Surviving DivorceThe Catholic's Divorce Survival Guide

The Divorced and Separated Ministry is presenting a new healing program called, "Surviving Divorce: Hope and Healing for the Catholic Family." "Surviving Divorce" was created to bring hope and healing to those who have experienced the pain and loneliness of a broken marriage. It is for the newly separated and divorced and those still struggling with issues many years later. It will help them answer their questions, restore hope, and begin authentic healing.

Developed and hosted by Rose Sweet, "Surviving Divorce" features experts Dr. Ray Guarendi, Ph.D., Fr. Donald Calloway, M.I.C., Fr. Steve Porter, S.T.L., Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., and Christopher West. It also includes personal testimonies of Catholic men and women who have experienced the breakdown of their families. They courageously share their stories with heart, humor and wisdom. As they witness to their pain and the healing power of Christ in their lives, participants will laugh, cry, and identify with their journeys from heartache to healing.

The cost is $30 per participant. For more information, e-mail Lynn Gondesen at lgondesen@att.net. You can also call the Parish Office at 281-469-5533.

Part 1 - Finding Perfect PEACE

Recovery requires mental and emotional stabilization before action. Too often the divorced person wants to run from the pain either by withdrawing from or attacking life, allowing their emotions to take charge. These first four sessions point to Christ—the perfect Peace that surpasses all understanding—as the first place to begin a new life after divorce.
 

• Session 1 - Getting Your Bearings covers initial shock or areas in which the viewer may still be in denial, how worry and fear may be overwhelming and how God can bring full healing.
• Session 2 - Finding Right Direction reminds the viewer to avoid looking for love “in all the wrong places”, how to find help in the church, and how to begin making a specific “survival plan”.
• Session 3 – Getting Through Your Anger replaces the popular concept of “managing” anger to going deeper to the root causes, and showing how and when anger is not necessarily a sin and can actually be helpful.
• Session 4 – Finding Perfect Peace points to a conscious union of the cross of divorce with Christ on His Cross as a way to perfect peace, including handling the normal feelings of isolation and depression.

Part 2 - Finding Perfect POWER

Most divorced people feel powerless at the loss of a spouse, their identity, family and friends, possessions, security, and dreams. Family court can also be a place where people battle for power. But our Catholic faith teaches that true power is interior: in the counter-cultural concepts of humility, acceptance, suffering and forgiveness. Easy to say . . . hard to do! That’s’ where grace comes in.
 

• Session 5 – Learning to Forgive helps the viewer understand the difference between emotions and will, forgiveness and trust, and to choose forgiveness as the right response to the injustices of divorce.
• Session 6 – Dealing with your Family explores the common problems of being in emotional bondage to the ex-spouse, the pitfalls of parents using their children as personal lifesavers, and how to begin to depend totally on Christ above all others.
• Session 7 – Handling Money Wisely offers practical advice on reorienting the way divorced people view money (and the loss of it), how to live on a budget and how to grow in generosity.
• Session 8 - Finding Perfect Power gives insights into knowing when and when not to go to court and how to be generous with money and time, especially in sharing custody and granting visitation time with the other parent.

Part 3 - Finding Perfect PASSION

When divorced people are feeling better, they’ll usually be anxious to find new love. But most people make “false gods” out of relationships that in some sense will ultimately fail them. These last shows introduce the powerful principles founding Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body”, including the spousal analogy with Christ as the Bridegroom, the personal encounter with Christ in the sacraments, and the intimate union with Him found only in the Eucharist.
 

• Session 9 - Seeing God in Romance introduces how romantic relationships are only meant to mirror the more profound “courtship” and eternal marriage of Christ the Bridegroom with every human soul, and how our culture lies about that Love.
• Session 10 – Relearning How to Date advises the viewer to reconcile the broken marriage if possible and to seek an annulment if not, giving practical advice on the right way to seek a new spouse or choosing to stay single.
• Session 11 – Loving All Church Teachings challenges the viewer to open their mind to deeper truths found in the Catholic Church, to seek the gifts she offers (especially in Confession), and to desire holiness as a way of life.
• Session 12 - Finding Perfect Passion encourages the viewer to think past the divorce and more about the eternal picture, to know and love more about Jesus, and to say “Yes!” in letting Him to feed the hungry heart in the Eucharist.