CourageInternational

Today we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord — the moment when Christ returned to the Father, not to abandon us, but to draw our hearts toward heaven. Imagine what the Apostles may have felt as they watched Jesus ascend: wonder, hope, and perhaps even uncertainty about the road ahead. Yet before He departed, Our Lord reminded them: “I am with you always.” Our lives are meant for heaven. Every act of fidelity, every prayer whispered in weakness, every effort to begin again draws us closer to the Heart of Christ. Today, lift your eyes toward heaven with hope. The Lord who ascended has not left us behind.

Today, as we celebrate Our Lady of Fatima, we remember the three shepherd children who encountered something both glorious and frightening. Imagine what they must have felt — awe, confusion, wonder, even fear — as heaven suddenly touched their ordinary lives. And yet, Our Lady did not leave them in their fear. She spoke gently. She called them to prayer, sacrifice, and trust in God. Many members of Courage and EnCourage know what it is like to carry both longing and fear within the heart. At times, the call to follow Christ faithfully can feel overwhelming or lonely. But Fatima reminds us that God often works quietly through small acts of trust and perseverance. The Lord does not ask us to have everything figured out. He simply asks us to remain close to Him whatever the day may bring. To learn more about Courage International click the link in our bio or go to: Couragerc.org.

Our Blessed Mother gently invites us to bring every burden to her Son through her hands. Whatever weighs on your heart today, loneliness, temptation, family wounds, fear for the future, or the quiet crosses no one else sees, you do not carry it alone. Each Hail Mary is an act of trust. Each mystery draws us deeper into the life of Jesus. Each decade places our wounds, hopes, and desires into the loving care of Our Blessed Mother. Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org

Let us lift up a prayer for the Vicar of Christ and his mission to guide God's people with the grace of the Holy Spirit. For more information about Courage International, please click the link in the bio or send a direct message.

Courage International's Response to the Synodal Report. (You are welcome to repost our response and the link below to our official press release) On Tuesday (5 May 2026), the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod published the final report of Working Group 9, dedicated to “Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues.” As many outlets have already reported, the document contains an unflattering reference to the Courage Apostolate. Further, an accompanying “Annex” provides testimony from one individual about his negative experience with Courage. Courage considers this report to be both calumny and detraction against the organization and its members. Calumny, because the report mischaracterizes Courage’s work. Courage is not nor ever has been involved in “reparative therapy,” as alleged. The working group could have clarified this point by simply contacting Courage leadership. Rather than do so, however, the report presents one person’s experience and opinion as part of an official ecclesiastical document. Second, it is unjust to our members for the Synod to publicly present Courage meetings and members in a negative light on the basis of one person’s experience. This individual characterizes the meetings he attended as “secretive and hidden.” Courage members understand those meetings to be confidential and secure – precisely so that they can speak candidly and vulnerably without fear of someone reporting about them. Which is what this individual does when he describes people at the meeting as “lonely, hopeless, and often depressed.” Whether his estimation is correct, we don’t know. But it’s precisely because people often are lonely, hopeless, and depressed that we bring them together for support and insist on the confidentiality that enables them to speak freely about their struggles. Courage has suffered calumny and detraction before, but usually from secular outlets. It is a great sadness and an additional wound to our members to have this false and unjust depiction in a Vatican document. If synod officials would like to learn more about Courage International, Inc. and its apostolate over 45 years, our chaplains and members would be happy to meet with them. Contact: Rev. Kyle Schnippel, Chairman of the Board of Directors frschnippel@sgfp.org To go directly to the full press release please click the link below. ⬇️ couragerc.org/wp-content/upl…

So many people carry their struggles alone, afraid that if others truly knew them, they would no longer be loved. But Christ calls us out of isolation and into the light—not to shame us, but to heal us. Walking in the light does not mean being perfect. It means learning to live honestly before God, allowing Him to meet us in our weakness, our hopes, our wounds, and our desire to follow Him more faithfully. And when we do this, something beautiful happens: we discover we are no longer alone. Even small steps into the light can become the beginning of great hope. Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org

Our prayer is simple: that our hearts may be filled with the fire, the grace, and the love of the Holy Spirit. You may feel like your heart is not strong enough, or not free enough. But the Holy Spirit does not wait for you to have everything together. He comes precisely to meet you where you are. Even the desire for something better… even the small turning of your heart toward God… this is already His work within you. You are not meant to walk this road alone. And your story is not finished. Ask Him, in your own words: “Come, Holy Spirit. Stay with me. Do not leave me as I am.” For more information about Courage International please visit our website: Couragerc.org

“Every Christian soul carries burdens and real struggles and crosses, but the people, the families in the EnCourage apostolate carry a very unique difficult burden. And they need special intercession, special grace, and special attention from the members of the clergy who Christ has called to minister to them.” Deacon Andrew Barth Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org

Courage and Encourage members in the Philadelphia and surrounding areas are warmly invited to step away from the noise of daily life and enter into a day of prayer, renewal, and quiet reflection. This Day of Reflection is a day of prayer, meaningful conversations, and the grace of the sacraments. It is an opportunity to rest in God’s presence, connect with others who share the journey, and be strengthened through authentic community and friendship. Come and be renewed — you are not alone. Please click the link below to register.⬇️ couragerc.org/event/courage-…

On February 6, 2026, representatives from Courage International travelled to Rome for the opportunity to meet with Pope Leo XIV to have a discussion about the apostolate and how the Church can minister to persons with same-sex attraction. In our Newsletter you can read about the experience from the representatives themselves or watch the video of their visit, filmed by the Vatican Media. Learn about the image gifted to the Holy Father, and more! Photo by © Vatican Media Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Click the link below.⬇️ myemail.constantcontact.com/SPECIAL-EDITIO…

Our annual Sports Camp is Back! For many of our Members of Courage, sports haven’t always felt like a place of belonging. Too often, they’ve meant exclusion instead of connection. That’s why this camp matters. Our upcoming Sports Camp is more than just games. It’s a weekend of healing and authentic friendship, where we are strengthened through community, prayer, and the sacraments. Come be part of something powerful; we’re ready to welcome you. Register Today! Click the link below.⬇️ couragerc.org/event/sportsca…

Registration is now open! Join us for our 2026 Annual Courage & Encourage Conference. We are back at St. Mary of the Lake Conference Center in Mundelein, Illinois. It is a time of prayer, fellowship, and renewal for members of Courage, Encourage, clergy, and all who accompany this mission. We come together to be strengthened in faith, encouraged in community, and reminded that no one walks this journey alone. Set in a peaceful and beautiful seminary setting, the conference offers opportunities for the sacraments, spiritual talks, shared stories, and authentic friendship rooted in Christ. Whether you are a member, a loved one, or someone seeking to learn more, you are welcome. Come and experience the hope, grace, and community at the heart of this apostolate. Make plans to join us; whether for a day, the whole weekend or as a commuter from the surrounding area. Hope to see you there! Click the link below to register. couragerc.org/conference2026/

For those walking with Courage, hope is not a distant idea. It is something lived, day by day. In choosing chastity. In returning to prayer. In showing up for fellowship. In staying close to the sacraments. Your life speaks—often in quiet ways the world may not notice—but God sees. And your fidelity is a real and powerful witness. If you are on this path, take heart: the very fact that you keep turning back to God is already a sign of His grace alive in you. There is hope in this journey—because God walks it with you. Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org

Hope often comes in small, quiet ways. A gentle word. A listening ear. A simple act of kindness when someone needs it most. You don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. Even the smallest good you do can bring light into someone’s day. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to help a person keep going. If you’re feeling tired or unseen, your goodness still matters. And if you’re waiting for hope, it may come through someone’s small act of care. Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org

What a bold and radiant confession of faith. In a world that constantly urges us to search for fulfillment in a thousand different places, this young saint reminds us of a deeper truth: the human heart is not meant to be scattered—it is meant to be centered on a Person. For those striving to live faithfully, especially in the midst of interior struggles, her words are both invitation and assurance. Peace does not come from finally “figuring everything out,” but from entrusting everything to Him. If Christ truly is our everything, then nothing we surrender to Him is ever lost — it is transformed. Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org

The Holy Spirit does not try to confuse us—He invites us, gently and persistently, toward the life we were created for. Our “yes” may be quiet, hidden, and even costly. It may require trust when the path is unclear, or courage when the world does not understand. But every faithful “yes” draws us deeper into communion with Christ—and that is where true peace rests. Today, we also remember the birthday of Father John Harvey, whose life was a profound “yes” to God’s call. Through his fidelity, many have found hope, clarity, and the strength to live chastely and joyfully in Christ. Come, Holy Spirit. Help us to hear Your voice, to trust Your call, and to say yes—again and again. To learn more about Courage International please visit us at: Couragerc.org To learn more about the Father John Harvey Guild, please visit: Frjohnharvey.com

oday we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday—a gentle reminder that no matter how far we wander, mercy is always within reach. It’s a day to trust more deeply, forgive more freely, and open our hearts to compassion. May we carry that mercy into our daily lives, extending grace to others just as it has been given to us. Couragerc.org

By welcoming Jesus, “our Pasch”, the “God of life,” into our lives, and saying “yes” to Him, the Pope added, “no stone will block the way to our hearts, no tomb will suppress the joy of life, no failure will doom us to despair.” “Let us lift our eyes to him, the Risen Lord,” he concluded, “and press forward in the certainty that, against the obscure backdrop of our failed hopes and our deaths, the eternal life that he came to bring is even now present in our midst.” Pope Francis 2024 Easter vigil Are you looking for a community that truly understands your journey and supports you in deepening your relationship with Christ? Join us at Courage International! Here, we walk together in faith and love, fostering an environment of authentic friendship. You are not alone—let’s journey together! Go to: Couragerc.org