Respect Life
Mother’s Day Shower
Bring your donations to the crib in the commons during the month of May
During the month of May we will have a special collection for mothers in
need. Items will be donated to the Gabriel Project and MaRiH Center The most needed items are:
- diapers (all sizes) and wipes
- baby soap, shampoo, and lotion,
- Similac Advance formula
- diaper bags
- Infant onesies and sleeper, 2T summer clothes for boys and girls
- baby bathtubs
- umbrella strollers
If you have large items to donate, please contact Stacy Austin to coordinate.
We have compiled a variety of resources to support and assist pregnant women and their children, infertility and infant loss support, post-abortion support, and Natural Family Planning (NFP) information.
Pregnancy & Family Resources & Volunteer Opportunities
Gabriel Project
Gabriel Project offers emotional, spiritual, material, and financial support through a pregnancy helpline and parish-based volunteer “Angel” support. If you are in need of assistance, call the confidential helpline, use the online contact form, or visit their website to learn more about all their resources.
Good Shepherd is joining other Catholic parishes to offer support to pregnant women in need through Project Gabriel. If you would like to be on an email list for needed items or serve as a Gabriel Angel, please reach out to Stacy.
Confidential helpline: 703-841-3810
Rosary for Life
2nd Saturday of every month, following the 9am Mass
All are welcome to join the Knights of Columbus on the 2nd Saturday of each month from 10 – 11am to prayer a Rosary for Life in front of the Alexandria Women’s Health Center 2616 Sherwood Hall Lane.
The MaRiH Center
The MaRiH Center (pronounced “Ma-rye-ah”) provides free and confidential assistance to women experiencing a crisis pregnancy. Hours are Monday – Thursday from 10am – 3pm and Saturday from 10am – 1pm.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington
If you are pregnant and need help or are facing an unplanned or pregnancy, you do not have to figure this out on your own. You can call or text 703-973-0129 24/7 to talk to a certified pregnancy counselor about all your options.
A Best Choice Women’s Health & Ultrasound Center
Founded in 2013, ABC Women’s Health & Ultrasound Center provides a variety of free services and programs to meet client needs.
Our Services include:
- Free Ultrasounds
- 24 Hour Ultrasound Law
- Free pregnancy tests with immediate results
- HIV Testing
- Accurate Information on Pregnancy Options
- Prenatal and Infant Care Education
- Referrals to Community Resources and Agencies
All services are free and confidential.
Mother of Light Center
The Mother of Light Center (MOLC) provides food, household items, and clothes to the community. They also have a support group for single moms, sewing classes, and an after school program.
St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional and Maternity Housing
St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional and Maternity Housing assists mothers with children who may be transitioning from homeless and domestic violence shelters to independent living. We also assist women pregnant with their first child or pregnant moms who already have other children and find themselves at significant risk in their current living situations.
Infertility & Infant Loss Support
Our Fruitful Love
Our Fruitful Love is the Diocese of Arlington’s accompaniment for spouses experiencing infertility or pregnancy or infant loss. Society too often minimizes or ignores the loss and grief that families experience through infertility or 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.
Spring in the Desert
Infertility is a burden most couples don’t expect to carry. It can affect your marriage, your relationship with family and friends, and your relationship with God. Infertility often feels like a long and lonely path. But you are not alone! As a Catholic infertility ministry, Springs in the Desert is more than just a ministry; we are a place of respite, solidarity, and encouragement – wherever you are on the path of infertility, or in the experience of pregnancy loss. We’ve created a community here, and it’s built on faith in Christ and His good plan of fruitfulness for each one of us.
We’re so glad that you found us, and we hope that you will find encouragement from our blog posts, podcast episodes, resources, and virtual and in-person events. If you need to talk or have a prayer request, let us know. You’re not alone anymore. It is our honor to walk with you!
Church’s Teaching on IVF
We all suffer with couples who know the painful experience of infertility. But however well-intended it may be, IVF is a process that results in more lives being destroyed than babies being born.
In the process of IVF, many embryos are never transferred to a mother’s womb, but are destroyed or indefinitely frozen. Of those who are transferred, only a fraction survive and eventually are born. Sadly, millions of human beings have been killed or potentially permanently frozen as a result of IVF.
The rhetoric in the recent discussion of IVF has often spoken of human life as a product or property. This is especially true in situations involving anonymous donors or surrogacy.
We believe that every person’s life is a gift from God, including those conceived by IVF.
There are many restorative, often-overlooked, treatments that can help to address the root causes of infertility. Click here to learn more. -Father Tom
Post-Abortion Support
Project Rachel
Project Rachel is a diocesan post-abortion ministry that offers an integrated approach to healing for anyone affected by abortion with the compassionate support of trained staff, priests, and licensed mental health professionals who understand this experience of unresolved sorrow, trauma, and grief with the utmost care, compassion, and sensitivity.
Confidential Helpline: 703-841-2504
Email: info@helpafterabortion.org
Day of Prayer and Healing: After Abortion Retreat for Women
Saturday, April 6, 2024
These group healing events are held in a private and peaceful setting, in English and Spanish, based on the Entering Canaan model. There will be an opportunity to hear from a past participant and others who have found healing. You are not alone. Take the first step. For confidential inquiries and registration, please contact Project Rachel Ministry: (703) 841-2504 or info@helpafterabortion.org.
Natural Family Planning (NFP)
Natural Family Planning (NFP)
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for various methods of charting a woman’s natural signs of fertility in order that the married couple may achieve or postpone pregnancy.
NFP methods are inexpensive and can become a normal part of a couple’s daily routine and assist the woman in general health awareness. NFP works with a couple’s fertility, not against it.
The methods of NFP represent authentic family planning because they respect the nature of sexual intercourse as God made it – to be love-giving and life-giving. NFP methods promote respect between husband and wife, openness to human life and recognize the value of children. When practiced well, NFP methods can help to enrich the bond between husband and wife. As holistic family planning that works with nature, the methods of NFP are acceptable for people of various religious and philosophical beliefs.
NFP Methods
Marquette Method
The Marquette Model brings 21st-century technology to NFP by using urine fertility biomarkers collected at home that measure hormone levels. These biomarkers can be used in conjunction with cervical mucus or basal body temperature and an algorithm to confidently determine the woman’s fertile window.
All Marquette instructors are required to be healthcare professionals and study under the Institute for Natural Family Planning at Marquette University.
Creighton Method
The Creighton Model relies upon observation and charting of biological markers of a woman’s health and fertility to tell the couple when they are naturally fertile and infertile. This system allows the couple to achieve or to avoid pregnancy.
Sympto-Thermal Method
Sympto-Thermal Method is based on changes in a woman’s cervical mucus, waking or resting temperature, and cervix. These observable signs change in response to the hormones of the menstrual cycle. Then the couple interprets the chart and makes a decision based on their family planning intentions.
Billings Method
The Billings Method focuses on determining fertile and Infertile days by cervical mucus sensations.
Catholic Women & Couples NFP (CWCNFP) is a lay-Catholic organization which teaches, without charge, Fertility Awareness and Natural Family Planning to Adult Catholic Women and Catholic Couples. CWCNFP teaches the Billings Method.