When we ask the question, “why does Rachel’s Vineyard work for the healing of the wounds of abortion?” the answer comes down to one word: Love. Unlike our broken world, which all too often equivocates the word love (“I love Mom” “I love ice cream” “I love God”, etc.), we…
Our New Facebook page
Rachel’s Vineyard of Kentucky now has a Facebook page: facebook.com/hopeafterabortionky Please visit our Facebook page, and share it with your family and friends — we want to reach as many women and men as possible with the message that there is both Hope and Healing after abortion! And please feel…
Why Rachel’s Vineyard: Healing of Broken Relationships
When a woman goes to an abortion clinic, it is usually the end result of a whole string of circumstances in her life — in other words, it is not NORMALLY a “cold hearted decision to kill her baby” as some pro-lifers might be inclined to think. Some of these…
Joy on their faces
What is it like to meet with a group of women and men who have been through a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat? Joy on their faces — that is what I saw last week when our Kentucky Rachel’s Vineyard team had a little “reunion” meeting for our past retreatants. It was…
Why Rachel’s Vineyard (Part VII): Healing of our Emotions
The philosopher Aristotle and his greatest disciple, St. Thomas Aquinas, discerned that our human emotional life can be broken down into eleven basic emotions: Love, Desire and Joy are three emotions that we experience toward things that we perceive as good for us. Hatred, Aversion and Sadness are three emotions…
Why Rachel’s Vineyard (Part VI): Spiritual Flow of the Retreat
A spiritual retreat should have a certain “flow,” an orientation, in which the retreat moves toward a certain spiritual climax. Fr. Jean-Baptiste Rauzan (the founder of the Fathers of Mercy) said that in the parish missions of our community, the priests preach so as to bring people to the Mercy…
Why Rachel’s Vineyard (Part V): We are Social Beings
When a woman finds herself in an unplanned pregnancy, she often feels that she is alone, and must “deal with it” alone. Sometimes, the father of her baby tells her to “deal with it” or “get rid of it” – he leaves her to shoulder the burden of pregnancy alone.…