Beverly; Charleston, South Carolina
Barbara; Singapore
Anne Marie; Auckland, New Zealand
Jim; Phoenix, Arizona
Anna; Alexandria, Louisiana
Susan; San Diego, California
Rosemarie; Trenton, New Jersey
Bill; Sun City, California
Mary; San Jose, California
Vera; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Deb; Perth, Western Australia
Ngaire; Auckland, New Zealand
Bill; Dallas, Texas
Jackie; Sacramento, California
Program Brings Hope in Face of Loss
By Mike Latona/Catholic Courier After his wife of 45 years passed away, John Maley encountered fellow parishioners who did not know what to say and coupled friends who hesitated to include him in their gatherings. When John Shannon became divorced, his best friend stopped calling him. Sue Harriman, who also is divorced, became inactive in …
Fr. Dick Celebrates 55 Years!
Fr. Richard Mevissen, CSsR celeberates 55 years as a priest; 50 years as a Redemptorist. CONGRATULATIONS, FR. DICK ! Fr. Dick professed vows as a Redemptorist in 1961, and was ordained in 1966. He earned an MA in catechetical Theology, and did further graduate study in Religious Education. He has served as a college seminary …
Bishop David A. Zubik: We don’t toss out divorced Catholics
By Bishop David A. Zubik Let’s clear up one thing right away: a civil divorce does not prevent a Catholic from full participation in the life of the church, including celebrating Mass and receiving Communion. If someone has told you different, happily, they are very wrong! It’s possible that readers of Sunday’s Post-Gazette might not …
Bishop Taylor ordains Fort Smith widower to priesthood
PUBLISHED: DECEMBER 30, 2014 BY MARYANNE MEYERRIECKSFORT SMITH CORRESPONDENT SUBIACO — The Dec. 20 ordination of Father Jack Sidler had major significance for the Diocese of Little Rock. The oldest seminarian at Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales Corner, Wis., and the 70-year-old grandfather was ordained at Subiaco Abbey by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor. He …
Faerie Pabich on Beginning Experience and Sr. Josephine Stewart
Participant of the very first “Beginning Experience” weekend in Texas, Faerie Pabich, shares the history of the ministry and her personal relationship with co-founder Sr. Josephine Stewart. Faerie Pabich on Beginning Experience and Sr. Josephine Stewart. from Diocese of Knoxville on Vimeo.
Beginning Experience Helps Mend Broken Hearts After Divorce
by Susan Olp After Juanita Hooper went through a divorce in 1992, she found a way to begin again. Hooper attended a weekend retreat in 1993 sponsored by Beginning Experience, a nondenominational ministry that helps widowed, separated and divorced people come to grips with their loss. “It was one of the most powerful experiences …
International Board Report 2012
The 2012 International Convention featured a panel of International Board members reporting on the status of the ministry. View the presenters and their topics below. The panel presentation was followed by sessions in which groups of teams were invited to share their reactions, ask questions, and share best practices in their ministries at home. International …
International Ministry Helps Widowed, Divorced Move Beyond Grief
by Denis Grasska Published in the October 2012 issue of “The Southern Cross” SAN DIEGO, CA – Cathy Savel had been married for 33 years when, one day, her husband had a heart attack at the gym. He was on a respirator for four days, and then he died. That was in April 2004. That …
Beginning Experience celebrates 30 years in LA
From The Tidings BY BRENDA MIKHAIL Wednesday, 25 May 2011 18:02 Trained peer ministers who have experienced a similar loss form the team which primarily facilitates three-day grief resolution workshops and provides pre- and post-weekend support programs, such as “Coping With Life Alone” and “Continued Beginnings.” The Beginning Experience® ministry was founded by St. Mary …
Beginning Experience Helps Widowed, Divorced Find Peace
By Denis Grasska SAN DIEGO — Mary Clement and Robert J. Clark have both lost spouses. Clement lost her husband of 33 years when he died after being seriously ill for a year and a half. Clark lost his wife when the couple divorced after 12 years of marriage. In both cases, a relationship died. …
Beginning Experience offers to heal the hurting
Written by Christine Bordelon | | They have bonded through the shared experience of loss either by death, separation or divorce. From July 25-27, 110 team leaders of Beginning Experience International Ministry, Inc., held their biennial convention, “Celebrating the Vision in a Time of Change,” commemorating the group’s 40th anniversary. “They’re my family,” said Rose …
After death, divorce or separation – the Beginning Experience
By Carol Baas Sowa Today’s Catholic Link to the article here SAN ANTONIO • In 1973 a Sister of St. Mary of Namur and her friend, a divorced Catholic mother, attended a Marriage Encounter weekend in Fort Worth with the hope of developing a program for engaged couples. During that weekend, the divorcee (Jo Lamia, …
Obituary Josephine
Co-Founder of Beginning Experience International Ministry, Inc. passes away at age 82 in Ft. Worth, Texas Ft. Worth, TX – Sr. Josephine Stewart died yesterday afternoon, May 8, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. after a long illness. May her soul rest in peace. Let us pray for Sr. Josephine and her family. She has a sister …
Quote: Lamott
There are two prayers: Help me! Help me! Help me! and Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! – Anne Lamott
Poem: Put Your Ear to the Ground
Put your ear to the groundand listen, hurried, worried footsteps, Bitterness, rebellion.Hope hasn’t yet begun.Listen again.Put out feelers. The Lord is there.He is far less likelyto abandon usin hardshipthan in times of ease. – Dom Helder Camara
Hope for Troubled Marriages
If your marriage is in trouble, consider Retrouvaille. A lifeline for troubled marriages, the Retrouvaille program consists of a weekend experience combined with a series of 6-12 post-weekend sessions over a three-month period. It provides the tools to help put your marriage in order again. The main emphasis of the program is on communication between …
2014 International Convention to be Held in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana has been selected as the location of the 2014 Beginning Experience International Convention, with Louisiana Beginning Experience teams serving as hosts for their peer ministry colleagues at the international event. With the theme of “Celebrating the Vision in a Time of Change,” the three-day program is planned as a weekend of learning, …
Beginning Experience Teams Transitioning to New Program Materials
Beginning Experience teams are transitioning now to offering the Beginning Experience Weekend program using materials that have been recently updated. The Beginning Experience Weekend Manual for Presenting Team and the Beginninng Experience Weekend Manual for Coordinators guide presentation of the ministry’s core grief resolution program. The materials are available under contract to Beginning Experience teams …
Beginning Experience – Alexandria, Louisiana
Beginning Experience of Alexandria, Louisiana has posted upcoming weekend programs on the community calendars of the city’s TV stations. To view the listing that appears on CBS Channel 5, KALB, click here.
Church’s ministry to those who’ve lost a spouse: The opportunities, challenges
By Emily Stimpson From Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, June 26, 2011 The apostle James made it all seem so simple.In his canonical epistle, he wrote: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before our God and Father is this: care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (1 …
Organization helps broken-hearted love again
By Mary Whalen From the Bluff County Reader, Feb. 14, 2011 February opens our minds and hearts to reflect on the love relationships of our lives. Emotional energy moves toward people who are tucked deeply in our hearts. Special tokens of love’s presence are bestowed upon spouses, parents, children, relatives and special friends. Remembrances of …
Quotation
Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell. —Emily Dickinson
Beginning Experience: Help for grieving singles
From the Pittsburgh Catholic By THERESA McHENRY Widowed, separated or divorced? Don’t know where to turn? Struggling with grief or loss? When distress, despair, anger or grief are trivialized, dismissed and remain unresolved, life may seem unfulfilled and aimless. The loss of self-esteem, together with feelings of sadness or bitterness, becomes a way of life. …
Weekends for divorced, widowed returning to Arkansas
From the Arkansas Catholic BY MARYANNE MEYERRIECKSFORT SMITH CORRESPONDENT FORT SMITH — When widower Jim Bolt, a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers, went on a Beginning Experience weekend in April, he thought he’d been through all the grief of losing his wife to a three-year struggle with lung cancer. Instead, he …
Why do I just want to be alone?
by Fr. Dick Mevissen, CSsRSpiritual DirectorBeginning Experience International Ministry, Inc. Many people in the devastating aftermath of the end of their marriage, either through death or divorce, wonder why they just want to be alone now. There are a couple of reasons for this (perhaps intense) desire. The basic reason is that people who are grieving …
Books
Learning to Live Again, 2010 edition by Sue Carpenter, Earl Frawner, Gene O’Brien and Pal Waugh with introduction, commentary and epilogue by Judith Tate O’Brien Every marriage ends. Interrupted by death or torn by divorce, a shattered union thrusts people into the trauma and turmoil of grief. This book is written for those experiencing this …
Scripture – Joshua 1:9
“I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go.” —New American Bible
How you can help someone who is grieving
When someone you know has experienced the loss of a spouse, you may experience a great deal of certainty. While we may wish to be helpful, we may not know what to do or what to say to be of comfort to the grieving person. Here are some suggestions: Say: I’m sorry. I care about …
Reacting to loss
The end of a marital relationship is one of the most traumatic losses a person will ever experience. The normal, natural reaction to such a loss is grief. You need to go through the grief to heal. Grief is much more than a feeling, although feelings are a part of it. Feelings of grief may …