Healing ministry
The New Testament shows us that both Jesus and the early Christian community prayed for the sick and laid hands on them
when they prayed.
Down the centuries, the Church has always worked for healing, by prayer and by actions. We believe that this ministry
continues in the Church today, both in its sacramental form and also in the form of the ordinary prayers that we can offer for
one another through our baptism in the Lord.
This Christian healing is about Christ making people whole. When we pray for healing, we trust God to answer, but we do not know how or when healing will happen. We trust God to act in love.
Our sickness, our need for healing, can be physical, emotional or spiritual. Our past experiences of hurt, and our inability to
forgive or be forgiven, make us less than whole, and in need of healing.
It is common that, with the permission of the person asking for prayer, we will lay our hands on their shoulder. Touch, often more than words, is a way of giving physical expression to our prayers and concerns for each other, and lets us know that we are loved.
Here are some words that three St Boniface parishioners have used to describe their experience of this ministry:
“I came for physical relief from my aches & pains but found also a great out-flowing of emotional stress I was not even aware of !! My whole being is so much more at ease now and my pains are also subsiding. I can recommend it to anyone who may be struggling, even though no physical pain is involved. You will find the grace of God around you, giving you strength.”
“It has increased my understanding of Faith”
“During the healing ministry’s prayers I experienced a great feeling of peace and a feeling that problems were being lifted from me. It was an experience which is hard to explain but I certainly found it very helpful.”
The parish has its own healing team, trained by Fr Ronnie Mitchell at Ashurst and commissioned by Fr David. The team offers prayer for healing after Masses on the first weekend of each month. Please come to the front of the church after Mass.
Promises of Healing Ministry Team
- To promote a personal life of prayer and to seek out the power of the Holy Spirit in all we say and do
- To offer prayer for healing and inner peace for all who ask us to do so, without distinction of persons
- To honour any confidences from those who ask us to pray with them in this ministry
- To support each other in ministry and to tell others of the graciousness of God’s will, so that they too may be inspired to serve him in this way
- To make God the centre of our lives, in all our hopes and fears, successes and failures, joys and sorrows