An international ministry with a mission to provide spiritual and emotional support is building faith-based communities for Catholic mothers raising children on their own.
Momentum meets moms where they are with in-person and online retreats and gatherings, according to an Oct. 1 article in St. Louis Review.
“People sometimes try to achieve some human definition of ‘perfection’ in their congregation and social groups,” said Erin, a mother who has found Momentum’s support helpful.
She told the St. Louis Review that it has helped her battle the isolation that can come with being a single Catholic mom. “Having never been married and having a child sometimes feels like a scarlet letter, but I know I’m not alone,” she said. “It’s an acknowledgement that we’re imperfect humans and we can still love God, and we can still pursue holiness and we can help each other out.”
Momentum began in Montreal, Quebec, in 2016 as an annual retreat founded by Talitha Cere. According to Momentum’s website, Cere was a single mother for 14 years and is now married with three children. The ministry provides spiritual and emotional support for Catholic moms raising their kids alone, whether they are separated, divorced, annulled, widowed, or never married.
One such mom is Sarah Surrey. Several years ago, she was attending classes to enter the Catholic Church at St. Nicholas Parish in O’Fallon, Illinois, when her marriage started to fall apart, according to St. Louis Review. The Respect Life Office in her diocese was instrumental in providing assistance during this time, as was her new local parish.
Surrey helped found a chapter of Momentum, which now meets every other month with other moms at St. Clare of Assisi Church in O’Fallon. At the group’s September gathering, Surrey and two other women watched and discussed a video of a testimonial from a single Catholic mom. The three shared personal stories, emphasizing humility and trust in God as they find support in their faith community, according to the St. Louis Review.
Rachel Layfield, one of the women at the St. Clare group, says that the group — and the support it provides — makes a big difference to her life as a single Catholic mom.
“I often think when I’m having a difficult time getting my daughter to bed in the evenings, across town there’s someone else that also is struggling to get their 10 year old to take a shower or struggling to make their kid eat their vegetables,” she said, according to the St. Louis Review. “And I take a lot of comfort from that, because sometimes as a single mom you feel very alone.”
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