Healing power of God topic of teaching day

God can heal people in many ways, says Rev. Carl Schmidt, CSSR, but they must be open to receiving that healing power.

On Oct. 25, Father Schmidt and Ursuline Sister Mary Hogan, who practice a healing ministry in Canada, will offer a teaching day in the Albany Diocese titled "I am the God who heals you."

Sponsored by the Healing Ministry of the diocesan Service Committee for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the event will include talks, a healing service and a vigil Mass.

Open to healing

Father Schmidt, a Redemptorist priest and member of the Association of Christian Therapists, told The Evangelist that he hopes to show Catholics "how best to dispose yourself" to God's healing power.

"It's our experience that whenever people gather in His name, He touches them with that peace beyond understanding that helps them keep going," he explained.

To help participants in the teaching day make themselves open to being healed, Father Schmidt and Sister Mary will anoint participants and welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit into the room.

Inner healing

The day will continue with a "love and forgiveness" prayer, Father Schmidt said, during which participants will interact with team members who will stand in for persons living or dead who have either hurt or been hurt by the participant.

Finding forgiveness, Father Schmidt explained, "prepares that part of the heart for healing."

As for his and Sister Mary's talks on healing, Father Schmidt told The Evangelist that "it's in the hands of God." When the pair get together to plan the day, he explained, the Holy Spirit will give them the words they need to say.

Sign from God

Father Schmidt believes that "healing is a sign of the kingdom of God; that we can stand on His word that when we come into the kingdom of God, there will be no more tears, no more suffering, no more pain."

Participants in a healing workshop can be healed in many ways, he said, but not everyone experiences physical healing. Still, when someone who hopes to be healed of a bodily illness and is not, Father Schmidt still sees God's touch in other forms.

"Most times, we don't know why they're not [physically] healed," he said. "But I believe that by the very presence of God there, they are touched in ways conscious and unconscious. Our hope is to strengthen their faith: Having received God through faith, they will carry that to others."

("I am the God who heals you" will be held Oct. 25, from 8 a.m. to a 4 p.m. closing Mass, at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady. For information, call 315-866-4332.)

(10-16-97)