Life Giving Wounds

Experiencing and living through a parents’ divorce is traumatic. The negative effects last a lifetime often endured silently. Most people never seek healing or even recognize the many ways in which this damaging experience has affected them. Oftentimes, individuals are only aware of brokenness and loneliness, feeling unable to move forward on a path of healing.

Attending the three-day retreat is a great way to start this journey of healing. The retreat focuses on discovering your identity as a child of God, although it also focuses on overcoming the effects of parental divorce, forgiving your parents, and connecting with others from this background.

A Life-Giving Wounds retreat hopes to be a significant turning point in your ongoing healing journey. With the help of our merciful Father, we hope to help retreatants see how their life-draining wounds can be transformed into life-giving resources of faith, hope, love, and joy, even in the deepest suffering.

This retreat has something for any adult child of divorce or separation, no matter how much healing you have received or need.

On this three day (Friday evening – Sunday afternoon) retreat you will experience:

Presentations by trained retreat leaders
 Guided small group discussions with peers
 Guided, silent journaling sessions
 Prayer, Mass, Adoration, and Reconciliation

This is a Catholic, though any religious affiliation is welcome to attend.

September 5-7, 2025
 Mater Dei Immaculate Conception Parish Center
 1212 Morningside Ave
 Sioux City, IA 51106

1. Accommodations have been blocked at two locations:  Hampton Inn and Suites, 5555 Sergeant Road, Sioux City, Iowa 51106 (click here).  Or, call 712-587-6984 and ask for the Life-Giving Wounds block by August 31. The cost of the room is $119 plus tax/night.  Courtyard Sioux City Downtown/Convention Center, 901 4th Street, Sioux City. Or, call 712-202-2700 and provide the code MLG. Rooms are either $109 or $119 plus tax/night.
2.  Then, register for the retreat by clicking on the below link.
3. Questions? Contact Jeff Schoep at 712-251-6465 or [email protected]
4. Learn more about Life Giving Wounds by listening to Fred Shellabarger's interview in February 2024 on Siouxland Catholic Radio. This year's retreat is similar to the March 2024 retreat discussed in this episode of Faith in Action.