20.10.2015
We Should Never Separate the Spiritual from the Physical – Ministry of Healing Service Hears
The annual Diocesan Service of the Church’s Ministry of Healing took place in St Mary’s Church in Howth on Sunday evening (October 18). The service was led by the Rector, the Revd Kevin Brew with assistance from diocesan chaplain to the Ministry of Healing the Revd Bruce Hayes, the Revd Lesley Robinson and the Revd Willie Black. The sermon was preached by Bishop Richard Henderson.
During the service intercessors and members of Healer Prayer Unions were invited to renew their commitment to prayer in an act of dedication. There was also time during the service for members of the congregation to receive prayer, laying on of hands and anointing.
In his sermon, Bishop Henderson said that exaltation and degradation were part of the continuum of life and the ups and downs of life did not devalue living. The process of being alive was one of pain and joy, life and death, being healed and broken, he said.
Referring to the Old Testament reading [1Kings 19: 4–12] he said that Elijah went from experiencing immense victory with God on his side to immense despair when God appeared to be absent. Ultimately for Elijah, God was in the whisper. He suggested that the story combined practical realities and mental states. “God is leading him, not just on a physical journey but a journey to where the spiritual inhabits the physical. That is why we lay on hands – it is what flows through the touch that brings healing. So we should never, never separate the spiritual and the physical,” the Bishop said.
From the New Testament reading [Collossians 3:12–17] Bishop Henderson suggested that many of the miracles that Jesus performed had one thing in common. They were all accompanied by a command: go wash…, pick up your matt and walk… He said there was a point of acquiescence.
He pointed out that the service was in the context of Holy Communion and observed that through the centuries much time and energy had been spent thinking about what Holy Communion really is and what it really means. “The core of Holy Communion is what Jesus commands us to do in remembrance of him. The core of this is not the bread and the wine. Jesus says: ‘This is my body’… ‘This is my blood’… He is saying: ‘This is me for you’. This is the essence of what Christ offers us and our accepting obedience is what we need to pray for and pray for that intimate whisper of God,” Bishop Henderson stated.
Photo shows members of Healer Prayer Unions and Intercessors with the clergy at the Diocesan Ministry of Healing Service in St Mary’s, Howth.