It’s hard to believe that we’re almost a month into 2020 already!

There are some exciting things on the horizon this year for Life-Giving Wounds.

First: We have SIX retreats confirmed and scheduled for 2020.

• February 7-9: Silver Spring, MD

  This one is exciting because a huge priest supporter of Life-Giving Wounds, Fr. Dan Leary, is bringing the retreat back to his parish for a second time and - see below - it will be back again in April! We are always so excited when priests (and their collaborative team) take the retreat and run with it.

• April 3-5: New York University

  Note that this retreat is open only to current students of New York University. We were there last summer and the retreat went SO well that the Catholic campus minister, Fr. John Baptist, invited Life-Giving Wounds back again. Getting onto college campuses is a huge goal of ours, so it’s awesome to have a repeat appearance at a university.

• April 24-26: Silver Spring, MD

  Two Spring retreats at the same parish means some hustling, but an incredible opportunity to spread the word locally about what Life-Giving Wounds is doing.

• June 12-14: Lansing, MI

  We’re thrilled to expand to another diocese! The family life director in Lansing, Richard Budd, is a friend of Life-Giving Wounds directors Dan and Bethany (he and Bethany were in the same year at the JPII Institute). This retreat will be at a retreat center in Michigan, so should be a beautiful, peaceful setting to go deep with the Lord.

• October 2-4: New Orleans

  We’ve been in conversation for a while with the family life director in the Big Easy, David Dawson, and are excited to get down south for the first time! This retreat will also be at a retreat center, on a lake.

• November 6-8: San Francisco

  Finally, our last confirmed retreat will be on the West Coast. Again, so exciting to be breaking into new “markets” with the Life-Giving Wounds ministry.

Information and registration (when available) for all of these retreats can be found both on our website and on our Facebook page. So if YOU live near any of these locales - or if you have a friend, family member, etc., who does - please spread the word! All retreats are capped at around thirty people to create an atmosphere where trustful sharing can happen and retreatants can receive one-on-one attention.

Second: Goals for 2020

In addition to setting our own personal goals for 2020 (Dan: work out more; Bethany: work through the recipes in “Drinking with the Saints”), we have some MAJOR goals for the year ahead. Come, Holy Spirit!!

• Become a non-profit organization.

  This is in the works! We have connected with two wonderful Catholic lawyers with expertise in the non-profit world, and they are guiding us through the process. It looks like a lot of paperwork but nothing we can’t handle! Probably the most exciting part so far has been brainstorming who to invite to be on the board. We are blessed to know (and know people who know) some amazing leaders, go-getters, experts etc. who we hope can lend their time, talent, and treasure to Life-Giving Wounds. Stay tuned!

• Publish a leader’s guide.

  This is also very much in the works! Dan has been plugging away at committing to paper all of his gained wisdom on how to prepare for and implement the Life-Giving Wounds ministry successfully, in dioceses, at parishes, and on campuses. The leader’s guide will include step-by-step instructions on planning a retreat, budget templates, how to choose volunteers, etc. Plus some great big-picture stuff, like WHY this ministry? How to advocate for it to others? What wounds do adult children of divorce face? And SO MUCH MORE! This is a major labor of love and we are excited for it to come to fruition, hopefully in the first half of 2020.

• Find a major donor.

  As should be obvious, running a ministry takes not only time, interest, and expertise, but it takes cash! We are actively praying to be connected with someone who has been blessed with abundant means and who has a heart for adult children of divorce or separation. Come Holy Spirit, big time! We will keep knocking on doors (so to speak) to see how God will provide in this area.

• Expand into more dioceses, parishes, campuses, etc.

  God is already opening doors here. In addition to the six retreats listed above, we have one confirmed already for 2021 (Metuchen, NJ) and a few in conversation / final commitment stage. Hooray! Here again, we’re going to be “knocking on doors” to explore interest with contacts of ours, diocesan leaders, friends who know people, etc. A big goal is getting onto college campuses. College students are particularly poised to 1) realize the wounds their parents’ divorce or separation has caused, perhaps for the first time, and 2) have the time and willingness to explore those wounds. We’re thrilled to be in conversation with several campuses to brainstorm how Life-Giving Wounds can make a difference. Please pray for that!

Yikes, this update got long! If you made it to the end - thanks and congratulations :)

Until next time,

Dan & Bethany Meola

Founders and Directors, Life-Giving Wounds