SAN DIEGO — The second annual Mass for the Divorced and Separated will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 11, at the diocesan Pastoral Center.
The bilingual liturgy, to be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Pulido, will begin at 6:30 p.m. A reception will follow, with testimonies from those involved with divorced ministry and the opportunity to learn about the annulment process.
Janelle Peregoy focuses on ministry to the divorced and separated as an associate director in the diocesan Office for Family Life and Spirituality.
She described the Mass for the Divorced and Separated as “an opportunity to build community.”
“It helps immensely to find community among other Catholics who know this unique pain, but who also recognize that our deepest human healing can only be found through Christ,” she said.
About 80 people attended the Mass last year, said Peregoy. She saw Mass-goers leave with “so much palpable joy and relief.”
Bernice Abellera, 52, attended last year’s Mass and plans to attend this year’s, too.
Abellera, a member of St. Michael Parish in Paradise Hills, was separated in 2006 and divorced in 2009, after seven years of marriage.
“The very fact that this event was organized for the divorced and separated in our diocese is a big deal,” said Abellera. “We are never talked about in our parish, much less during Mass. I felt seen and cared for.”
Patricia Talamantes, a 59-year-old member of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Little Italy, also attended last year.
She felt “completely devastated” after her marriage “fell apart” after more than 27 years. She experienced healing through Church-sponsored support groups for the divorced and separated.
At last year’s Mass, she said, it was “wonderful” to see those who had attended the support group with her.
“I will always attend these Masses and gatherings,” she said. “They saved me.”
Karla Ordaz, 45, is a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Chula Vista.
She told The Southern Cross that, even though her marriage was “never a true covenant in the eyes of the Church,” she and her former husband had promised to “love each other forever.”
Following their separation, she endured “a dreadful depression.”
Ordaz found healing through Isaias 41:10, a Spanish-language support group for the divorced and separated, which she now serves as coordinator.
Last year’s Mass was “a wonderful experience” for her.
“I am excited to attend this year as well, in hopes that more people take advantage of this beautiful opportunity,” she said. “All should come and be part of this experience. Give yourself this gift, come meet other people, find a ministry that is best for you, and see … that you are part of a Church that supports what Jesus so much instructed: to love one another.”
For more information, email jperegoy@sdcatholic.org or call (858) 490-8282.
