Modern people value physical health, however during the “Devotion and holistic healing” seminar held in the afternoon of April 2 in Masland Church, Father Grün reminded us that we should pay more attention to our spiritual health. He said that our beliefs actually had healing power and through various means we could experience that healing power coming from God:

I. Prayer
Father Grün stressed that the socalled healing power that prayer brought was not like magic that “removes the sickness”; but in prayer, we brought the disease of our heart and body before God, encountering both God and self. Through prayer, God’s healing power enters into us, and even if the bodily sickness is not healed, the healing power still exists. We came closer to God because of sickness.

In addition to our own prayer intercessory prayer can help patients in experiencing God’s healing power. Father Grün said that medical study had found that when many people prayed for the patient, that patient would recover faster. He also reminded that there is no guarantee that the illness would be cured. We should have the correct attitude like Jesus, each prayer should be: Thy will be done!

II. Bible
Father Grün said that in God’s words we could also experience healing. From the story of healing by Jesus, we could see the power of words in healing. Father Grün wished that when believers read these verses, they not only envied Jesus’ healing ability, they should expect that this healing ability would also come to them.

He cited the story of a leper coming to Jesus. There might not be any lepers along us, but we could interpret leper as “one who cannot accept himself” just like the leper who could not accept himself with skin disease. Jesus showed his empathy, then touched and accepted him; then Jesus said to him: “I will, be thou clean!” (Jesus expressed that I accept you, you also accept yourself!)

Father Grün taught the congregation that through meditation on Scripture, and bringing to Jesus those issues that we could not accept in our hearts, God’s healing power would flow into our hearts.

III. Church Sacraments
1. Eucharist
Through receiving the bread and wine we are one with Jesus, and feel that Jesus enters into our hearts andaccepts us unconditionally. We also accept ourselves and experience the inner transformation.

Father Grün said that when he went to Brazil to give a speech three years ago, he came across a book “Change your life in 7 days”. He reminded us that such books were often frustrating because changes should not be forced upon oneself. The teaching of Christianity was that it should be “change” or “transformation” and should be a gentle process. Therefore we need to respect the history and story of our life, and then bring our inadequacy or insufficiency to Jesus, so that God’s healing power would transform us.

During the Eucharist, when the Priest or the Father lifted high the chalice, this action was to express our total submission to God, His power completely inflows into us and transforms us; the lifting high of the bread (symbol of our daily life), was to bring the injuries and brokenness of our daily life before God, let Him strengthen us, make us stronger.

Thus, whenever we receive the Holy Communion, we are transformed slowly and becoming more like the good image during God’s initial creation.

2. Baptism
The sacrament of Baptism has three healing powers.

Baptism by water characterizes the source of power of life in the Holy Spirit. We believe that in baptism theHoly Spirit gives us an inexhaustible source of life.

It also symbolizes cleanliness. Water is the cleaning power of the Holy Spirit and can clear the wrong concepts and expectations that others have bestowed upon us.

Baptism symbolizes God telling us that we are His beloved children and these words have strong healing power. Father Grün said many grew up with a distorted mind because in their growing process they experienced love with attached conditions (for example: better school results, parental love that comes only with good behavior); and conditional love which often causes people to hide their feelings, with the idea that one needed to please others to be loved!

3. Anointing with oil
The Catholic sacrament of anointing with oil is to help the sick or the dying patients, so that God’s healing power will flow to the patient’s body with the holy oil. The action of anointing with oil makes the patient stronger and helps the patient to recover.

There was a lady patient in the final stages of cancer, knowing she was dying, who asked the Father to anoint her with oil. The Father invited her relatives and friends to place their hands on the patient’s body to symbolize their concern for her. After this, the Father anointed the patient’s hands and forehead with oil which symbolized the cleansing of negative thoughts. The Father then invited her relatives to draw a cross on the oil anointed hands of the patient and said their prayers and blessings, one by one. That was the most invaluable experience for the children to draw a cross on their mother’s hand and to express their gratitude and blessings.

IV. Church Ceremony
Ceremony creates “sacred time” (Sacred refers to the time that the world cannot interfere, a time in solitude with God alone).

Father Grün used the Lord’s Prayer as an example. Before World War II, his father operated a shop but because of mismanagement the business failed. There were seven children in their family and the bank were about to auction their house. Every day when they recited the Lord’s Prayer they profoundly experienced the phrase “Give us this day our daily bread” because that was the very important support for them. Moreover, his father’s shop was closed down because a clerk cheated his father, so that the phrase “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” also helped them not to hate others. Today, whenever the Father recites the Lord’s Prayer, he thinks of how his father used the Lord’s Prayer to affirm his faith, which also becomes the link in faith between the Father and his father.

V. Seasons of the church
Father Grün pointed out that Luke was the theologian instrumental in the development of the church sea-sons. He believed that the church seasons which were developed from different experiences in Jesus’ life, in fact, had the power to heal, not only for individuals, but also for the world and human history.

1. Advent
Advent is actually a church season that one can discover his desire and addiction. Father Grün said that people became addicted because certain desires in their heart were not met. To heal different addiction problems they needed to find out their inner desires but not quitting the addiction by force.

2. Christmas
Through Christmas God celebrates a new beginning with us. People are easily tied by past hurt and could not escape from it; in Christmas we celebrate a new beginning by letting go of the past and start again.

3. Lent
Lent is the season for cleansing of body and mind. During this season we can exercise inner freedom by giving up some of our desires, so that we are not tied by inner desires but having inner freedom.

4. Passion Week
Passion Week helps us to recall the suffering of Jesus and to face our suffering; this it is good for the society as a whole. A society that only hides when facing difficulties will become more and more brutal.

5. Easter
To us some characteristics of Jesus’ resurrection are: the resurrection frees us from the inner emotional scars; the Angel pushed the tomb stone symbolizing that we get rid of large hindrances in life; we are able to get along with others; bravely fighting against social injustice or matters that hinder others.

Reported by Jacq
Translated by KT Chew