Reclaiming Our Children

WITNESS Entering Canaan - A Day of Prayer and Healing for Men

They gathered together on a Saturday, in the Bronx—they came from far and near, from all races, and from differing educational backgrounds and vocations. They differed in many other ways—but they had one thing in common—they were all suffering from the pain, anger and in some cases self-loathing that comes from being a post-abortive individual. Oh, they also had one other thing in common—they were all men!!

Some may ask how a man could possibly suffer from the aftermath of an abortion—after all it was no this child. How wrong that statement is because all one had to do was to sit and listen to their individual stories to know the answer to that question. Some had actively participated in arranging for their abortions, some had tried to talk their girlfriend out of the abortion, some had “married into” their abortion (their wife had their abortion prior to marriage). So many differing stories but one common thread: his child was aborted, and he suffers from the abortion of his child no differently than a woman would suffer after the abortion of her child.

Under the guidance of Fr. Mariusz Koch, CFR and Theresa Bonopartis, one by one their stories started to unfold and for many for the first time they were able to express the anger and pain they suffer for their abortions. They expressed themselves in a non-judgmental, loving atmosphere. They started to experience the healing that comes from “getting a load” off ones chest. But more importantly they experienced the Mercy of God in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

There was another form of forgiveness that started to begin—the forgiveness of their children’s mothers who participated in the abortions with them.

At the end of the day the men were given a prayer card with the image of St. Joseph caressing his child, Jesus Christ. In part the prayer on the reverse reads:

Good Saint Joseph, spouse of Mary,
Guide and protector of the Holy Family,
You trusted God and opened yourself to receive
The graces you needed
To care for Jesus, your Son, our Merciful Savior.
We know our children are in your care.
Lead us to a life of love and fidelity
To the will of your Son,
So we may join you in heaven and share eternal life with our children,
Praising God forever for the Mercy and love He has shown us.
Amen.

After the closing Mass, I spoke with Fr. Mariusz and I do not think he would mind my relating this story. He said he was going to go home and have a “good cry” because of the pain expressed by these men, but also because of the witness they gave by being willing to come and seek God’s Healing Embrace, Mercy, and Forgiveness.

The healing has only begun. There are many more, women and men, who are in need of the healing Hand of God to embrace them. – Ed Case

Afternoon of Prayerful Remembrance Schedule

If you have not experienced or hosted an Afternoon of Prayerful Remembrance  you should....changing hearts, touching souls, bringing understanding...

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Diocese of New York
January 21, 2017
St Lawrence O’Toole
1 p.m. – 4p.m.
31 Prospect Street
Brewster, New York 10509
Contact: Theresa Bonopartis                            
877 586 4621
lumina@postabortionhelp.org

January 21, 2017
Immaculate Conception/Assumption
1 p.m – 3p.m.
53 Winter Hill Rd, Tuckahoe, NY
Contact: Sr. Cora
914 961 3643

Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota
January 21, 2017
9 a.m. – 12 Noon
St. John’s Church
115 North 2nd Street
Wahpeton, ND

January 22, 2017
1p.m. – -4 p.m.
St. Stanislaus Church
6098 County Road 4
Warsaw, ND

January 22, 2017
2p.m. -4 p.m.
Holy Spirit Church
1420 7th St. North
Fargo,  ND
Contact Rachelle, 701-356-791

"I just wanted to thank you for developing the Prayerful Remembrance service. The service we hosted last month was moving and beautiful.  I was pleased to have around 85 people attend.  I also invited local Christan organizations with post abortion reconciliation programs to have a table afterwards with information.  Thank you again for developing the prayer service and for sharing it so that others may experience its prayerfulness and powerfulness." Rebecca Neimerg

Theresa,

As others have noted in their reviews….all of our Bethesda family, affiliates, retreat attendees, priests and seminarians were deeply moved by the most beautiful Inspired “Afternoon of Prayer and Intercession”. On my part, the residual graces continue to flow into my spirit and the joy of having shared and received this gift

Through you remains a treasure to me and to us all. Thank YOU for saying “YES” to Jesus Christ and being open to the Holy Spirit. We so wish you lived closer that

These few holy hours in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord and all components of your retreat could be repeated in parishes throughout Columbus. You have been so kind and gracious to not only share with us…but travel to be with and to guide us through the journey of family healing. Thank you.

Judy Schlueter
Bethesda Healing Ministry

Theresa,

I just wanted to let you know that the Afternoon of Prayer on Sunday, Oct 12th was wonderful! We did not have as many people as we would have liked, but we were up against a lot of pro-life activities in the Diocese, not to mention the Cleveland Browns vs Pittsburgh Steelers football game in Cleveland. (Our biggest rival).

The Bishop processed in to the Taize Chant O Lord Hear our Prayer (with violin & piano accompaniment) as the server incensed the church, We lit purple & white candles in front of a large, beautiful Divine Mercy picture during the Testimonial/Intercessory prayer.  Purple symbolizing repentance & white symbolizing forgiveness & healing.

Thank you again for your ministry, for putting together this Afternoon of Prayer and for so willingly and graciously sharing it with everyone.Thank you also for your support and doing the rush job on the flyer!

I know that hearts were touched & many people’s eyes were opened to the long shadow cast by abortion.  I think everyone went to reconciliation,which was beautiful. We had 3 priests and the Bishop. I know our Blessed God Bless you and your ministry, you will always be in my prayers and who knows, Holy Rosary may present it again in the future.

Peace, Sue Andrews, Cleveland, Ohio

Herod's "I" & the Holy Innocents

"Human nature, wounded by original sin, is oriented not toward God, but toward the affirmation of one's own I."  (Open Wide the Door to Christ, pg. 91)

 

 

Matthew 2:13-18

When the wise men had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah,

wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

 

If you really take time to meditate on the Holy Innocents whose Feast we celebrate today, not much has changed since that time.

Herod feeling threatened and wanting to affirm his desires ordered the slaughter of the Holy Innocents thinking his position in life would be secure and he would get what he wanted.

Sadly, the “Innocents” are still being slaughtered every day, and many of us are participants in one way or another either directly or indirectly. We can look back at this horrific moment and see it for all of its evil and yet many are blinded to the daily slaughter of innocents from abortion.

I pray we all come to see that true affirmation comes in relinquishing the “affirmation of one’s own “I”, trusting in the One who truly frees and affirms out dignity.

Yet, even in the midst of this terrible event during the Christmas Season, there is room for much rejoicing and cause for peace:

  “Dear children! With great joy, today I am carrying my Son Jesus to you, for Him to give you His peace.

Open your hearts, little children, and be joyful that you can receive it. Heaven is with you and is fighting for peace in your hearts, in the families and in the world; and you, little children, help with your prayers for it to be so.

I bless you with my Son Jesus and call you not to lose hope; and for your gaze and heart to always be directed towards Heaven and eternity. In this way, you will be open to God and to His plans. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

May we find consolation in the thought of our children lost through abortion embraced by Mary who carries both them and us to her Son to embrace us all with His Mercy and fill us with His joy!

Companions on the Journey

You can tell a lot about a person by the people they hang around with. Someone, I forgot who, once said, “Show me a man’s friends and I will show you the man.”

Who are Jesus’ friends? When we read the Gospels, Jesus  seems to spend a great deal of time with the poor, those who were blind, deaf, ignorant, tax collectors, prostitutes, those possessed by demons, and very simple people. In short, we could say people who were broken and who knew it and did not try to hide behind any illusions or any false estimation about their own righteousness. Jesus came into their life, not with a hand of judgment ready to slam down upon them but with a tender touch of mercy, love, healing, forgiveness and hope.

Over the past two years I have had the privilege of attending post abortion retreats for men and women who have participated in an abortion. Why did I say it was a privilege to attend such retreats? Because I have met the people who, if Jesus still walked upon the earth,  he would have spent most of his time with. People broken, wounded by sin, yet humble and extremely aware of their need for God, and their need for a Savior.

There is no “stereotype” person on these retreats. It includes both men and women ranging from ages 15-60, people who are rich and those who are poor, people of various nationalities and backgrounds, people who want to be at the retreat and those echo sometimes do not want to be there. Despite all these differences there is one thing they all have in common; a profound humility that proclaims and witnesses to me the love and mercy of God and brings to life those words spoken by Jesus in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (MT 5:3-4)

Most of the people who attend these retreats so not try to hide behind things like a career, external appearances, the ”perfect” family, a new car or any of the other gimmicks contemporary society will often use to try and hide their pain. They have taken it directly to Jesus Christ, the Divine Physician, the only one who can ultimately heal them and bring them back to the happiness and joy of knowing God’s love for them.

While I am at these retreats I always feel challenged (in a good way) about my own relationship with Jesus. I find myself asking, am I really giving Jesus everything? Is he really the Lord of my life? Am I seeking to serve him? Have I become somewhat lazy in my prayer life or in the spiritual life in general?

The reason why I ask these questions is because of the wonderful example or the people who are attending these retreats. Being with them, even in their continued struggles with forgiving themselves and dealing with guilt, I see the presence of a loving God who is “nursing” them back to health and back into his loving embrace.

Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, C.F.R. (reprint)

Humility of God

“If we want to celebrate Christmas authentically, we need to contemplate this sign: the frail simplicity of a tiny newborn child, the meekness with which he is placed in a manger, the tender affection with which he is wrapped in his swaddling clothes,” Francis said during mass at the Vatican. “That is where God is.”

Do Not Disturb

“Keep vigil!” was Francis key message today. “Be mindful of the difference the Lord’s coming (or not) makes in us. Is there a place for the Lord, or only for parties, for shopping, for revelry ... Is our soul open, as is Holy Mother Church and as was the Virgin Mary? Or is our soul rather closed, with a “Do Not Disturb!” sign hung on the door to it?” (12/23/2013)

Crazy at it seems, the approach of Christmas is probably one of my least favorite times of year. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ of which I am eternally grateful. Instead, it has more to do with the pressures of the secular world.

No matter how hard I try to get things done ahead of time, or keep my focus where I would like it to be, I constantly seem to be doing a check list in my head. A great distraction to the real meaning of Christmas.

I do not have a “Do Not Disturb” sign, but when He enters my “inn” is so crowded with other guests I cannot even make my way to His Presence. I feel like I am at a party seeing the one person I want to speak with across the room, but I am unable to get there because of the crowds.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to see family and friends, but as with many other families, Jesus is often not the reason for the season! Sadly, it is like this every year, that is why I love the fact that we have eight days of Christmas!

Once the presents are opened and the worldly celebrations are over, in the quiet manger of my soul filled with it sinfulness, I am able to welcome the baby Jesus and contemplate the birth of Mercy Himself. I am reminded of why He came to earth and the great gift of our salvation found in his suffering, death, and resurrection.

If you are suffering from a past abortion, and have hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your soul because of the fear of condemnation, take it down this Christmas season and hang put out your welcome mat. Meditate on the mystery of our redemption born to us this Holy Season. You may not feel it yet but “Emmanuel, God is with Us!”, come for the redemption of our sins, even the sin of abortion!

The Joy of Christmas!

 

“The most beautiful of Christmas joys,” Francis went on to say, “is the joy of inner peace: ‘the Lord has blotted out my sins, the Lord has forgiven me, the Lord has had mercy on me, he came to my rescue.'”

“This is the joy of Christmas!” he said.

Blessed Christmas!

 

Give thank to the Lord for He is good His mercy endures forever!

I just wanted to wish you all a very blessed Christmas!

I know this can be a very difficult time of year for those of us who are post abortive. There are so many “connectors” all over the place! Children we would love to be buying toys for that are not here. Mary’s “yes” a reminder of our “no”. It seems no matter where you look it is a trigger in an already stressful season, and oftentimes we do not even realize our abortion experiences are the reason for what we are experiencing.

It is good during this time to focus on the “Birth of Mercy” which we have spoken about so much in the past. That God in His goodness sent His Son into the world for us so that we may have salvation. This time, this celebration of the birth of Christ, really is a time of great mercy. It is in this same Christ which we receive in the sacrament that we are able to meet our children who live in the Lord. They are right there with Him, waiting for us.

As Christ comes to earth we should always remember this so that the promptings of sadness or despair may turn into the “comfort and joy” we hear in our Christmas carols because Our Savior, who died for our sins, is born to us!

A very blessed Christmas to you all!

You are in my daily prayers, please keep me in yours

In His Mercy,

Theresa

When Young Girls Are Manipulated Into Abortion

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The Elliot Institute News

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December 20, 2016

When Young Girls Are Manipulated Into Abortion
By Theresa Bonopartis

As we try to bring healing to those in the US who have been
injured by abortion in so many ways, I often forget that The
International Planned Parenthood Federation is busy manipulating
and deceiving young girls and women all over the world to buy
into the junk we bought into here in the USA.

I just came across this video from "Girls Decide", about
15-year-old Valeria of Argentina,who had unprotected sex and
found out she was pregnant. It shows her going to the doctor and
the options she was given. Valeria ends up telling her mom, but I
am sure there are countless numbers of girls who do not.

At 15 or younger these girls have no idea what a life altering
decision abortion is, and I am also sure they have no idea of the
negative consequences they can, sooner or later, face in their
lives. The subtle messages through body language in the video
were pretty upsetting. As the doctor offers the choice of having
the baby she has a stern, sad look on her face. Adoption brings
negative head shaking from Valeria, but, the abortion option when
offered, brings a big smile to the doctors face.

Of course, when it is all over they are not only all smiles, but
Valeria has been made a youth advocate! What a smart way to
empower rationalization and justification...to build a strong
wall of denial and inject self importance in being an advocate so
that the girl is convicted in her "decision" and helps spread
their message!

My heart breaks for her. She has no idea at the present time how
this can impact her future, but I am sure it will when she is
older and ready for a baby or finds out she is not able to have
one. When she emotionally breaks down and realizes it is because
of the abortion she had in her youth.

I have had women from 80 to 93 seek help for healing ... decades
of denial and suffering to finally finding healing.

As PP spreads its evil throughout the world, let's remember to
pray for all those who come in contact with them.

Watch the video at: 

Being Post Abortive in the Turnaway Study Debate

They Are Trying to Drown us out but we Keep Coming up For Air!

So, the buzz making the rounds the last couple of days is the new Turnaway Study run by the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California, San Francisco. “Women’s Mental Health and Well-being 5 Years After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion A Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study”, was published yesterday by JAMA Psychiatry.

The conclusion of this so called study is that abortion is said to have little effect on women’s mental health. Before I get into my reason for this article, there are a couple of points I would like to make, one being the affiliations of the people who did the study, like:  Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, and Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. Need I say more? Unbiased and without an agenda this study is not.

The article has been addressed depending on the agenda of certain groups. The pro abortion crowd denies any negative impact and works diligently to remove the stigma in an attempt to make abortion an acceptable “normal” act of life. This is their dream study proving in their eyes that abortion really is no big deal.

The pro life side likes to have testimony to how deeply damaged those who have abortions are. Too often the damage is not followed up by the hope of healing to be found. It is important to some to make healing seem impossible to those post abortive because they want to make abortion unthinkable for any woman to even consider. Not a bad goal in itself, but without offering hope you sentence millions to life long devastation when healing really is possible.

I am not going to address either side of this. My purpose is not to debate the legality of abortion, or even its impact on all women. So, if you are a woman reading this who is fine with participating in the death of your child and wearing it proudly and loudly on your sleeve, so be it, but that is not the case for millions of us. Even The Guttmacher Institute has stated that at least 10% of women who have had an abortion have adverse effects. That is millions and millions of women, many who are suffering in silence. We deserve to be heard, we have a voice, a voice that often is ignored and marginalized and certainly not used for these studies. At one time because of our wounds we may not have been able to speak for ourselves because society denied our pain and we felt alone and confused and yes, even messed up. Even today our voices are often drowned out but we will continue to speak the truth from our experience so we can reach out to those still suffering in silence. These are people I am speaking to in this article.

I can only imagine the emotions that overcame you if you saw this article on the web or the news. I am sure it triggered a host of emotions in you, not the least being a feeling of craziness by the denial once again, of your experience of abortion. The message is clear; you are not allowed to feel negative consequences because according to them there are none. Your feeling must be wrong or come from a different place.

This article was particularly crazy, actually telling us that being denied an abortion was more damaging than having one. For sure these people have never experienced the post abortion grief, shame and guilt so many of us have lived with for days, months, years and even decades.

My message to you is you are not crazy nor are you alone. There are tons of us out here who have felt the same way you do. We have suffered from depression, anxiety, paralyzing fear, especially the fear of being found out.

We like many of you, have chosen poor behaviors which damaged us further because of our lack of self esteem, our guilt and our shame which came not from religious or societal guilt, but from participating in the death of our very own children. We get it and we are speaking out and reaching out to you to let you know that your feelings are real and normal and that healing is possible. We know, we have been there!

Many of us have sought counseling only to be told as this study does, that our feeling are not from our abortions. Sadly, we trusted their professionalism and as a result of this lie continued on a road of self destruction because no one was there to address our pain and legitimize our experience. But that is all ending as more and more of us are reaching out to the millions of women who are hurting and legitimizing their experiences.

It is time for us to be there for each other and to speak for ourselves. No one knows m=better than we do the suffering of abortion and we refuse to listen to studies such as these because we know the truth of what we experienced, but we also know that you can heal, not from denying its impact, or removing its stigma, but from looking at and facing the truth and working through the dynamics of healing.

So, don’t listen to the thunderous praise of this “study” which purpose is to not only keep abortion legal, but to expand its reach, and don’t listen to those who say there is no healing from abortion, and make you feel as though you will be damaged for life. Will you forget, no, but do you really want to forget your child? What will happen is you will be able to look at it in a different way, a way of newfound peace. Seek help from those who have been there and have walked the journey of healing. They may try to drown us out but we keep coming up for air and we are more than happy to light the way out of the darkness for you!

Theresa Bonopartis

Director, Lumina/Hope & Healing After Abortion

www.postabortionhelp.org

Co Developer Entering Canaan Post Abortion Ministry

www.enteringcanaan.com

lumina@postabortionhelp.org