Sunday, June 23, 2019: God's love heals the whole person.
The mystery of the Mass is nothing other than the mystery of God’s love, made present for you and me. Jesus humbled himself to come among us. He left us this spiritual food to sustain us on the journey through life: the Eucharist. Fr. Steve shares his experience of leaving the Church, but still being intrigued by the Eucharist. When we explore the teachings of the Church we find answers that are much better than those of other churches – indeed we find the truth.
Fr. Steve shares his discovery of the potency of the Eucharist to convict of sin, to draw us towards God’s love. He quotes from Benedict 16th’s book Jesus of Nazareth, in which he asserts that “seen at a sufficiently deep level, healing is the entire content of the gospel.”
Intimate union with Christ Jesus is the entire goal of the Christian life and the Eucharist augments that relationship and it has real effects in our lives.
Fr. Steve outlines what he hoped to convey at his Pentecost homily regarding antidepressants, which some women had interpreted as a denial of their efficacy for post-partum depression. He corrects this notion by explaining that each of us is a whole person, that the dichotomy between the physical, the emotional, the spiritual, the hormonal is artificial, and that symptoms of depression are not merely physical. Fr. Steve urges women who have post-partum depression to accept the fact that God loves them, understands their pain and wants to heal.
He quotes from Kristina Cowan’s book, When Postpartum Packs a Punch. In this book she explains her experience of post-partum depression after her first child, the stigma of it and her recovery from it.
We should not be afraid to share the problems we have, especially those which cause us stigma. We need to come to the end of ourselves and accept the fact hat we cannot handle our problems on our own and have the courage to share that with someone who can help us.
In his post-communion comments, Fr. Steve encourages those of us who are in desolation to reject the lies of the enemy and affirm the truth of God’s love.
