A leap of faith to deal with divorce

New Beginnings is the name of the weekend retreat organised by the Ministry to the Separated, Divorced and Widowed (SDW) of the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission. The next such retreat will be held Oct 5–7 at the Seminary Building, Mt St Benedict. A participant on a New Beginnings retreat shares her thoughts.

Three years ago, I attended a weekend retreat for separated, divorced and widowed persons given by the SDW Ministry.

I had been divorced for several years after 32 years of marriage and felt that I was doing “just fine” and by many standards, I was. I had accepted my new normal, I had put my life back together and I presented to most people as a very ‘together’ woman. But I had not forgiven my partner for his infidelity, neither had I acknowledged my part in the break up and as a result, I had not forgiven myself.

At that weekend, I met women and men who were in various stages of grief and mourning and their anguish resonated with me because each story was mine, each cry of pain was my flood of tears already shed.

Although I had resisted the efforts of a very persistent friend to recruit me for the retreat, after two non-starts, I took a leap of faith and never regretted the decision. I know now that I am still a work-in-progress and that peace only comes from the assurance that we are nothing without the grace and mercy of God.

I will always be grateful that I took that leap of faith and that I honoured my promise to my friend to go into the weekend with an open mind.

To register for the next New Beginnings retreat weekend, contact Lucille 734-6422,   Angela 650-5901 or Wendy 652-5047.