Project Rachel offers comfort and grace to post-abortive women
By Eileen Jevis
Staff writer
“O LORD, my God, I cried out to you for help and you healed me” (Psalm 30:3).
Lucienne Henneberry was a volunteer at a pregnancy center and now is a team member for Project Rachel — a ministry offered in the Diocese of Syracuse that provides spiritual and emotional healing to women who have had an abortion. Henneberry said she walked into a retreat behind a woman so broken with guilt and shame, she was being helped in by a friend. “I thought,” said Henneberry, “that God doesn’t want this terrible pain for her. In that moment, it occurred to me that if God didn’t want that pain for her, then he didn’t want it for me.” Henneberry, who had an abortion years ago, attended a ministry similar to Project Rachel. “My healing started the moment I walked through the doors,” she said. Henneberry said being a team member of the Project Rachel ministry has been a gift. She is grateful to be able to share her own experience with others to lessen their suffering. “I listen to their stories — these women who are secretaries, teachers, businesswomen, wives and mothers. I talk to them about the mercy of Jesus Christ and remind them of his love.”
“I couldn’t forgive myself,” added Ann, another woman struggling with a decision she made long ago. “I needed to experience Jesus’ divine mercy.” Ann thought she had put her abortion behind her. She went to college, met a wonderful man, got married and raised a family. “We had good jobs, a nice home, nice cars and went on vacations. We were healthy, and I told myself I was happy,” she said. “But unbeknownst to me, my abortion had planted a seed of self-loathing.”
Ann suffered from depression and anxiety. She tried everything to lessen her pain. She read self-help books, sought counseling, took anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications and at times, secretly drank alone. “Guilt and shame are toxic, affecting us most when we don’t acknowledge them,” said Ann. “I was living in denial and my abortion was eating away at my soul. It seemed no one could help me.”
Both these women are grateful they explored the Project Rachel Ministry and its Day of Hope and Healing. The program, led by priests, mental health professionals, and caring and compassionate team members, is strictly confidential.
Beth, who learned about the program in her church bulletin, said the retreat offered a safe, confidential environment where she could share her story and the sadness she lived with for the choice she made. “I believed I was beyond hope,” said Beth. “I questioned how God could forgive me.” Beth said spending time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration, going to confession, attending Mass and taking advantage of the counseling and group discussions were instrumental in her healing. She now knows that she is a beloved child of God who has forgiven her. And she has forgiven herself.
Kitty Spinelli is the founder of Joseph’s House, an organization that provides a safe home and family environment for mothers and babies who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. She heard about Project Rachel through her association with Lisa Hall, the director of the diocesan Family/Respect Life Office. As a team member in the program, Spinelli knows first-hand the trauma experienced by women who have had an abortion. “I honestly thought for several years that I was healed from the mistakes of my younger years that resulted in two abortions,” she said.
Spinelli attended the Day of Hope and Healing in 2017. “As the day unfolded, I was immersed in the care of the women and priests working in this ministry,” she said. “I was warmed to the depths of my heart.” Spinelli said that she learned that healing comes in increments and God sent very special people to help her by offering love, hope, understanding and compassion.
While she is more at peace, Spinelli said the wounds of the past can be exposed in unexpected ways. “Each time I see my grandchildren, an ache penetrates my heart as I wonder how many more grandchildren I would have if I had chosen life for my babies,” she said. “Those questions and so many others are the reason the Project Rachel ministry is an important component in the healing that is so desperately needed for those traumatized by abortion.”
Hall said those who attend experience a deep sense of peace and love. “To experience the freedom of forgiveness, to mourn over their lost motherhood, and to express their profound sorrow to God brings a peace that surpasses understanding,” she said.
The Project Rachel Ministry serves Onondaga, Oneida, Oswego, Cortland, Broome and Chenango counties. The Day of Hope and Healing is offered several times a year. The next one is scheduled for April 29. Call 855-364-0076 or email hopeandhealing@syrdio.org for additional information or to register.
Editor’s note: The names of some women mentioned in this article have been changed to protect their privacy.
