Blog Archives - St Joseph Healing Ministry

A Spiritual Journey . . .

1/31/2013

When you hang onto hurts, the only one you are hurting is yourself. The other person has forgotten all about it.

A prison survivor of WWII was at a reunion. He said, "I can never forgive!" The other said, "Then you, sir, are still a prisoner."

If you wish to follow God's will in your life - and do what He needs you to do - you need the healing of hurts, the healing of memories. You need to forgive that second grade teacher (or whoever) that put you down and from that time on you never spoke before the class. That's what I had to do. I never spoke up, I never volunteered. Yet, God planned for me to speak before hundreds, perhaps thousands. I had to forgive that teacher of my past that He recalled from my memory, so that I would be ready when He answered my prayer, "Lord, I want to serve You. Tell me where to go. Tell me what to do." And when I forgave that teacher, I was healed not only of the fear of speaking before others, but also my fear of heights!

Ask God now to bring to your mind those you need to forgive. Then forgive them. Remember, forgiveness is the act of the will.

A Spiritual Journey . . .

1/29/2013

There is no healing without forgiveness.

Many illnesses have as a lurking cause, unforgiveness. One cause of Rheumatoid arthritis may be unforgiveness. I knew a lady that had a very cruel husband. When he got Alzheimers, she developed rheumatoid arthritis. I heard about this and began praying for her. I asked the Lord to put someone in her life that would tell her about forgiveness and its link to rheumatoid arthritis. One day I overheard someone talk about this lady, that her hands were healed of rheumatoid arthritis. I asked, what happened? And I was told that on one of her many visits to the doctor, it came out about her husband's behavior toward her. Her doctor told her, "you know, unforgiveness is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis. She was a Catholic and she immediately stopped at the Church and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, asking God to help her forgive - and her hands were healed.

So if you are praying for the healing of someone and it seems that your prayers are not being answered, one of the reasons may be that they need to forgive someone. If you are not in the position to tell them that perhaps they need to forgive someone, ask the Lord to put someone in their lives that will tell them this.

A Spiritual Journey . . .

1/26/2013

There are three we have to forgive - the first is others - those who have hurt us. Take the people who come to your mind and stand with them beneath the cross and imagine the blood of Jesus falling down upon you both. He died for you both and through His Blood you will be healed. Ask God to forgive them. Ask God to help you to forgive them. Thank God for the healing He is about to bring to you - to your broken heart and wounded spirit. And then ask God to heal your heart and spirit. It is the people we love the most who hurt us the most. If a person in Russia called you a name - it wouldn't matter, but if it is your spouse, or your child, then we are hurt. Ask God to heal that hurt.

The next to forgive is ourselves. We have all sinned - Jesus said that even the righteous man sins 7 times a day. Some know their sin, have repented, and have changed their lives - but they cannot accept the fact that they have been forgiven. Jesus has already forgiven you - but you have to accept this forgiveness. His love for you is overwhelming - but you have to accept this love. It is easy to say "Jesus loves everyone", but it is harder to say, "Jesus loves me." "Jesus died for me."

Even people who go to Confession have a hard time accepting the fact that Jesus has forgiven them. At a Charismatic Conference many years ago, I sat next to an elderly nun and she confided to me that she had a hard time forgiving herself for what she had done as a teenager. I wasn't speaking to someone who knew nothing of their religion - I answered, "Then, Sister, you have not accepted Jesus' death for you."

The third to forgive is God. God does no evil. Evil is the absence of God who is all goodness. But we blame God for unanswered prayers - or rather answered in ways that we didn't like. As a child we may pray for our puppy that is hurt and dying, and the dog dies anyway. Or a parent prays for the healing of their child, and their child still dies. Or some other hurt that we imagine that God has done to us - we have to forgive God.

Ask God to show you the area that you need to work

A Spiritual Journey . . .

1/25/2013

In the "Our Father" prayer, Jesus teaches us that if we wish to be forgiven by Our Heavenly Father, we must forgive others as we want to be forgiven. Many have a hard time forgiving. They hold on to the hurts that have happened to them. But if we want to grow in holiness, we must forgive.

Forgiveness is not saying that it didn't matter - it did matter! The person was rude or down right mean to you. And you didn't deserve it! You are a child of God and special.

Forgiveness is not saying that you weren't hurt - you were hurt! Some people have been hurt physically by others. Physical abuse is rampant in our society. And there is verbal and mental abuse as well. Put down jokes are the norm - and they hurt the spirit - they wound the heart - yes, they destroy relationships.

Some men do not acknowledge that they were hurt - they do not want people to know they married an abusive woman - so the statistics are higher that women are more abused than men - but men also are hurt and have to forgive.

Remember, when we are hurt, Jesus told a visionary, that He is right there - He is the one hurt. He knows your pain.

Forgiveness is not a pardon - a governor may pardon a prisoner because he is very sick or because evidence has come in saying he is not guilty - but that is not forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not forgetting - good grief, some have been so hurt that they wouldn't have a memory if they forgot all their injuries.

Forgiveness is not dismissing payment or justice for something done against you. A person could break your window, and you forgive him, but you still ask for payment for the broken window.

Forgiveness is an act of the will - to desire to forgive as the Lord has taught. Forgiveness may require asking God to help you forgive. I know some have been hurt so bad, that I think it is humanly impossible to forgive - but if that is the case, ask God to forgive for you - and to give you help to forgive.

". . . give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others who have trespassed against us. . . "

A Spiritual Journey . . .

1/20/2013

Yesterday several of us drove to Holy Disciples Parish in Puyallup where they held a retreat on Divine Mercy, "Come to the Fount of My Mercy!". Two sisters from the same order as Saint Faustina were the speakers. This is the age in which sin is denied and it is also the time when we need to come to Jesus as He is the Fount of Mercy. Jesus appeared to Sister (now Saint) Faustina and asked her to tell everyone of His Divine Mercy.

    Sister Confida, OLM, told of a conversation she had with a man on the airplane. His eyes lit up when he saw that she was going to be his seat mate and he asked her (wearing the full habit of her religious order), "Are you for real?" She assured him she was and told him to ask her any question - and in deed he did.  He said he was an atheist and they talked for two hours, she telling him many things from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

    He said that he might be able to believe if he ever experienced the supernatural - if he ever had a supernatural experience. She asked him, "Have you ever forgiven anyone?" He said, "Yes, I have." And she said, "I mean really forgiven someone who has hurt you deeply, from the bottom of your heart." And he said, "Yes, I have." She said, "Then you have experienced the supernatural, for it is natural for mankind to hold on to grudges, to seek revenge. That is natural. It is supernatural to forgive totally."

    Have you experienced the supernatural? Many of you have. Many of you have experienced feeling God's love. A parent holding their new born child for the first time - a feeling of awe, a feeling indescribable - a feeling of love coming from deep within you - this is God's love. Entering a beautiful mountian glen - you stop and stare at the beauty around you and the trees and leaves and flowers just glimmer in their beauty - this is God's love. And the example that Sister Confida gave - being able to forgive.

    I know I was deeply hurt by friends in my former parish. I was not going to forgive them, I had a catty remark ready if they came near - but I asked God to help me forgive them. When I went to Church the next day, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit fill me, and when I feel this, it fills me with love. The longer I feel it, the more I feel love for others. At the sign of peace, the person who had hurt me came to me and said, "I'm sorry if I ever hurt you. Will you please forgive me." This love that was within me, just lept out of me, and I hugged this person, and she said later that she was startled by seeing such love come out of my eyes. We became very close friends after that. We both experienced the supernatural that day.

"We have come to know and to believe in the love that God has for us."

1 John 4:16

A Spiritual Journey . . .

1/17/2013

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

The reading for today is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews 3:7-14: It is a good start for our meditation:

"The Holy Spirit says: 'Oh, that today you would hear his voice, 'Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and say my works for forty years. Because of this I was provoked with that generation and I said, 'They have always been of erring heart, and they do not know my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter into my rest.'"

"Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today," so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.

Our baptism is a wonderful gift. Through it, we become children of God and thus heirs to Heaven. We forget that we can throw this away by kicking God out of our lives. The above passage reminds us that this is possible, and to then, not harden our hearts through our rebellion, but turn back to God, and then hold the reality of our Baptism firm until the end.

Today is the memorial of St. Antony of the Desert, the Father of Monasticism, the second hermit, after St. Paul, to enter the desert to be a hermit. He wrote, "Let us not look back upon the world and fancy we have given up gross things. For the whole of earth is a very little thing compared with the whole of heaven."

A Spiritual Journey. . .

1/16/2013

Daily Scripture

The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.
St. Augustine

Daily Scripture reading is important, even if you only have time to read a line or two - or try to read a chapter a day.

The point is that God inspired Scripture to not only tell us about salvation history but to speak to us personally. If a line of Scripture jumps out at you, then reflect on that during the day.

One thing about our time is that we have many ways to access Scripture. You can get an app that will bring you daily Scripture. You can listen to CD's or podcasts. There is a Pray as You Go podcast that you can subscribe to.

When I lived alone and ate breakfast alone, I would read a chapter in Scripture as I ate.

There are three types of prayer: vocal, meditation, and contemplation. Vocal prayer is speaking to God. It can be a standardized prayer, or your own thoughts, whether spoken out loud or silently in your thoughts. The Catholic Church is a community Church so we have lots of form prayers that can be said together. But prayers that you make up spontaneously fit into this category of vocal prayer.

Meditation is reflecting on a prayer or on Scripture. Thinking of how you can apply it to your life; thinking of what Jesus meant by that during His time.

All prayer should lead to Contemplative prayer - listening to God. Listening to the voice of God requires training and discipline. Many people, in desperation, cry out, "Speak, God, if you are there." He is there, but often these distant children do not know how to listen. They have not practiced hearing the voice of God so they are almost deaf to it. Even people who have dedicated their lives to service to God are deaf to His voice so thus they are limited to their participation in a personal relationship with God, so they can love as He loves and serve as He serves.

To recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit ask yourself - is your heart moved to pity? Do you feel impatience rather than offer gentleness? Do you help others to peace or do you join with others in gossiping about others, condemning others? Do you talk about God - or about His enemy? Do you look at the world in pain and see goodness or do you just see darkness everywhere? Stop what you are doing each day to take some time to sit and listen. God begs us to love one another. Love, regardless of how you are repaid. God cannot force you to love Him, but He never stops loving you. And He wants us to do the same. Love others in God's name. If you do, you will be rewarded. You will be given Love for God.

A Spiritual Journey....

1/15/2013

We went to the Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Noreen Linane, CSJP, yesterday. She was one of the witnesses of the miracle that Sister Matthew wrote about in her book, "Angels and the Power of Prayer". They were at the Seattle Arena and watched a small child climb to the top of the arena and go toward the edge. The child's mother was busy and did not notice that her youngest had ventured away. As the child neared the edge, the Sisters began praying for the Angels to protect the child. Then the child fell, but just before it hit the cement, it turned in mid air and gently landed on his feet. The mother rushed toward him, and he toward his mother, unhurt. Sister Mary Frances was also one of the witnesses to this story.

Sister Noreen had once said that she was a bride, married to Amazement. She hoped that her life would not be just visiting the world but making an impact through her service. She had a strong calling to serve those who were suffering and in need. Her profession of nursing provided her with wonderful opportunities to follow her heart's desire of service.

This is the time for ourselves to become united to God.

We prayed with numerous people this past week. One was having terrible vivid dreams. One dream had everyone jumping into a pit. At the bottom was horrible muddy water with black chunks floating in it, but everyone was jumping into it. Mothers were even allowing their children to jump in, and sometimes the mothers as well jumped in. She looked at that pit and she said, "I'm not jumping it that". But she was encouraged, in her dream, to jump in as everyone was doing it. She said in her dream, "We all have choices, and I chose not to jump in the pit, even if I am the only one standing outside of it."

This is the time for ourselves to become united to God.

A Spiritual Journey

1/12/2013

Pray Every Day

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." Mark 6:30-31

After a very hectic, busy day, whether meeting deadlines at work or caring for children or others, Jesus says to you, "Come away to a deserted place and rest a while". Accept that welcome invitation.

This invitation is offered every day. This is the time to turn to the Lord for prayer. It is a time of resting in God and this time will refresh you and draw you closer to Him like nothing else.

Our prayer meeting at our parish is every Monday night. Sometimes we are so tired and it is dark and since it is Washington, it is rainy and often Sister and I do not want to go. But we go and the same loyal people are there every Monday evening. Our prayer group is called "Joy in the Lord" and we sing praises to God, share a reading from scripture and share our experiences, answered prayer that had occurred during the week. And we come home, so refreshed!

Our parish also has Perpetual Adoration, where someone is always before the exposed Blessed Sacrament - the Consecrated host that is truly the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Another time that is special with you and God that refreshes your soul, your being.

Take 20 minutes a day to be with Jesus. You don't have to talk the entire time. Prayer is not just talking with God, it is having a conversation. It is about listening as well. It may be a simple "Our Father" while sitting in the back yard, or reading a part of the Bible. Listen to His whisper in your mind or heart. He speaks to us through the Word of the Bible - a passage means something special to us. He speaks to our mind - and we just know that thought is from Him. This time will soon become the most cherished time of the day.

A Spiritual Journey

1/11/2013

Ask God to Guide You.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

All through the Bible God repeatedly seeks after us after we have turned away from Him. I remember hearing that statement at a Conference. All we have to do is say the name, "Jesus" and He is right there, waiting on our next word.

We pray with a lot of people for various needs. God always answers sincere prayer. God answers with an immediate "yes", as the time Sister was driving down the road and there was a log lying across it. Her quick prayer of "Lord, Help!" was immediately answered and the angels moved the log to the side of the road. Sometimes, God answers "wait", and Sister gives as an example the healing of her own back. Her back was injured when she was six years old and as she grew her back became an "s" with two disks down to nothing. She wore a back brace and one leg became shorter than the other. On the 25th anniversary of her being a nun, she went on a retreat in Minnesota and the prayer group prayed over her for the healing of her back. During the night she kept waking her roommate, Sister Marie Exner, "Something is happening to my back!" Sister Marie told me.

In the morning when Sister Matthew got up, there was no more pain, her back was perfectly straight and both legs were of the same length. Sometimes God says '"no", but when He says no, He always has something better. When Sister was in Alaska a woman brought her to her house to pray for her dying father. The next day she came to Sister and reported that her father had died during the night, a very peaceful death. Interiorly Sister said, "Lord, we prayed that he would live." And the Lord spoke to her heart, "I wanted to heal him in Heaven."

We pray with a lot of people, as I said. We don't do anything but lift their requests to the Lord - "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them" Matthew 18:20. We can't do anything - but we know the divine Healer who can. We know the prayer that is gladly answered is a prayer asking for a deeper faith and love. It may not come immediately, and you might not even notice at first that it has been answered. God's ways are not ours. Faith does not usually spring full blown into existence, although St. Paul's story of his conversion is one showing that it can happen. But growing in faith and love is a lifelong process that requires patience and perseverance.