Spirituality is a key component in managing one’s mental health. Whether a mental health concern is episodic or long lasting, our Catholic Faith, along with professional mental health care and a supportive community, strengthens our connection to God and our ability to manage mental health challenges.  

At Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we provide faith resources for people with mental illness and for their families. The National Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers has many resources for prayer, inspiration, and learning about faith and mental illness.

Deacon Tom Lambert is a founding member and currently co-chair of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Commission on Mental Illness, and advisor to Faith and Fellowship, Oak Park, Ill. Tom served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the State of Illinois’ National Alliance on Mental Illness including a 2 year term as President. Tom co-founded and co-chaired the National Catholic Partnership on Disability’s Council on Mental Illness located in Washington D.C., served on the Board of Pathways To Promise, and served on the Board of NAMI-Faithnet.

Tom was ordained in 1983 and currently serves at Our Lady of Mt Carmel Parish in Chicago. Tom’s wife Rita is a spiritual director. Their oldest daughter has a mental illness. For the past 30 + years they have advocated for people with mental illness and their families in the community and for better pastoral awareness and care within the Church. They have led workshops across the country educating dioceses, priests, deacons, parish staff, religious, and laity about mental illness. Tom authored the manual “Mental Illness and Faith Community Outreach,” and wrote “Justice Issues and Catholic Social Teaching.” Tom provides a website of pastoral initiatives and resources for people with mental illness and their families at www.catholicmhm.org/chicago

988 – Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24 hour)

If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis you may call or text 988, the 24-hour Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You will be connected to the closest possible crisis center in your area. Dial 2 for Spanish.

Illinois Warm Line

If you or one of your family members has mental health and/or substance use challenges and would like to receive support by phone, call the Illinois Warm Line at 866-359-7953. Wellness Support Specialists are professionals who have experienced mental health and/or substance use recovery in their own lives. They are trained in recovery support, mentoring, and advocacy and are ready to listen and support you. The Warm Line is not a crisis hotline, but is a source of support as you recover or help a family member to recover. Hours of Operation: Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., except holidays

Moving Forward In Hope: Virtual Monthly Prayer Support

The Archdiocese of Chicago Commission on Mental Illness offers a monthly virtual gathering on Zoom: Moving Forward in Hope. Our goal is to create a safe place for those living with or caring for individuals with mental health concerns to pray and share with one another.  We know connections are paramount to our mental health and well-being.  These virtual meetings use Lectio Divina, that is, reflection based on scripture for inspiration. The meetings are on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  To register or for more information, contact Deacon Tom Lambert  ([email protected])

The following is a meditation that helps us to appreciate God’s blessings in our lives:

EACH DAY

1.  I will recall that I am a child of God.  I am one who is created out of Love.  I am chosen, good, holy and have purpose…a task to perform here on Earth before I return to the Father.  I deserve to be treated as a person who has value and dignity.

2.  I will embrace my illness or my family member’s illness as a friend this day looking for what it is teaching me about the mystery of God and Life.

3.  I will not allow the stigma of mental illness to defeat me this day.  I will choose to have power over stigma by detaching myself from the stigma.

4.  I will talk to someone today who will encourage me to see my goodness and holiness as a child of God.  Maybe we will share a prayer together for one another.

5.  I will look for humor and reasons to laugh and be happy.  Quiet joy will be my goal.

6.  I will read a passage from Scripture or something from a book of devotion, inspiration or spiritual reading that will encourage me to trust and hope in the power and love of God.

7.  I will seek twenty minutes of solitude, silence, prayer this day.  If my mind won’t quiet down, if my thoughts keep racing, I will offer that as my prayer to God.  If necessary and helpful, I will listen to soothing instrumental music or inspirational/religious music to quiet me and remind me that God is present.

8.  I will walk outdoors marveling at a sunrise, a sunset, the song of a bird, the soothing colors of nature…the serenity of green grass, a blue sky, the softness of the pastel colored blossoms of Springtime and the peaceful waters of a river, lake or stream that ripple and flow.  I will remind myself that everything in nature is a reflection of the Creator and pleases the Creator just as it is and so do I just as I am.

9.  I will delight in the knowledge that we are each created different because it is in our differences we make a more powerful and beautiful whole.  We each reflect a different aspect of the mystery of Life and God.  Individually and together we are a Masterpiece!

10. In God is my hope and my joy.  I will give honor, glory and praise to God knowing and trusting what God has in store for me.  We do not seek or like suffering but our suffering can make us strong in many ways and more compassionate and loving to others…our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Knowing for sure that although I long for God, God’s longing for me is even greater.  I will rest in that knowledge this day. Amen.
By Rita Sebastian Lambert