Healing ministry aims to link people, God

When Rev. Richard McAlear, OMI, leads a healing service, the word he hears most often is "help."

"In our society, you don't have someone come to a healing Mass who hasn't been to a doctor," whether that's an oncologist or a psychiatrist, he said. In meeting people with physical or mental illnesses, "You hear, 'I've tried it all. Help! Where do I go now?'"

He answers, "You've got to go to God."

Father McAlear will celebrate an upcoming charismatic liturgy, and hold a teaching day and healing service at St. Edward's parish in Clifton Park. The theme is "Come, be healed and restored on a path to holiness."

What healing is

Father McAlear told The Evangelist he began praying for the gift of healing in the 1970s, when he became involved in the Catholic charismatic renewal movement. He has learned that healing isn't necessarily about being cured of a physical ailment.

"People who are sick are also scared. People want prayer," he stated. If a cancer patient approaches him for healing, "you can't just pray for the cancer. You have to pray about what's going on inside."

Moreover, Father McAlear doesn't assume that everyone who attends his healing services is suffering from an illness: "I can't say all the people are sick, but they all have hurt in their hearts."

Different forms

He believes his gifts relate to mental and emotional healing, or healing of the spirit -- the realm that is the Church's focus.

"People who are messed up in sin or far from God are missing a big part of their lives," Father McAlear pointed out. "Holiness makes you healed. You've got to take care of the spiritual."

Peace is the main result of attending a healing service, he said, noting, "If you have an open heart and pray, you'll know you've given this over to God. If you could have fixed it, you would have done that before you got there. Now, you've enlarged your view to include God. [You get] a sense that God is really here: He's not absent from you; He's not deaf; He's right here."

'Happy' to serve

Father McAlear noted that several kinds of people attend his services, including those looking for healing themselves, people who are curious, people brought by friends, and even critics. "Come with an open heart," he urged them all.

He admitted that conducting a healing service can be overwhelming at first, since so many people who are hurting arrive looking to him for help. But seeing them open their hearts to God and go home afterward feeling more peaceful is worth the effort.

"I'm happy to do it," he said of his ministry.

(The charismatic liturgy is Oct. 22, 7 p.m. The teaching day is Oct. 23, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., all at St. Edward's Church in Clifton Park. The fee for the teaching day is $20. Call 371-7911 or 371-6843, or email [email protected].)

(10/14/04)