Chapter 11

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Resources for Single Parents, Children & Teens

Parents are children’s first teachers – of life, love, family and faith. Even under ideal circumstances, the modern family faces significant pressures.  Parenting requires a wellspring of devotion and resilience. Families led by single parents may have particular challenges that require additional spiritual, emotional and practical support. Families need ongoing accompaniment and prayer as guide their children’s holistic development.

Resources for Single Parents

  • The Divorced Catholic’s Guide to Parenting by Lynn Cassella-Kapsinsiki
  • Single & Raising Saints by Jo Holt
  • Dating and the Single Parent by Ron L. Deal
  • Momentum is a faith community of Catholic single mothers committed to creating a vibrant faith life. They offer in-person and online retreats and online weekly gatherings.
  • Kids’ Turn San Diego is a nonprofit organization that supports the well-being of children who are experiencing family separation through divorce, separation or military deployment. Their primary focus is the Family Workshop for Separated and Divorced Families, a co-parenting program for families with children ages 5-17. They also offer high conflict co-parenting program called Cooperative Co-Parenting.

Parish Resources

  • Faith Journeys Foundation, Inc, Inc.’s mission is to provide churches and schools with the tools and expertise to offer faith-based group programs for children and adolescents from divorced or separated families, along with their parents, so families may heal more fully, grow stronger in their faith, and pursue their vocations free of the burdens of unresolved grief. Founder Lynn Cassella-Kapusinski, LCPC, NCC is recognized as a leading figure regarding faith-based pastoral care of children from divorced families. As a licensed clinical professional counselor, pastoral counselor, and Catholic “child of divorce” who has been happily married since 2001, Lynn combines professional and personal expertise into her passion for helping children and adolescents grow stronger from parental divorce. Also an author, Lynn has written age-appropriate books for Catholic children of divorce as well as The Divorced Catholic’s Guide
    to Parenting. Lynn joined the Office for Family Life & Spirituality for a “Profiles in Ministry” video in December 2020. Please see that video here.
  • Supporting Single Parents
  • This Lent? Try Helping a Single Parent Family

Books & Resources for Children & Teens

For Children (Topic of Divorce)

  • Fred Stays with Me! by Nancy Coffelt
    Told from the point of view of a young child whose parents are divorced, Fred Stays with Me follows a girl and her dog, Fred, from one parent’s house to the other’s, giving her a sense of continuity and stability. 
  • Missing Rabbit by Roni Schotter 
    While shuffling back and forth between her Mama’s house and her Papa’s house, Kara’s favorite toy, Rabbit, asks to stay at Papa’s house and Kara must leave her toy behind while she is at Mama’s house, where she misses him terribly, in a heartwarming tale for children whose parents are divorced that captures the true meaning of home and parental love.
  • Dinosaurs Divorce by Marc Brown
    A comprehensive, sensitive guide for changing families, Dinosaurs Divorce helps readers understand what divorce means, why it happens, and how to best cope with everyone’s feelings.
  • Meet Julie: An American Girl by Megan McDonald
    In 1974, after Julie’s parents divorce, she moves to a new San Francisco neighborhood where the school does not have a girls’ basketball team, so she fights for the right to play on the boys’ team.
  • When Parents Divorce or Separate by Lynn Cassella-Kapusinski 
    Formed by the truths of the Catholic faith and by what professionals in family counseling have found helpful, this guide through parental divorce and separation designed for children ages 8-12, blends faith with interactive elements.

For Children (Topic of Separation)

  • My Mom and Dad Don’t Live Together Anymore by Dr. Judith A. Rubin PhD
    This drawing book encourages kids to explore their inner world through both pictures and words, helping them to understand themselves and feel better during a difficult time of change.
  • The Best of Both Nests by Jane Clarke
    One day, Mrs. Stork tells Stanley that Dad is going to fly off and build his own nest. At school, Stanley worries about Dad missing Fathers’ Flyday Friday. But his friend Stella tells him, “Two nests are better than one.”

For Teenagers

  • Making Your Way After Your Parents’ Divorce by Lynn Cassella
    Written by a “child of divorce” for “children of divorce,” Making Your Way After Your Parents’ Divorce is a supportive guide that helps personal growth. It takes an honest look at the effects that divorce can have in the life of a teenager or young adult, and the ways that they can move toward healing and forgiveness after their parents’ divorce.
  • Now What Do I Do? by Lynn Cassella-Kapusinski
    Author Lynn Cassella-Kapusinski offers a workbook for teens to help them flush out their feelings and fears over their parent’s divorce or separation.
  • Restored Podcast

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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 combines the Diocese of San Diego’s coat of arms on the left side, and his on the right. On his, a red boat on a blue ocean sits on 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 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, 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 communities.

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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