ST. MARY'S - SPRING LAKE, MI
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Grief ministry: Share in Your Sorrow Part 3, Final Part.

4/18/2019

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It’s better to take all our emotions to God than others, for He fully understands us.  
The Bible says, "Rend your heart to God, not your garments." To "rend" means to rip open. The Israelites, when morning, used to rip open their robes and put ashes on themselves. But, this verse is telling us to do something else.  This verse means, to open up all of our hearts, all of our emotions to God. He wants all of who we are. 
The Psalms of Lament, a third of the Psalms, show us that we can be angry at God. YOU can be mad at God. God made you who you are and gives you the emotions you have. He wants us to give fully of ourselves to Him. As a spiritual exercise. Sneak into the chapel, reverently take off your shoes, and let God have all your emotions. OUT LOUD! …...YELL, if you must, at GOD in the tabernacle.  
 
Doubt is not opposed to faith; despair is. We see this in the case of the father who brought his son to Jesus for healing. When Jesus encouraged the father to have faith, he replied, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Pray for an increase in Faith and Hope in Jesus! 
Even Saint Paul tells us he was “perplexed, but not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). In despair we give up on our relationship with God. Pray for an increase in Faith and Hope. 
 
John 9: 1-3 “Who sinned this man or his parent.” Jesus replied, “Neither.” It’s not your fault.  How our sinfulness has an effect on our children is through the passing on of Original Sin, not on the loss of a child. 
I repeat, "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT."


 
Resources 
Diocese of Baton Rouge: www.mfldiobr.org/miscarriageearly-infant-death 
www.catholicmiscarriagesupport.com 
aleteia.org/2018/08/20/3-women-saints-who-know-the-pain-of-miscarriage 


Prayers
 
I beseech you, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose most holy soul was pierced in the hour of your Passion by the sword of sorrow, may intercede for us with Your mercy now and at the hour of our death.  
Amen 
O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by the overwhelming grief you experienced 
when you witnessed the martyrdom, 
the crucifixion, and the death of your divine Son, 
look upon me with eyes of compassion, 
and awaken in my heart a tender. Amen 
 
Pieta Prayer: (Would be good to pray in front of our Pieta with your spouse.) 
Mother of Sorrows, You who held Jesus in your Arms, Please intercede with your Divine Son in our behalf. Ask Him to help us to know, one another better, To forgive one another more readily, To love one another more deeply, Mother of all mankind inspire us to travel without falter along the road at the end of which, Under the Fatherhood of God, there is true peace. Amen  
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Grief ministry: Share in Your Sorrow Part 2

4/16/2019

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We are called to be a communion of Saints. I know that often times it is very difficult for we in our society to tell others that we are suffering. We like to suffer alone for some reason. I think it's something the devil really likes because it's a way to cut us off and can lead to despair. Maybe the initial feelings are from God, He calls us to withdraw into our room, alone; so that we can lean on those Saints that are part of our Community that sometimes we who haven't passed on don't always notice. The trick is to not get stuck in our room. When we recognize that the Saints are praying with us and for us then we are called back out into the community, different from the experience but not despaired. 
Here are some 
Saints to pray with:  

  • St. Catherine of Siena: Patroness of Miscarriages.  
  • St Gianna Beretta Molla: lost two babies by miscarriage.  She delivered on Good Friday and died a week later. 
  • St. Catherine of Sweden: Patroness Against Abortions and Miscarriages.  The Holy Spirit is probably hinting at something here by linking Abortions and Miscarriage. 
  • St. Zelie Martin: Mother of St. Therese of Lisieux, her husband, St. Louis Martin, and her had four children die before the children were five.  Often mentioned their children in Heaven to their living daughters. The following letter is from her.


    St. Zelie’s letter 
    After Zelie’s sister-in-law also experienced a miscarriage, Zelie reached out to her through a letter. “When I had to close the eyes of my dear children and bury them, I felt deep sorrow, but I was always resigned to it,” she wrote. “I did not regret the pains and the sorrows which I had endured for them. Many persons said to me: ‘It would have been better for you if you had never had them.’ I could not bear that kind of talk. I do not think that the sorrows and the troubles endured could possibly be compared with the eternal happiness of my children with God. Besides, they are not lost to me forever; life is short and filled with crosses, and we shall find them again in Heaven. Above all, it was on the death of my first child that I felt more deeply the happiness of having a child in Heaven, for God showed me in a noticeable way that He accepted my sacrifice. Through the intercession of my little angel, I received a very extraordinary grace.”  ​
 
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Grief ministry: Share in Your Sorrow Part 1

4/16/2019

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The focus of these Sessions was on Miscarriages and those who lost children early in the child's life. 

"Why?" is a big question we ask God. 

The answer is different for all of us, but let me share this answer that my wife and I got during prayer as to "why" we've had miscarriages. It's a way to spiritually bond to Mary, specifically her sorrowful heart as "Our Lady of sorrows." Even though she never had the pains of a miscarriage, she knows the sadness of having an innocent child die. Therefore, of all the help or assistance we as a Church can offer, nothing compares to what, or rather WHO, Jesus offers to you, His mother! 

If He provides for the birds in the air and the fish in the sea, How much more will He provide to you who mean so much more? 

We hope that in sharing this pearl we received during our hard times that you are able to have some more consolation. Please, if you are willing, share some of the pearls you have noticed during your difficult times. We are called to a community to help lift each other up. May God bless us in all we do. 
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 Parish Address
St. Mary's Catholic Church 

406 E. Savidge Street. Spring Lake, MI  49456
Phone (616) 842-1702

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School Address
St. Mary's Catholic School
430 E. Savidge Street. Spring Lake, MI  49456

(616) 842-1282
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