On Saturday, November 15th, nine courageous women joined the Project Rachel ministry for a Day of Prayer and Healing after abortion. The retreat focused on creating a safe, confidential atmosphere where the women could encounter the eternal Truths that God’s love has not abandoned them and that His mercy outweighs their past.
The day was guided by a trained priest, a counselor, and two leaders who had themselves found healing after abortion. Together, they helped create a spirit of trust, surrender, and peace rooted in Jesus Christ. With constant prayer support covering us before, during and after the retreat, the day was one of huge success in Christ. Tears were shed, hearts were mended, grief was shared, and most importantly, the healing power of Christ’s redemption was made present and applied in the confessional and in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Among the many graces received during the retreat, one of the most powerful centered on the meaning of the Mass. Our priest explained that when we attend Mass, we are not simply going to worship God, we are more precisely joining Jesus’ perfect worship of the Father. We, in a mystical way, participate in this sacrifice. That means we should be attentive at the Mass, not simply letting the rituals pass us by, but thinking very actively of the things we want to offer up to God.
The offertory is precisely the moment when we should be joining our sacrifices to Christ. When the bread and wine are processed down the aisle it is a visual invitation and reminder to the congregation to offer our own petitions. The bread and wine symbolize all that we offer, our thanksgiving, joys, sufferings, and petitions. All these things, both spiritual and physical offerings, are brought to the altar and lifted up to heaven in surrender to Christ.
During the Day of Prayer and Healing, our priest, after explaining this, invited the retreatants to take the offertory seriously, and to offer Christ in that moment all the things that weigh so heavily on their souls. This included their fears, anger, scrupulosity, despair, and even the very lives of their beloved children. It provided a concrete and profoundly powerful opportunity for the work of healing to be accomplished, not by human effort, but by Christ. Our job is to simply accept God’s love and forgiveness and to surrender everything else.
This day of retreat was a clear reminder that healing flows not from our efforts but from Christ’s presence and power in the sacraments. As we reflect on the grace poured out, may each of us take a moment to reconsider how we approach the Mass. The same Christ who met these women in their sorrow, meets each of us in every Eucharist. Let us not pass through the offertory lightly. Instead, let us bring our whole selves, wounds and all, to the altar, confident that Jesus will receive, redeem, and renew.
If you or someone you know is suffering in the aftermath of abortion, we invite you to reach out to our confidential Project Rachel help line at 513-784-0531 or [email protected]