Catholic Answers Live #12602 How Can We Heal Relationships During Lent and Grieve Well - Gregory Popcak
Feb 24, 2026
Dr. Greg Popchak, Catholic psychologist and author who blends pastoral counseling with practical faith advice. He discusses using Lent’s practices to open hearts and heal strained relationships. He explains mortification as losing comfort to love better. He talks through setting loving boundaries with adult children, handling addiction and enabling, and ways to process grief and stay spiritually connected to the deceased.
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Lent Intentionally Opens Hearts For Relationship Healing
- Lent's sacrifices aim to crack open hearts to receive and share God's love.
- Greg Popchak ties prayer, fasting, and charity to growing capacity to love spouse, kids, and others during Lent.
Pray Every Morning For How To Love Specifically
- Start relationships work in Lent with focused prayer asking God to teach you how to love specific people as He intends.
- Greg recommends daily petitions like "Lord, help me be the dad/my husband my family needs today."
Fast To Sacrifice Comfort For How Others Need To Be Loved
- Use fasting as mortification to give up your comfort zone so you can love people the way they need to be loved.
- Greg urges choosing mortifications that stretch you toward what your spouse or kids actually need, not just easy sacrifices.
