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MARRIAGE AND FAMILY HEALING

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” – Psalm 174:3

The Marriage & Family Life ministry provides support and healing resources for marriages and families facing challenges in life and relationships. Support includes help for marriages in crisis, grief, support for child loss, and healing for those affected by separation, divorce, abortion, pornography addiction and more.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY HEALING
COUPLES IN WOUNDED MARRIAGES

Restore - Restore is an online, self-led marriage resource that gives you and your spouse the opportunity and the tools necessary to heal and restore your relationship. Discover the tools and support you need to have a vibrant and fulfilling marriage.

The Alexander House: Marriage Disciples - Rebuild a happy, healthy and holy marriage through the Marriage Disciples (coaching) process.  Marriage Disciples are those who have come to know and live God’s plan for marriage and now through this process, they share it with others!   Couples reconnect with each other, grow closer through prayer, and improve communication as they learn God’s plan for marriage

BLOOM (for women healing from husband's pornography addiction) - Bloom for Catholic women offers therapeutic and Catholic-based online courses for women healing from the trauma of discovering their husband's sexual and/or pornography addiction.

Retrouvaille Weekend Information - A weekend experience for couples who have reached a point of disillusionment and misery in their marriage.  Retrouvaille, which is French for rediscovery, offers couples hope as they rebuild and put the pieces of their broken marriage back together. The Retrouvaille program is Catholic in origin but is open to married couples of all faith expressions. For more information please call Ron & Diana Lovell @ (303) 328-8658 or 1-800-470-2230

The Third Option - The Third Option International is a non-profit organization offering an award winning on-going skills based program to help couples build better marriages. The Third Option hopes to inspire and encourage people to build healthier relationships in their marriages, family, work place and community by accepting responsibility for their own thoughts, feelings, choices and behaviors.

 

PORNOGRAPHY

"Christ is our hope! The Church proclaims the truth about love, sexuality, and the dignity of each person, and she seeks to provide the Lord's mercy and healing for those harmed by pornography." Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography

Resources

Integrity Restored -  Online sessions for you and those you care that provide understanding and knowledge to combat the scourge of pornography.

The Kings Men - Under Christ the King's universal call to serve, we as men, pledge to unite and build up other men in the mold of leader, protector, and provider, through education, formation healing, and action.

Magdala Ministries - Magdala exists as a space where women can find hope, healing, and freedom alongside each other from sexual addiction. Our goal is to supply to with support, community, and accountability.

The Porn Effect - Join Matt Fradd and a community of brothers in discovering the keys to living porn-free with the STRIVE - 21 Day Porn Detox

Reclaim Sexual Health - Recovery from pornography and compulsive sexual behavior is within reach with this 100% online recovery program. Anonymous, Catholic, and science-based…You can overcome!

Exodus 90 - A ninety-day spiritual exercise for men based on three pillars: prayer, asceticism, and fraternity. All three pillars are essential aspects of the Christian life.

Angelic Warfare Confraternity - A supernatural fellowship of men and women bound to one another in love and dedicated to pursuing and promoting chastity together under the powerful patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Confraternity is an official apostolate of the Dominican Order.

Covenant Eyes - Protect yourself and family with Covenant Eyes Screen Accountability.

My House Initiative - If you have a family with minors in the home or concerned about pornography's danger to your marriage, watch this video and review these materials.

 

 

MISCARRIAGE AND INFANT LOSS SUPPORT

If you are here, you have likely suffered the unthinkable loss of miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss. We’re sorry. We are so terribly sorry, for your pain, for your despair, for your anger, for your sorrow.

We understand because we have been there. It is the courageous families who drank the cup of infant loss, who have inspired the development of this ministry.

You are loved, you are not alone in your loss, and God’s mercy is infinite.

Learn More

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Red Bird Ministries offers grief support through online community, Spiritual Direction and small groups for those who have experienced child loss including: miscarriage, stillbirth, and after birth as an infant, child, adolescent, and adult child.

 

GRIEF AND LOSS

Parish Based Grief Support Groups

Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Colorado Springs - Homepage

Kathy Bull, 719-632-2664, kbull@corpuschristicos.org

Saint Francis of Assisi, Castle Rock - Grief Support page

Diane Johnson, 303-919-7609 or Chris Mintz, 858-228-0371

St. Francis of Assisi, Colorado Springs - Offering grief support sessions designed to help those grieving the loss of a loved one no matter how long ago that may have been. The program is facilitated through scripture, prayer, and informative discussions based on our Catholic faith. The first session will be on Wednesday, June 12th at 5:30pm. To register please contact Jennifer Lehrman at 719-599-5031 ext. 110 or jenniferk@stfranciscs.org.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, Colorado Springs - Grief Support page 

Linda Popolano, (719) 528-8407,  lpopolano@saintgabriel.net

Our Lady of the Pines, Black Forest - Grief Support page

Mary Ann O'Shea, 303-946-1990, talk2maoshea@gmail.com.

Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Colorado Springs – Homepage

Saint Peter Catholic Church, Monument - Grief Support page

Melissa Smith, 719-481-3511, melissa.smith@petertherock.org


Stephen Ministry - We all experience challenges in life – times when we could benefit from care and support.  Stephen Ministry provides lay, confidential, one-to-one, Christian care to people in our parishes and the broader community who are experiencing difficulties in their lives.  For more information, contact Deacon Dan Tomich, dtomich@diocs.org.


Red Bird Ministries offers grief support through online community, Spiritual Direction and small groups for those who have experienced child loss including: miscarriage, stillbirth, and after birth as an infant, child, adolescent, and adult child.

WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS

Good Mourning Ministry - Offering prayerful, practical, and personal grief support for Catholics.

The Beginning Experience - The purpose of the Beginning Experience Ministry is to facilitate the grief resolution process for separated, divorced, and widowed persons, and children of these losses, thereby enabling them to again love themselves, others, and God.

 

SEPARATED OR DIVORCED

The Beginning Experience - The purpose of the Beginning Experience Ministry is to facilitate the grief resolution process for separated, divorced, and widowed persons, and children of these losses, thereby enabling them to again love themselves, others, and God.

Catholic Divorce Ministry  Catholic Divorce Ministry is the ministry of the North American Conference of Separated and Divorced Catholic, Inc. working since 1974 to create a network of support for families experiencing separation and divorce.

Divorced Catholic - Divorce is a detour, not dead-end. We are here to help you get your life back on track after divorce.

Faith Journeys Foundation - Faith Journeys' Calm the Storm program is a Catholic-based, small group intervention that facilitates children's healing and growth after parental divorce or separation while empowering parents, so children's gains may be maximized.

Life Giving Wounds - Our mission is to help young adults and adults with divorced and separated parents give voice to their pain and find spiritual healing.

Interested in a Declaration of Nullity?  - Prayer and discernment are the first steps, and the clergy at your parish can support you in deciding whether you might have a basis for petitioning and whether this process will be prudent and beneficial. Thus, if you are considering beginning a marriage nullity case, please contact your local parish and ask to speak with a member of the clergy. This also ensures that you, the Petitioner, receive proper assistance both in submitting your case and in addressing any pastoral or spiritual concerns that may arise during the process. Alternatively, you may browse through the Case Sponsors listed below and contact one of them.

  Please be aware that the primary task of the Church is to save the marriage. Therefore, if your marriage is experiencing some problems, you may need to seek spiritual, emotional, or psychological support to save your marriage. The Tribunal will only investigate those cases in which the marriage has irreparably failed, and conjugal life cannot be restored.

CONVALIDATION - Married outside the Church?

The Civil Marriage Initiative by Witness to Love - The Civil Marriage Initiative by Witness to Love is a comprehensive, revolutionary, and nationally - researched and collaborative project. This project equips parishes and dioceses who desire to seek out support and inspire couples in civil unions to pursue transformative sacramental marriage formation.

Pathways by Marriage Building USA - PATHWAYS is an invitation to what is often hurting or disparaged part of our Catholic community. It is an innovative and pastoral way to surface those in need of Convalidation and/or Sacramental Marriage.

SAME SEX ATTRACTION

Courage - A  support organization for persons with same-sex attractions who wish to live the virtue of chastity. It was initiated in the 1980’s by the late Father John Harvey, OSFS, and has chapters in many countries around the world.  In 2011 it opened a chapter in Colorado Springs, with Father Sean McCann and Deacon Matthew Brend as chaplains.

Courage espouses five goals: chastity, prayer, group support, chaste friendships, and healthy role modeling.  It runs its meetings on the model of a 12-step group. It does not engage in reparative therapy or political activism. It assumes a distinction between same-sex attractions and same-sex activities.  It acknowledges that, although the former may not be a matter of choice, the latter are. It seeks always to support the choice for a chaste self-restraint and a healthy self-giving.

Catholic spirituality begins with a sense of self-acceptance based on the love of God. That self-acceptance serves in turn as a basis and motive for self-improvement. Courage is about both. To contact the local chapter, write courage@diocs.org, or call (719) 481-3511.  “I can do all things in Him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13).

EnCourage - An apostolate which provides pastoral care for families and friends of people who experience same-sex attractions and/or gender discordance. In many cases, their loved ones have adopted the LGBTQ label, and may have moved away from actively practicing their faith.

Parish Resources -  Courage Brochure,   EnCourage Brochure,   Bulletin Insert

Eden Invitation - Creates space to receive the whole person, grow systems of mutual support, and empower for creative discipleship. We are disciples with LGBTQ+ experiences, building community with others who desire a way of life in congruence with Christ and His Church.

Truth and Love - A Catholic resource for anyone seeking the tools to accompany our brothers and sisters who experience same-sex attraction.

SEXUAL IDENTITY INCRONGRUENCE

Person and Identity - Assists the Catholic Church in promoting the Catholic vision of the human person and responding to the challenges of gender ideology

 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

What is domestic violence? What’s the difference between normal conflict and domestic violence? Conflict is part of every intimate relationship–that’s why conflict resolution skills are important. Domestic violence, however, has no place in a healthy relationship, whether the couple is dating, cohabiting, engaged, or married. Domestic violence is any kind of behavior that a person uses, or threatens to use, to control an intimate partner. The two key elements are threat and control.

Catholics for Family Peace - Our initiative provides education, resources, and research that help leaders, clergy, and parishioners recognize domestic abuse and respond with compassion.

Parish Toolkit - Catholics for Family Peace offers this media resource kit to enhance efforts to address domestic abuse and violence and to promote family peace.

STAFF

DIRECTOR OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE
Deacon Mike McGrady

mmcgrady@diocs.org

(719) 866-6293