Family Healing and Recovery Ministry

Pauline Witness Talk

Brandon Witness Talk

Tim Witness Talk   

Keegan Witness Talk  

Frank Kelly (part 1 of 3)  

Frank Kelly (part 2 of 3) 

Frank Kelly (part 3 of 3)

January 2023
As we look back in the past year, we see the blessings and graces God has poured out over our family
and friends of the Family Healing and Recovery Ministry. We have had joyous occasions of
engagements, weddings, welcoming of new life into our families as well as the sadness and hardship of
life-changing illnesses within our families and friendships. Each of our ministry team leaders were
saddened to say goodbye to our loved ones when God called home:
 Karen Wenger’s father, Thomas Logan, on 4/22/2022
 Karen McWilliams’s mother, Carol Swanson on 8/15/2022
 Fr. Mike Hobson’s sister, Dawn Marie (Hobson) Costello on 9/9/2022
 Family Healing & Recovery Ministry friend and servant of God, Frank Kelly on 10/26/2022
It was a year of great challenges that brought our families closer to each other and a deeper reliance on
God’s Divine Mercy and love. Please keep our families in your prayers and know that you and your
families are always in our prayers.
In preparation of our 10 th year, and after much dialog with ministry members, we decided to change the
format of our gatherings to one meeting a month which is now first Fridays starting at 6:30pm with
rosary, guest speaker and Mass with live stream followed by food and fellowship. January 6 th was our
first gathering of 2023 and we were pleased to see it doubled our attendance. Our speaker, John's
message was one of hope. He shared that his strength comes by putting God first in his life for all things.
Please see our flyer for a list of scheduled speakers and for contact information. Like us on Facebook
(Family Healing and Recovery Ministry) and be connected for updates.
God bless you and your families!
Karen and Frank McWilliams

REFLECTIONS

June 5, 2021

Our First Saturday Family Healing and Recovery gathering meets today. It is the first time we can gather as a community and offer food, fellowship and one on one support without   “socially distancing” from one another and covering our faces with masks. So much has changed since we were hit with the Covid- 19 restrictions over one year ago.  As we come together, we celebrate our friendships of the people we’ve missed and we pray for those who God has called home. This has been a challenging year for all those living in the best of situations; however, it has been that much more difficult for those who have struggled with substance use disorder (SUD).  We watched as many of the area support groups close, some temporarily, and some indefinitely.  Many support groups have been replaced by Zoom meetings in an effort to reach out to those in need. The Family Healing and Recovery Ministry chose to live-stream our meetings.  We live- streamed from our homes, back yards and then brought it back into the church.  We worked as a family, with a lot of trial and error but we continued because we knew all too well what isolation can do to those afflicted by SUD and their families who suffered with them.  Our mission has always been to bring hope to the hopeless through the healing power of Jesus.   We put our trust in Jesus and He has never failed us.  Throughout this year, we have had many situations that were presented to us that looked like we couldn’t continue this ministry, whether it be the State or Government restrictions that effected how our churches continued, or not. In our wildest imaginations, did we ever think that the doors of the church would be closed?  God showed us that He will never be silenced.  We persevered knowing that He was our strength and He would always make a way to bring hope and peace even when all seemed lost.

Karen Wenger and I presented a virtual workshop at the Westburg Faith Community International Symposium this past April. We presented our challenges in reaching those in need in the middle of a pandemic. It was titled “Social Media vs. Social Distance:  Caring for Wounded Hearts during a Pandemic”. In our presentation, we discussed how we had to change the way of outreach to the Family Healing and Recovery Ministry community.  We showed that two nurses and a priest, with limited technology experience, were able to bring live-streaming meetings to many more people than we ever could in our face-to-face gatherings. Through our research, we found that the live-streamed meetings reached far beyond our expectations. We had almost 8,000 viewers (over the course of 10 months) from as far away as Michigan, Nova Scotia and Florida. This is proof that if God asks something of us, He never does things small and is never outdone in generosity.  Our presentation got the attention of the heads of the Westburg Institute and we were asked to be featured in their Westburg Institute journal. We are finalizing that now to be submitted for review. God is good! We know that His hand is on this much needed ministry. We continue to pray that going forward; this ministry will spread into many faith communities and bring hope, peace and love into our families.

God bless you and your families!
Peace
Karen and Frank McWilliams




December 6, 2020
Family Healing and Recovery Ministry (Rosary4recovery.org) continues to provide support and prayers as we are now well into another spike in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Since the last reflection newsletter on September 10, 2020, we have fielded many calls and requests for prayers from those struggling with the effects of this pandemic. This has been particularly difficult for those who are afflicted by addiction fighting despair and the families who suffer with them who are losing hope.
The opiate crisis has faded into the background as Covid-19 leads the daily news headlines and is the topic of every virtual water cooler and zoom meeting in our workplaces, schools, grocery stores and dinner tables. As important as it is to keep updated on the response to Covid-19, we must not forget that people who struggle with substance use disorder (SUD) are particularly vulnerable to overdoses and suicide. In the past several months, we have known several families who have been affected by this horrible loss. Their loss is compounded by the restrictions of social distancing from this pandemic. 
We know the power of prayer and have seen God’s mercy first hand. We have seen many people draw into a deeper relationship with God by the peace experienced in their hearts, even when all seems lost. This is why we believe that community prayer and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is healing families who have been under attack from the demons of addiction. We stand united to take back our families and find protection and healing through Jesus, the Divine Mercy.
December’s faith witness is from a courageous young man, Tim, who passionately defends God’s most vulnerable creation, the unborn child. There has been much controversy over the right to life question on the ballot this year and quite frankly, I can’t understand why this is a controversial matter. It is not our place to determine who should live or die, this is God’s job. The enemy of God uses distraction and chaos to accomplish its plan of destruction of the likeliness of God’s image – an image that we have all inherited at conception.  While we were busy and distracted by the defunding of police, riots, pandemic and election results – many of which has caused division in our families, our friendships, our workplaces and even in our churches the Massachusetts legislature, in the darkness of a late night vote passed a bill allowing late term abortion and took away the parental guidance and support of our children by allowing a 16 year old to obtain an abortion without the consent of their parent(s).   This bill now sits on Governor Baker’s desk for signature. Another bill is coming up for the “death with dignity act”. The last time this was presented in 2012 it was named, “death with dignity act” and it did not pass - only by a 2% majority vote. This month, on December 31^st, 2020 this bill comes back with a new title of “Massachusetts End of Life Options Act” (S.2745/H.4782).  Think of the ramifications of this bill passing; I could list hundreds of scenarios but if we look at it from the illness of substance use disorder (SUD), how much time and effort would be placed on the recovery help needed to overcome SUD?  In an overdose situation, would a limit be placed on how much Narcan (opiate reversal med) could be used before letting a friend or family member die?   Caring for someone who is ill involves a lot of self-sacrifice and unconditional love and its never easy. Never lose hope, God loves all His children and will bring each of us home at our allotted time. By refusing to provide proper care or to hasten one’s life by “assisted suicide”, we are dismissing the love and mercy of God.
Please continue to check for updates on Rosary4recovery.org. The Healing Mass has resumed at St Joseph the Worker, Hanson, MA every 4^th Saturday (please note there are some months with 5 Saturdays) with social distance parameters. Our rosary gatherings will be live streamed until further notice. Please continue to pray with your families and friends over the phone, through the internet or “face timing”. God promises that where there are two or more gathered in His name, He is in their midst! Please pray for the ministry and all those who are involved in it. Our mission is to promote healing for the family in the midst of addiction.
God bless you and your families!

Peace
Karen and Frank McWilliams




September 10, 2020

Family Healing and Recovery Ministry is keeping up with technology in an ever changing world. Looking back on our last gathering on March 7th, 2020; I thought of how I took for granted the joy of meeting each other face to face, without masks, social distancing and constant disinfection of pretty much everything and everyone around us. We worshiped and prayed for each other as a community all in the True Presence of Jesus.

So now, we have adjusted to pray with each other remotely with live stream Mass, rosary and adoration. The churches are slowly opening with parameters and guidelines from the State. The churches are cleaner than ever before with many volunteers to clean and disinfect after each Mass. Many of our older adults are not back in the pews because of underlying health conditions - making them high risk to contract the Covid virus.  In my opinion, they are the strength of our church. Their prayers and redemptive sufferings have held us up in dark times and I’m certain they continue to be the powerful prayer warriors beyond the walls of the physical church. In the words of Fr. Kwang Lee “those in their twilight years are the volunteers in these times of the persecution of the church.”

Keeping with the changing times, we have been providing live stream rosary and Mass. If we were skilled in editing, you probably wouldn’t see the “bloopers” on our recordings. It’s keeping us humble for sure!  We have been doing short interviews with many of our faithful brothers and sisters and try to update the website and face book page with new videos each week. We have attended an online seminar of the effects of SUD during this pandemic. We are reaching out to gather information to bring much needed help and support to the community. We are looking to bring Mental Health training and support and Bereavement Support Groups to start.  These will take time to set up and it is our hope that we will be able to provide these resources to the faith community once we are able to meet again.  Please pray for the ministry and all those who are involved in it. Our mission is to promote healing for the family in the midst of addiction.

Lastly, we would like to congratulate Fr. Mike Hobson who was recently awarded the “Founders’ Award” from Sigma Pi Fraternity, an international Social Collegiate Fraternal Organization which Fr. Mike joined while attending college at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This award is the highest and most prestigious honor which the Fraternity bestows upon an individual brother. Fr. Mike is the Spiritual Director for the Family Healing and Recovery Ministry. He is a humble servant and has giving so much of his time and support for the care of others.  He is a dear friend, and support to our family, the faith community and particularly those who are affected or afflicted by addiction. Please join us in congratulating Fr. Mike!

Please continue to check for updates on Rosary4recovery.org. The Healing Mass has resumed at St Joseph the Worker, Hanson, MA every 4^th Saturday (please note there are some months with 5 Saturdays) with social distance parameters. Our rosary gatherings will be live streamed until further notice. Please continue to pray with your families and friends over the phone, through the internet or “face timing”. God promises that where there are two or more gathered in His name, He is in their midst!                                                                                                                    
God bless you and your families!

Peace
Karen and Frank McWilliams