University of St. Mary of the Lake,  Mundelein Seminary,
Mundelein, IL

INTENSIVE INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC TEACHING
ON THE CHARISMS OF HEALING AND DELIVERANCE

Since the close of the Second Vatican Council over 40 years ago there has been a continual renewal in the areas of liturgy, sacraments, gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, renewing methods and disciplines of personal and communal prayer, and a growing awareness of our need for deep personal spiritual renewal.

It is common for all levels of leadership and membership to reflect on their growth in holiness in the Trinity and all that implies for ministry flowing out of personal spiritual integration.  The need for evangelization becomes the basic structure to witness to one’s faith; re-examine a call to deeper charity emphasizing our outreach to the needs of the poor and marginalized; and radiating hope in a world riddled with hatred, violence and war.

In the renewal of the Church one of the major concerns that is surfacing among Christians is an awareness of the influence of evil and its impact on individual lives, as well as the political and corporate world.  Evidence is mounting that the need to integrate the process of discernment both cognitively and affectively is of utter importance to use as a rule of how we live among the communities in which we find ourselves.

Discernment needs to be understood and become the deep spiritual value out of which we make all the decisions of our lives. Discernment, properly understood throughout Church history is to make us deeply conscious of the process of how we think and how we make choices and whether they are based on the message of the Gospel or not. 

The call to holiness through personal prayer can only reach depths when we become aware of how evil (Satan and his fallen angels) tempts us in the various aspects of our lives. There are good spirits and evil spirits. This conference will examine the mystery of evil, its impact on our personal prayer and daily decisions. The need for deliverance is often discussed as a common ministry where spirits become experiences of oppression, obsession and in rare cases possession.

In the ministry of deliverance it becomes evident that in some individuals there is generational pain in one’s family history that needs healing. Learning simple interventions to relieve pain many have carried through the brokenness in much of their lives is crucial in this century to free God’s children that He loves unconditionally and desires their wholeness.

For the first three centuries of the Church the ministries of physical, psychological, spiritual healing and deliverance (and exorcism) were the ministries of evangelization that brought Christians to the faith by the thousands. It is time we reclaim those gifts for the present day Church and society. Healing prayer is meant to be a common ordinary ministry and healings are meant to be commonplace when Christians pray in intercession for someone who is ill and/or in bondage. The need for healing and deliverance as a common ministry in our parishes is becoming more essential. Priests in their pastoral love for their parishioners are teaching laity how to identify their charismatic gifts anointed at Confirmation. As those gifts of healing grow, liturgies emphasizing the power of healing, both in the daily and Sunday liturgies release an empowerment common to all. Liturgies are then celebrated with the Anointing of the sick with trained teams praying with the priest for individuals needing physical, psychological, spiritual and relational healing. Those that have received healing, witness to the healing received with great joy and gratitude. Many healings become life changing experiences , particularly in deepening the gift of faith.