The U.S. Bishops’ National Catholic Mental Health Campaign will once again call for awareness and prayer this October around World Mental Health Day. In response to the bishops’ campaign, Catholic Charities USA and the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (CMHM) are encouraging parishes to offer Whole Hearted, a free trauma awareness seminar. For more information about the Whole Hearted resource and to download facilitator and participant materials in English and Spanish, go to the Catholic Charities website at https://tinyurl.com/WholeHeartedUSCCB. Look for coverage on this issue in upcoming editions of The Catholic Messenger.
The U.S. Bishops also encourage Catholics to participate in a Novena for Mental Health, an opportunity for all the People of God to join together in prayer for women and men experiencing or impacted by mental health issues and for all those who accompany them. While it can be prayed anytime, the entire Church in the United States is especially encouraged to pray this Novena from Oct. 10-18 each year, beginning on World Mental Health Day and concluding on the feast of Saint Luke the Physician, the patron of health care. For this and other resources, go to https://www.usccb.org/mentalhealth
