Chapter 11

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Infertility Awareness and Resources

Infertility is a burden most couples don’t expect to carry, yet as many as 1 in 5 couples will experience it. It can impact your marriage, your relationship with family and friends, and your relationship with God. The cross of infertility can be an especially challenging one for Catholic couples with a deep desire to be co-creators with God and receive the blessing of children in their home. This cross, carried day after day, month after month, and year after year—often in silence—can put them to the test as they strive to discover how God is calling them to live out their unique call to fruitfulness in every moment.

 

God will bless our marriages with fruitfulness if we ask, but not always in the ways we expect. It is important to remember that infertile couples are fruitful when their married love is “open to others, to the needs of the apostolate … the needs of the poor…the needs of orphans” and to the world (St. John Paul II, Homily, 1982; quoted in Married Love and the Gift of Life). While infertility often feels like a long and lonely path, it is not the end of the journey. And know that you are not alone!

 

Society too often minimizes or ignores the loss and grief that families experience through infertility (not to mention miscarriage and stillbirth). We are here to support you with prayer and resources as you seek to follow God’s plan for your marriage. We hope to provide you with information that will help you with various aspects of your struggles. We pray that you will find this as a source of help, hope and healing.

Help & Healing

Ministry Resources

  • What Parish Leaders Should Know about Ministering to Couples Experiencing Infertility (Webinar) by Angelique Ruhi-López, Carmen Santamaría, authors of The Infertility Companion for Catholics.
  • Pastoral Toolkit from Springs in the Desert
  • Click here for a free Mother’s Day Resource with three simple suggestions for honoring mothers while also recognizing the unique gifts and spiritual fruitfulness of women burdened by infertility.

Contact Information

Staff

  • Director: John Prust
  • Associate Director: Janelle Peregoy
  • Associate Director: Wendy Baez

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About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms depicts a red boat on a blue ocean, which is crisscrossed by diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is often referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, who was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic and cultural communities. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire allude to the blood of the martyrs.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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