With Mauz Kay
I love singing songs of praise whilst walking along my local beach. I immerse myself in the glory of God’s Creation. I thank Him for my life and share my concerns. I often find I get an answer. If not, I believe that is because I need to do something about that problem.
Being of service to others is a way of prayer. I do volunteer work for the Beginning Experience ministry in loving service as Jesus would do.
The Beginning Experience is an international ministry for people who are divorced, separated or widowed.
It is difficult for Catholics who find themselves single again. There is a sense that others don’t know how to relate to them anymore now they are no longer in a marriage.
It is not up to anyone to judge but to support and accept them for who they are.
The Beginning Experience is a peer ministry of wounded leaders who have also experienced that loss of relationship. We are just vessels of the Holy Spirit who works through us during the healing process.
There is a weekend retreat designed to help grieving persons focus on their experience and emerge from the darkness of grief into the light of a new beginning.
The programme helps deal with the natural grief process and offers an opportunity, through God, for turning the pain of loss into an experience of positive growth. Participants are brought to love themselves again and to trust and love others. It brings them closer to God, trusting and loving Him.
Although there are Catholic based rituals during the retreat, we accept all denominations. Opportunities for Mass and Reconciliation are always part of each weekend. Clergy other than Catholic are also available for a blessing and prayer.
Over the weekend, we provide a safe and supportive environment for participants. It is a place where people are brought to an understanding of where they are at. The fee for accommodation, catering and the running of the programme is $200 for each person.
During the retreat we ran in August this year I had a constant feeling of grace and a tingling sensation that God was present. It is rewarding to see the way people transform.
The programme began 35 years ago and was started by a Catholic nun, Sister Josephine Stewart who was a family counsellor at the Catholic Renewal Centre in Texas.
We have been running in Perth for 25 years. All facilitators are trained. We are not there to give advice or solve anyone’s problems. We are just there to support and facilitate our peers through the process. We empower and enable them to work through the grief process at whatever stage they are at.
I was married for ten years and have been divorced for three years. I have two children Nicole (13) and Stephen (11). I was brought up in a family of nine children and both my parents were regular Mass goers. As a family, we had regular prayer times and were encouraged to be in service for others by my parents’ example.
I did not take my marriage vows lightly and thought it was for life. In those difficult times of my marital problems and divorce, I knew God was there. When I reached out to God, He carried me through.
For enquiries regarding the Beginning Experience contact Mauz 9537 1915 or Helen 9246 5150.