From the Desk of Father Martin - March 3, 2019

Praised be Jesus Christ! Next Sunday we’re hosting a Mass of Healing at Our Lady of Peace at 3:30 p.m. Many of you are familiar with what this entails because we’ve hosted three of them in the past 18 months. Father Bob Thorn and his team came down from Wausau each time to help us, but now it’s time for the spiritual training wheels to be removed: this time it will be me and a healing team comprised of members of Christ the King, Saint John’s, and Our Lady of Peace. Please pray that the Holy Spirit guide us in our desire to be His instruments of healing. Now one might logically ask what type of healing one could expect at this Mass. As is the case for most of the millions of pilgrims that visit the Marian Shrine of Lourdes in France each year, rather rare are the claims of physical healing (though there are dozens of medically certified miraculous cures over the years). Instead, most experience a healing of hope that allows a person to continue to carry the cross with courage. Matthew Kelly tells the story of a female nurse named Jane who got sick with cancer. After being on sick leave for six weeks, she either had to return to work or lose her job. She was a mother with three children. The other nurses loved Jane and wanted to do something to help. A nurse named Anastasia suggested that they cover Jane’s three weekly shifts of 12 hours each so that Jane could continue to get paid and support her family. The sign up list filled up quickly and the nurses covered Jane’s shifts for three years as she recovered from cancer. In a way, that’s a story about healing on multiple levels. People who come to a Mass of Healing do not receive the Sacrament of Anointing (we call that a Healing Mass), but rather are prayed over and receive the consolation that comes from the Holy Spirit. The format is pretty simple: priests are available to hear confessions from 2:00-3:15 p.m. (this is one of the most constant and reliable sources of healing in the history of the world). Mass begins at 3:30 p.m. (and it is a Sunday Mass that fulfills the obligation to keep holy the Sabbath). At the end of Mass the priest recites a litany of deliverance prayers as sacramentals are used to open the hearts of those present to God’s will. Next we pray over anyone who comes forward – we do so with Jesus in the monstrance, which brings a powerful experience of His Presence in our life. Finally, our three teams are available for deeper prayers of healing and this concludes the service. I admit to being rather nervous about this the first few times, but it’s been clear that the entire enterprise is the work of God. As Mother Teresa was fond of saying, we’re just a pencil in God’s hand – He can write whatever words of love He wants through the way He inspires and guides us. And so, as we begin Lent this week, you’re very welcome to come next Sunday to the Mass of Healing at Our Lady of Peace. We will offer these Masses twice a year (the next one is scheduled for November 10th, same time, same place). And speaking of healing, as you’ve read a number of times in the bulletin, next Sunday is “Safehaven Sunday” throughout our diocese. That means we’ll be preaching about the plague of impurity, especially as fostered by pornography. For all who struggle to overcome this terrible temptation, we’ll be praying and honestly acknowledging that God’s grace is stronger than sin. Many people struggle with pornography because they have never known true love. God sent His Son into our world to heal that specific hurt, and He continues to do so in the Holy Eucharist and in confession.
May God help us to trust Him with our wounds, so that we might receive His healing and hope!
Your friend in Christ, Father Martin 

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