Led by three amazing ND disciples, a small group of folks from our community began back in September, the 12-week journey "A Catholic's Divorce Survival Guide." Their series concluded a couple of weeks ago.

This is the third year our parish has offered this journey; there is no doubt that with the blessing and guidance of the Holy Spirit, this program and the leadership of this ministry has brought healing, peace and hope to those who answered the call to be a part it. As we share below some thoughts from participants, let us pray others who have faced the pain of separation or divorce find the courage to search for Christ's healing, peace and hope. A new series will be offered here at ND beginning in September, 2017.

• "This program has given me a chance to recover from Divorce and begin to put my life back together with 10 new friends who are on a similar journey and who also share my Catholic faith."
• "We came for healing of ourselves and realized that we could be helpful to each other's healing. And that our future will be better as a result of our taking these positive steps.
• I know that my outlook on life has been positively changed by this experience."
• "I found that missing piece of the healing process, the piece that finally allowed me to close a painful chapter in my life, come to piece with life and move forward."
• "Each person brought something special and unique to the discussion. I think we all shared some very personal feelings with the comfort of knowing we would not be judged."
• "Thank you listening and sharing and supporting. The power of community is awesome and our faith is strong and bonded us together."
• "I just completed the Catholic Divorce Survival Series which was an 8 week program held at Notre Dame of Mt. Carmel and moderated by 3 parishoners who had been through divorce  themselves and who  lent supportive guidance at each session. There was a short book and video with a different topic each week, all relative to the experience of divorced Catholics. Some videos were extremely helpful and in general generated valuable discussions.  The information presented, camaraderie and group dynamics were wonderful and I felt very supported and empowered throughout this program.
   
  The segment on sexuality was really the only one that left me feeling very down because it focused on sexuality between couples when married and the connection between sexuality and spirituality.  I realize it wasn’t the intention but this segment  just emphasized the loss of my  marriage, which for most of us was unwelcome and painful. I do understand the Roman Catholic teachings but hope this will be updated down the road to reflect more on how to deal with this particular loss and how to help us move forward.  I am very grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this program and grateful to Notre Dame of Mt. Carmel for this important ministry."