Healing

Healing is again the focus in the Gospel today. Jesus heals all with no exceptions to the understood or unwritten norms and social concepts of the time.

In his Monday address to the ambassadors to the Holy See, Pope Francis said ‘the world is facing crises in five areas: in health, in the environment, on economic and social issues, in politics, and in human relationships.’ Our world needs healing, our human interactions need healing in so many ways and in so many circumstances. I do too.

My pastor has emphasized the need for deep healing, the kind that comes from the hand of Jesus and His Divine Spirit. The sins, omissions and tacit consents that are embedded deep in the heart which blind me to the indifference and abuse of the integrity of all that God has created in this world, I need to bring into my awareness and confessions.

It is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes  and the 29th World Day to Pray for the Sick. There are several resources below including a virtual tour of Lourdes and a 30 minute prayer service celebrating this day of prayer for the sick.

I ask that you pray with me the words St. John Paul II wrote in 2004 for the intercession of our Blessed Virgin Mother, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Lourdes. Let us pray,

To Mary, Mother of tender love,

we wish to entrust all those

who are ill in body and soul,

that she may sustain them in hope.

We ask her also to help us to be welcoming

to our sick brothers and sisters.

Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman,

Blessed by the Most High!

Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era,

We join in your song of praise,

to celebrate the Lord’s mercy,

to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom

and the full liberation of humanity.

Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord,

Glorious Mother of Christ!

Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word,

Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word,

and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit,

attentive to His promptings in the depths of our conscience

and to His manifestations in the events of history.

Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows,

Mother of the living!

Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve,

Be our guide along the paths of the world.

Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ,

to stand with you before the innumerable crosses

on which your Son is still crucified.

Hail Mary, woman of faith,

First of the disciples!

Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always

to account for the hope that is in us,

with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love.

Teach us to build up the world beginning from within:

in the depths of silence and prayer,

in the joy of fraternal love,

in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.

Holy Mary, Mother of believers,

Our Lady of Lourdes,

pray for us. Amen

Pope Francis’ message for the 29th world day of Prayer for the Sick

World Day of the Sick Prayer Service 2021

29th World Day of Prayer for the Sick

Prayer Cards for the Sick, for Caregivers

Virtual Tour of Lourdes, France

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