The trauma or shock of an abortion is very difficult to manage, especially when one does so alone, said Fe Mahler, board chair of Twin Cities Rachel’s Vineyard, a ministry focused on providing healing for people impacted by abortion. Beyond the mother who aborted her baby, family members and friends can be impacted, she said.
Men and women have gone on retreat at Rachel’s Vineyard, Mahler said — and some retreatants have been part of the abortion industry but turned away from it and need healing.
Fe Mahler
Sometimes, friends of the woman who had an abortion attend — people who earlier in their life may have driven someone to an abortion clinic.
“They realize later that maybe they could have been more supportive in helping their friend either keep the child or go through adoption or some other alternatives, not recognizing that the abortion itself would be very painful and would not be the end-all that maybe they thought it would,” Mahler said.
Mahler and retired priest Father Kevin Clinton, who has offered post-abortion counseling for more than 40 years, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” program host Patrick Conley to describe retreats offered by Rachel’s Vineyard to those affected by abortion.
Rachel’s Vineyard offers weekend retreats, Friday to Sunday, that include time to rest, gain perspective and help participants face the truth that will set them free by the grace of God, she said. “We base it on the passion of the Christ,” she said, with Friday night the crucifixion, Saturday the tomb and Sunday the resurrection. “We go through different processes, and with living Scriptures,” she said.
A Scripture reading is followed by a meditation, and then a ritual to “make it real for the individuals,” she said.
Father Kevin Clinton
Mahler said that by Sunday, men and women who came in burdened by the world leave with faces shining again, “and they have been able to meet with God, see the faith of God and begin to heal and reconcile.”
Asked how Jesus presents himself to those impacted by abortion, Father Clinton referred to the story of Jesus in a group of people with a woman who was accused of committing adultery. Jesus reacts with compassion and a willingness to accompany the person in the pain and the shame and the embarrassment the woman is feeling and certainly is being put on her, Father Clinton said.
With the tremendous polarization in today’s culture, Father Clinton said, “we are kind of like a field hospital, in which those who have been in denial for a long time are given a safe environment to face into their woundedness and open up to healing.”
Many people following an abortion lock themselves in a form of prison, he said, and isolate themselves.
In the Bible story, Jesus puts the crowd back on their heels by encouraging those without sin to cast the first stone, Father Clinton said.
While Jesus doesn’t support adultery, he wants to be present to the woman and bring her, accompany her by the grace of God to a better place, Father Clinton said. Similarly, retreatants are not judged, he said. “We are accompanying them and providing them an environment where they feel safe to deal with the truth in their lives.”
To learn more about Rachel’s Vineyard, visit rvineyardmn.org. To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. Sept. 10, 1 p.m. Sept 11 and 2 p.m. Sept. 12 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who discusses the local impact of Pope Francis’ recent letter on the “extraordinary form” of the liturgy, and Brian Ragatz, president of Edina-based Catholic Schools Center for Excellence, and Jules Nolan, operating partner at Minneapolis-based Phoenix School Consulting, who discuss how CSCOE teams with Nolan’s organization to offer support to students, teachers, principals and parents.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
Recent Comments