tell Him your sins to obtain forgiveness. Whatever their number and grievousness, in proportion to His infinite mercy they are less than a grain of sand lost in the immensity of an ocean.

Come close to that loving Host and pour out your heart's bitterness into His heart. Let your tears flow freely in His presence as if you were upon His breast. The sorrows of your exile, the faithlessness of your friends, the loneliness of your heart, and the disillusions of your life, all find an echo in that heart, which has known from experience what it means to suffer.

There you will find peace in your worries, light in your difficulties, and firmness in the execution of your good resolutions. There your thirst for affection will be satisfied. You will learn the science of hidden sacrifice, of constant abnegation, of tireless meekness, and of perfect joy.

Do not say that you have no time. Rather, acknowledge that you do not love Him enough. If you did, you would leave everything, in order to visit Him.

Do not say that you do not know what to tell Him. Rather, admit that you do not love Him. If you loved Him, your lips would speak out of His heart's abundance; and, if your lips stayed silent, it would be because hearts that understand each other need not words: silence is enough.

Do not look for other excuses. Try it, and find out by your own experience. Do not wait until tomorrow. Today, go and spend a few moments with Jesus, whether He is within the tabernacle or exposed in the monstrance. Let your weary and wounded heart be penetrated by the peaceful atmosphere of the sanctuary and your soul be bathed in the light streaming forth from the Eucharistic Sun. And, tomorrow, I am sure, you will return."