DID YOU KNOW: Healing?

Every Mass is a celebration in HEALING.  In faith, we receive the Great Physician into our bodies and souls knowing that we will be nourished and healed physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Our Catholic Tradition also invites us to experience God’s presence in a unique way in the Healing Mass.  The service begins with the celebration of the Eucharist.  Then, we are invited to be prayed over individually by the laying of hands and anointing with blessed oil.  There are also opportunities to experience the powerful presence of Christ’s healing love through the Eucharistic procession and the Divine Mercy prayer.  Some people might receive the gift of “rest in the Spirit.”  During his public life, healing was a main aspect of Jesus’ ministry, as it is today, through His Church.  Saint Michael Parish invites you to join in a healing Mass on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 7:00 PM.  

 

Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him
sing praise. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and
if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.   (James 5: 13-15)

The Baptismal Font

As a parishioner enters Saint Michael Church, he/she is welcomed by a big marbled baptismal font.  Parishioners that enter the Church all soak their fingers into the font and mark themselves with the sign of their identity – the faith into which they are baptized – in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  The ritual of marking oneself with holy water from the font reaffirms the common bond of the people that worship.  The baptismal font then is a place of unity.

It is interesting and certainly inspiring to see a whole family, or a group of friends, approach the baptismal font together.  Such a holy action transcends the many other visible signs of unity like uniforms and name tags, because as we are blessed by the water from the font, we again acknowledge that all of us are brothers and sisters in the Lord, and members of the one family of Christ. 

next time you enter the worship space, we invite you to take time to appreciate this very beautiful ritual and perhaps even say a short personal prayer like, “My Lord, My Father, I belong to you.  As I make this sign of the cross, keep me united with your family, and help me to remain in your love!”