Mother’s Last Skin-to-Skin Goodbye Saves her 20 oz Baby
I just have to save this story in my blog to remind myself the power of love. Loves heals. We need to love our neighbors as ourselves. We first have to love ourselves than we are able to love others. When we pray (or for others) , we need to pray with love and thanksgivings and gratitudes to God,
August 20, 2009 by Amy Philo
Source:
Lisa Arneill, Editor
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http://www.growingyourbaby.com/2007/12/07/parents-last-good-bye-saved-their-babys-life/
Parents ‘Last Good Bye’ Saved Their Baby’s Life
December 7, 2007
Sometimes a preemie doesn’t need to be hooked up to 10 different machines to be given the chance to survive.
When Carolyn Isbister put her 20oz baby on her chest for a cuddle, she thought that it would be the only chance she would ever have to hold her.
Doctors had told the parents that baby Rachel only had only minutes to live because her heart was beating once every ten seconds and she was not breathing.
Isbister remembers:
I didn’t want her to die being cold. So I lifted her out of her blanket and put her against my skin to warm her up. Her feet were so cold.
It was the only cuddle I was going to have with her, so I wanted to remember the moment.” Then something remarkable happened. The warmth of her mother’s skin kick started Rachael’s heart into beating properly, which allowed her to take little breaths of her own.
We couldn’t believe it – and neither could the doctors. She let out a tiny cry.
The doctors came in and said there was still no hope – but I wasn’t letting go of her. We had her blessed by the hospital chaplain, and waited for her to slip away. But she still hung on.
And then amazingly the pink color began to return to her cheeks. She literally was turning from gray to pink before our eyes, and she began to warm up too.
The sad part is that when the baby was born, doctors took one look at her and said ‘no’.
They didn’t even try to help her with her breathing as they said it would just prolong her dying. Everyone just gave up on her,” her mom remembered.
At 24 weeks a womb infection had led to her premature labor and birth and Isbister (who also has two children Samuel, 10, and Kirsten, 8 ) said, “We were terrified we were going to lose her. I had suffered three miscarriages before, so we didn’t think there was much hope.” When Rachael was born she was grey and lifeless.
Ian Laing, a consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: “All the signs were that the little one was not going to make it and we took the decision to let mum have a cuddle as it was all we could do.
Two hours later the wee thing was crying. This is indeed a miracle baby and I have seen nothing like it in my 27 years of practice. I have not the slightest doubt that mother’s love saved her daughter.”
Rachael was moved onto a ventilator where she continued to make steady progress and was tube and syringe fed her mother’s pumped breastmilk.
Isbister said, “The doctors said that she had proved she was a fighter and that she now deserved some intensive care as there was some hope. She had done it all on her own – without any medical intervention or drugs. She had clung on to life – and it was all because of that cuddle. It had warmed up her body and regulated her heart and breathing enough for her to start fighting.
At 5 weeks she was taken off the ventilator and began breastfeeding on her own. At four months Rachel went home with her parents, weighing 8lbs – the same as any other healthy newborn. Because Rachel had suffered from a lack of oxygen doctors said there was a high risk of damage to her brain. But a scan showed no evidence of any problems and today Rachel is on par with her peers.
Rachel’s mom tells us, “She is doing so well. When we brought her home, the doctors told us that she was a remarkable little girl. And most of all, she just loves her cuddles. She will sleep for hours, just curled into my chest. It was that first cuddle which saved her life – and I’m just so glad I trusted my instinct and picked her up when I did. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here today.”
When a parent holds their baby on their chest, skin-to-skin, it is referred to as Kangaroo Mother Care.
The benefits for all babies of KMC are that they stabilize faster with skin-to-skin care than in an incubator (very few stabilize in an incubator well during the first six hours of life). KMC babies also have stable oxygen rates and breathing thanks to the steady regulation of Mother’s respiration. The heart rate is stable (mother’s heartbeat regulates baby’s heartbeat). The temperature is most stable on the mother – in skin-to-skin care mothers chest automatically warms to warm a cold baby, and mothers core temperature drops if her baby has a temperature.
Sleeping within an arm’s reach of baby (as long as a parent does not smoke) also regulates all of his physiological needs in the same way ~ they are kept steady thanks to Mom’s warm, even-paced body. We lose far fewer babies to prematurity, irregularity of breathing or heartbeat after birth, and SIDS all with the natural help of skin-to-skin holding, or Kangaroo Care.
Read More About skin-to-skin benefits for ALL babies (full term and premature) here: kangaroomothercare.com
Can carbohydrates cause cancer?
August 27, 1:48 PMNutrition ExaminerCarol Bardelli
Sodas are high in sugar. Credit: Marlith, Wikimedia Commons.
According to some leading experts like Al Sears, MD, a specialist in integrative medicine, carbohydrates can cause cancer. Is this sensationalism or scientific fact? Let's take a look at the evidence.
On one end of the spectrum, the US government by way of the USDA has been recommending that nearly everyone should eat 5 to 11 servings of grains a day. (Recently, the USDA redesigned the food pyramid and many nutritionists are calling it nonsensical and useless. Registered dietician Lynn Smith called the pyramid's approach to discretionary calories "like intellectual gobbledygook.")
On the other hand, we have reliable scientific studies reinforcing Dr. Sears statement on dietary carbohydrates, "Sugar feeds cancer cells and makes them grow like wildfire. Cancer loves sugar. And carbs turn into sugar in your body." Cancer in fact uses sugar (glucose) from dietary carbohydrates to grow, but does this mean carbohydrates cause cancer? It appears more likely an excess of dietary carbohydrates supports cancer growth but may not actually cause cancer itself.The jury is still out on the latter.
A little known fact among laymen is that everybody develops cancer cells throughout our lifetime. But if you have a normal and healthy immune system these renegade cells are rounded up and destroyed. If your immune system is stressed or damaged, or if tumor suppressor genes becomes damaged, cancer cells have an opportunity to grow unchecked. Combining a less than healthy immune system with a high carbohydrate diet is probably a recipe for disaster as far as cancer risks.
If you have a family or personal history of cancer or an immune deficiency, it's wise to limit refined carbohydrates. Foods to avoid include refined grains like corn, wheat products, white rice, starches like potatoes, processed foods, sugar and high fructose corn syrup sweetened drinks, table sugar and added sugars like dextrose and sucralose.
Sugar and cancer have a very close connection. In fact, sugar feeds cancer. Learn how to protect yourself.
Did St. Paul know about what today are called near death experiences? The answer appears to be a resounding yes. He had at least one himself. It is related several times in the above readings from the Acts of the Apostles. There we see the essential character of near death experiences. There is the great light. There is the voice which no one else hears. There is the complete change of life. There is in fact a body of research on the subject of near death experiences,
In II Corinthians we hear St. Paul talk about another, some 14 years prior, who underwent a near death experience. Likewise, as a trained Pharisee, St. Paul would have been acquainted with the book called The Testament of Levi. In this book the writer also relates a near death experience, where he is taken to the highest of heavens.
How is this all important? Look how St. Paul talks about baptism in Romans 6: 2-8:
St. Paul is saying that in baptism we all undergo a near death experience. Therefore, we should also have seen the light & been transformed into a new person. We see the fullest expression of this in the letter from Ephesians:
You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires. Be renewed in the spirit of your minds. Put on the new self, created in Mighty Judge’s way in charitableness & the dedicated way of truth.
To a lesser degree we also see this in the Gospel reading, John 6: 24 – 35:
As we read this we must keep in mind that there is a double entendre going on. In Hebrew the word for Flesh, Bashar, and the word for Good News, Gospel, is the same, Bashar. When we eat the flesh of Jesus Christ we are also eating the Gospel, the Good News. In Genesis 9:4 we read that it says the Bashar, the flesh, in the anima, the soul, which is the blood, you will not eat. Anima and blood are said to be the same. The same idea is presented in the Psalms. When we drink the blood of Christ we also take in his anima his way of being. This is taking part in a new life, the life of Christ.
This brings us to the near death experience of a nation & how the Jewish nation came to be a nation rescued from the near death of slavery in Egypt, from the near death of slavery in Assyria, Babylonia, Greece, Rome, and Nazi Germany. It has been noted that the Torah, the first 5 books of Moses end before the nation of Israel enters the land of Eretz Israel. Therefore, today’s first reading talks about life before the people enter the land. Likewise, we also have not entered the land of Eretz Israel Eretz Israel refers first, of course to a small country east of the Mediterranean. It also refers to the land of the Second Coming, the Parousia or Presence of God in Greek or the Shekinah or the Presence of God in Hebrew. In a small way, it also refers to the United States. Just as Israel was rescued from Egypt the Americans were rescued from the oppression of Europe, the slavery of the South, and the sweatshops in the north. Chinese were rescued from the sweatshops of the railroad and the coal mines. Our rescue is our near death experience.
The nation of Israel has a foretaste of this with the manna & the quail. We have it to a greater degree in the Eucharist. This is the Presence, the Shekinah of God as he lives in us. Therefore certain things are expected as found in Deuteronomy 5, the giving of the Ten Commandments:
Here we see the light in the form of the fire, the divine voice, & the change of direction. Let us now look at the change of direction. Remember, 'I, the Personal Name, am your Mighty Judge, who brought you out of the land of Oppression, that place of menial labor. To truly remember is to remember what it was like to be there. In Exodus 1 Pharaoh, (Hebrew for the man with dreadlocks, unkempt hair, & abuser) says, "Let us deal shrewdly with them." We remember the abusers in our lives & how they abused us. Dying with Christ, we remember the abuses hurled at Jesus during the Passion. Remember, the Passion was during the feast of Passover, which commemorates the rescue from oppression.
The Jewish community has the concept of the Physical Presence. "The Personal Name, our Mighty Judge, made a brit with us at Mt. Sword; not with our fathers did he make this brit, but with us, all of us who are alive, here, this day." The exodus experience is relived in present time by each succeeding generation in Passover. This concept is taken over each Sunday in the celebration of the Eucharist. It is not the Jewish exodus from oppression, but our own exodus from oppression through Jesus Christ. Therefore, just as Deuteronomy and Exodus constantly remind the Jewish people, "Remember you were once slaves in the land of oppression (Egypt) but were delivered with a might hand & an outstretched arm, so likewise we are called to remember our own oppression.
This remembering brings tangible results. In Hebrew the word for jutice, Tzadic, and the word for charity, Tzadic are the same word. Therefore, when St. Paul says, "You are justified by faith, through grace & not by works." it can also be translated as "You are made charitable by the inner truth." We have this understanding of a near death experience which results in a change of personality, a becoming more charitable, giving, & less concerned with the things of the world. We see the light of the fire. We hear the divine voice as it gives us our mission in life. We undergo the near death experience.
All people who undergo near death experiences become more charitable, less fearful of death, less concerned with the things of this world. We become less involved with the details & rules of this world. We look more to God as our great provider, the one who gives us the manna from heaven. Let us become like St. Paul. Let us no longer live as the Goim do in the futility of their minds. Let us put away the old self of your former way of life. Let us be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Let us put on the new self, created in Mighty Judge’s way in charitableness & the dedicated way of truth. Let us rejuvenate our baptism as we take the Eucharist today.
Readings for discussion: Acts 9 :1 – 8, Acts 2: 1- 11, Acts 26: 2-3, 12-19, II Corinthians 12: 2-5, Ephesians 4:17, 20-24, John 6: 24 - 35
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Roman 12
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.Titus 1:16
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from the side of Christ, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me; O good Jesus, hear me; within your wounds, hide me; let me never be separated from you; from the evil one, protect me; at the hour of my death, call me; and bid me to come to you; that with your saints, I may praise you forever and ever. Amen.
Short-Form Deliverance
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of his cross, his blood and his resurrection, I bind you Satan, the spirits, powers and forces of darkness, the nether world, and the evil forces of nature.
I take authority over all curses, hexes, demonic activity, and spells directed against me, my relationships, ministry, air space, finances, and the work of my hands; and I break them by the power and authority of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. I bind all demonic interaction, interplay, and communications between spirits sent against me, and send them directly to Jesus Christ for him to deal with as he wills.
I ask forgiveness for, and denounce all negative inner vows that I have made with the enemy, and ask that Jesus Christ release me from these vows and from any bondage they may have held in me. I claim the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, over every aspect of my life for my protection. I pray all these things in the precious name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Breaking Curses
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I rebuke all spells, hexes, curses, voodoo practices, witchcraft, satanic rituals, incantations, evil wishes, and fasting prayers (not of the Lord) that have been sent my way, or have passed down the generational bloodline. I take authority over all of them and command that they go back where they came from and be replaced with a blessing.
I ask forgiveness for and denounce all negative inner vows that I have made and ask you, Lord Jesus, to release me from any bondage they may have held in me. I claim your shed blood over all aspects of my life and relationships, and ask you to wash away and cleanse me from all impurities, in your name, Lord Jesus Christ.
Breaking Generational Curses
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of his Word, I take the sword of the Spirit and cut myself free from all generational inherited sins, weaknesses, character defects, personality traits, cellular disorders, and genetic disorders. I sever all unhealthy soul-ties and forms of enmeshment and cut all bonds that are not of the Lord. I put his cross between myself, my parents, my grandparents, my siblings, my offspring, my mates, and any unhealthy relationships that my mates have had with others in the past. I cut all bonds of these relationships that are not of the Lord back to the beginning of time, and by the sword of the Spirit, and in the name of Jesus Christ, I say that I am now free, free to be the child of God the Lord intended me to be
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Prayer against Every Evil
Spirit of our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, descend upon me. Please purify me, mold me, fill me with yourself, and use me. Banish all the forces of evil from me, destroy them, vanquish them so that I can be healthy and do good deeds.
Banish from me all spells, witchcraft, black magic, malefice, ties, maledictions, and the evil eye; diabolic infestations, oppressions, possessions; all that is evil and sinful; jealousy, perfidy, envy; and physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, and diabolical ailments.
I command and bid all the powers who molest me — by the power of God Almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior — to leave me forever, and to be consigned into the everlasting lake of fire, that they may never again touch me or any other creature in the entire world.
Denouncing the Occult
Heavenly Father, in the name of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, I denounce Satan and all his works; witchcraft, the use of divination, the practice of sorcery, dealings with mediums, the Ouija board, astrology, horoscopes, numerology, all types of fortune telling, palm readings, levitation, and anything associated with the occult or Satan. I denounce all of them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who came in the flesh and by the power of his cross, his blood and his resurrection, I break their hold over me.
I confess all these sins before you and ask you cleanse and forgive me. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, and ask you Lord Jesus to enter my heart and create in me the kind of person you have intended me to be. I ask you to send forth your Holy Spirit and baptize me with the gifts of your Spirit, just as you baptized your disciples on the day of Pentecost.
I thank you, Lord, according to the riches of your glory, for strengthening my inner-spirit, with the power of your Holy Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in my heart. Through faith, rooted and grounded in love, may I be able to comprehend with all the saints, the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ’s love which surpasses all knowledge; in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Prayer against Malefice1
God, our Lord, King of ages, All-powerful and Almighty, you who made everything and who transform everything simply by your will; you who changed into dew the flames of the seven-times hotter furnace and protected and saved your three holy children:
You are the doctor and physician of our soul. You are the salvation of those who turn to you. I beseech you to make powerless, banish, and drive out every diabolic power, presence, and machination; every evil influence, malefice, or evil eye and all evil actions aimed against me.
Where there is envy and malice, give me an abundance of goodness, endurance, victory, and charity. O Lord, you who love man, I beg you to reach out your powerful hands and your most high and mighty arms and come to my aid.
Send your angel of peace over me, to protect me body and soul. May he keep at bay and vanquish every evil power, every poison or malice invoked against me by corrupt and envious people.
Then under the protection of your authority may I sing with gratitude, “The Lord is my salvation; whom should I fear? I will not fear evil because you are with me, my God, my strength, my powerful Lord, Lord of peace, Father of all ages.”
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Prayer for a Spiritual Canopy2
Dear Lord Jesus, please forgive me for all the times I have not submitted to you. Forgive me for all sinfulness and for agreeing with the enemy and his lies. I now submit to you as my Lord, dear Jesus. Now I break every agreement that I have made with the enemy.
Lord Jesus, please have your warring angels remove and bind to the abyss all demons and their devices that had access to me because I believed their lies. I now ask you to establish a hedge of protection around me, over me, and under me, and seal it with your blood, Lord Jesus Christ.
I now choose to put on the full armor of God and ask that you cleanse me and seal me, body, mind, soul and spirit, with your blood, Lord Jesus Christ. Please have your warring angels bind up and remove all demons, their devices, and all their power from within this protective hedge and have them sent to the abyss.
Please have your warriors destroy all demonic, occult, or witchcraft assignments directed against me including all backups and replacements. Please have your warriors remove all trafficking people and send them back to their own bodies and seal them there with your blood, Lord Jesus Christ. Please have your angels stand guard over me and protect me from all the attacks of the enemy.
Prayer against Trafficking Witches3
Lord Jesus, would you please have a special assignment of warring angels come and remove all trafficking people from me. In the authority of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth who came in the flesh, I cancel all their astral assignments over my life. I take dominion over all assignments of witchcraft over my life and I break them right now by the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth who came in the flesh.
Lord Jesus, please have your warriors strip these witches of their psychic powers, demonic powers, and occult powers. Please strip them of magic charms, veils, psychic vision and powers of divination. Please have all their powers and devices destroyed and cast into the abyss. I ask you to bring them before your throne and bless them with the revelation of who you are and your love and plans of salvation for them. Please show them how they are being deceived by Satan. Please have your warriors send them back into their own bodies and seal them there with your blood, Lord Jesus. I ask you to establish your shield of protection between me and all those who traffic on me; in Jesus’ name, Amen
Long-Form Deliverance
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of his blood, his cross and his resurrection, I bind you Satan, and all your evil spirits, demonic forces, satanic powers, principalities, attributes, aspects, clusters, endowments, and satanic thrones: I bind all kings and princes of terrors, I bind all demonic assignments and functions of destruction, from any of the above demonic entities from outer space, the air, water, fire, the ground, the netherworld, and the evil forces of nature.
I bind all interplay, interaction, and communication between satanic and demonic spirits and expose all you demonic forces and spirits as weakened, defeated enemies of Jesus Christ. I sever all demonic spirits from any demonic ruler above these spirits in the name of Jesus Christ.
I bind all enemies of Christ present together, all demonic entities under the one highest authority, and I command that you leave my life now and go straight to the feet of Jesus Christ. Your assignments and influences are broken.
I call forth and loose the Holy Spirit, the heavenly host, the holy angels of God, to surround, and protect, and cleanse with God’s holy light all areas vacated by the forces of evil. I ask the Holy Spirit to permeate my mind, heart, body, spirit and soul, creating a hunger and thirst for God’s holy word, and to fill me to overflowing with the life and love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.
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Binding Evil Spirits
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of the word, and the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I bind the evil spirits of pride, ignorance, unforgiveness, gossip, envy, competitiveness, criticism, impatience, resentment, haughtiness, rebellion, stubbornness, deceitfulness, defiance, disobedience, strife, violence, divorce, laziness, accusation, confusion, procrastination, self-hatred, suicide, shame, depression, oppression, rejection, poor self image, anger, schizophrenia, manipulation, anxiety, timidity, jealously, greed, revenge, covetousness, fear, possessiveness, control, division, retaliation, distrust, selfishness, loneliness, isolation, ostracism, lack, paranoia, nervousness, passivity, indecision, doubt, deception, dishonesty, unbelief, withdrawal, betrayal, escape, infirmity, nerve disorder, lung disorder, brain disorder or dysfunction, AIDS, cancer, hypochondria, fatigue, anorexia, bulimia, addictions, gluttony, perfectionism, alcoholism, workaholism, nicotine, self-abuse, sexual addictions, sexual impurities and sexual perversion, seduction, lust, incest, pedophilia, lesbianism, homosexuality, pornography, adultery, masturbation, homophobia, frigidity, impotency, immorality, witchcraft, enticing spirits, deaf, dumb, blind, mute and sleeping spirits, hyperactivity, new-age spirits, occult spirits, religious spirits, anti-Christ spirits, and any other spirits of death and darkness all in the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I call forth and ask the Holy Spirit to fill me with the gifts of peace, patience, love, joy, charity, humility, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, discipline, relinquishment, freedom from shame, good self image, prosperity, obedience, a sound mind, order, fulfillment in Christ, truth, acceptance of self, acceptance of others, trust, self control, freedom from addictions, freedom of having-to-control, wholeness, wellness, health, and the light and life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prayer for Inner Healing4
Lord Jesus, please come and heal my wounded and troubled heart. I beg you to heal the torments that cause anxiety in my heart; I beg you, in a particular way, to heal all who are the causes of my sinfulness. I beg you to come into my life and heal me of the psychological harms that struck me in my childhood and from the injuries that they caused throughout my life.
Lord Jesus, you know my burdens. I lay them all on your Good Shepherd’s Heart. I beseech you — by the merits of the great open wound in your heart — to heal the small wounds that are in mine. Heal the pain of my memories, so that nothing that has happened to me will cause me to remain in pain and anguish, filled with anxiety.
Heal, O Lord, all those wounds that have been the cause of all the evil that is rooted in my life. I want to forgive all those who have offended me. Look to those inner sores that make me unable to forgive. You who came to forgive the afflicted of heart, please, heal my heart.
Heal, my Lord Jesus, those intimate wounds that cause me physical illness. I offer you my heart. Accept it, Lord, purify it and give me the sentiments of your Divine Heart. Help me to be meek and humble.
Heal me, O Lord, from the pain caused by the death of my loved ones, which is oppressing me. Grant me to regain peace and joy in the knowledge that you are the Resurrection and the Life. Make me an authentic witness to your Resurrection, your victory over sin and death, your living presence among all men. Amen.
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Healing the Family Tree5
Heavenly Father, I come before you as your child, in great need of your help; I have physical health needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, and interpersonal needs. Many of my problems have been caused by my own failures, neglect, and sinfulness, for which I humbly beg your forgiveness, Lord. But I also ask you to forgive the sins of my ancestors whose failures have left their effects on me in the form of unwanted tendencies, behavior patterns, and defects in body, mind, and spirit. Heal me, Lord, of all these disorders.
With your help I sincerely forgive everyone, living or dead members of my family tree, who have directly offended me or my loved ones in any way, or those whose sins have resulted in our present sufferings and disorders. In the name of your divine Son Jesus, and in the power of his Holy Spirit, I ask you Father, to deliver me and my entire family tree from the influence of the evil one.
Free all living and dead members of my family tree, including those in adoptive relationships, and those in extended family relationships, from every contaminating form of bondage. By your loving concern for us, heavenly Father, and by the shed blood of your precious Son Jesus, I beg you to extend your blessing to me and all my living and deceased relatives. Heal every negative effect transmitted through all past generations, and prevent such negative effects in future generations of my family tree.
I symbolically place the cross of Jesus over the head of each person in my family tree, and between each generation; I ask you to let the cleansing blood of Jesus purify the blood lines in my family lineage. Set protective angels to encamp around us, and permit Archangel Raphael, the patron of healing, to administer your divine healing power to all of us, even in areas of genetic disability. Give special power to our family members’ guardian angels to heal, protect, guide, and encourage each of us in all our needs. Let your healing power be released at this very moment, and let it continue as long as your sovereignty permits.
In our family tree, Lord, replace all bondage with a holy bonding in family love. And let there be an ever-deeper bonding with you, Lord, by the Holy Spirit, to your Son Jesus. Let the family of the Holy Trinity pervade our family with its tender, warm, loving presence, so that our family may recognize and manifest that love in all our relationships. All of our unknown needs we include with this petition that we pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Denouncing Lodges and Secret Societies
Father God, creator of heaven and earth, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ your Son. I come as a sinner seeking forgiveness and cleansing from all sins committed against you and my family lineage. I honor my earthly father and mother and all my ancestors, but I utterly turn away from and denounce all their sins, especially those that have exposed me to a curse. I forgive all my ancestors for the effects of their sins on me and my children, and ask to be washed clean and forgiven.
I denounce and rebuke Satan and every spiritual power of evil affecting me and my family. I denounce and forsake my involvement in all lodges, secret societies and any other craft practiced by myself or my ancestors. I denounce all oaths and rituals in every level and degree. I denounce witchcraft, the spirit of the antichrist and the curse of the Luciferian doctrine. I denounce idolatry, blasphemy, secrecy and deception. I denounce the love of position and power, the love of money, and the fears that have held me and my family members in bondage.
I denounce and forsake all involvement in Freemasonry, Mormonism, The Order of Amaranth, Oddfellows, Buffalos, Druids, Foresters, Orange, Elks, Moose and Eagle Lodges, the Ku Klux Klan, The Grange, the Woodmen of the World, Riders of the Red Robe, the Knights of Pythias, the Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, the women’s Orders of the Eastern Star, and of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, the girls’ order of the Daughters of the Eastern Star, the International Orders of Job’s Daughters, and of the Rainbow, and the boys’ Order of De Molay and their effects on me and my family.
I denounce the blindfold and hoodwink, its effects on my emotions and eyes, including all confusion and fears. I denounce the noose around the neck, the fear of choking and also every spirit causing difficulty in breathing. I denounce the calling any man “Master.” I denounce the effects of all pagan objects and symbolism, aprons, books of rituals, rings, and jewelry. I denounce the entrapping of others, and observing the helplessness of others during the rituals. I denounce all false communion taken, all mockery of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, all unbelief, confusion and deception, and all worship of Lucifer as God.
Now dear Father God, I ask humbly for the blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, to cleanse me from all these sins that I have confessed and denounced. Please cleanse my spirit, soul, mind, emotions and every part of my body which has been affected by these sins. I command in the name of Jesus Christ for every evil spirit to be bound into the abyss, never again to return to me or my family.
I surrender all the places and areas of my life vacated by the forces of evil to you Lord Jesus, and ask you to baptize and cleanse me with the fire of your Holy Spirit. I enthrone you, Lord Jesus, in my heart, for you are my Lord and my Savior, the source of eternal life. Thank you, Father God, for your mercy, your forgiveness and your love, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Top
Closing of Deliverance Prayers
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for awakening my sleeping spirit and bringing me into your light. Thank you, Lord, for transforming me by the renewing of my mind. Thank you, Lord, for pouring out your Spirit on me, and revealing your Word to me. Thank you, Lord, for giving your angels charge over me in all my ways. Thank you for my faith in you and that from my innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Thank you for directing my mind and heart into the love of the Father and the steadfastness of all your ways. Fill me to overflowing with your life and love, my Lord and King, Jesus Christ.
Prayer for the Healer
Lord Jesus, thank you for sharing with me your wonderful ministry of healing and deliverance. Thank you for the healing I have experienced today. I realize that the sickness of evil is more than my humanity can bear, so I ask that you please cleanse me of any sadness and negative thinking or despair that I may have picked up during my intercession for others.
If my ministry has tempted me to anger, impatience or lust, cleanse me of those temptations, and replace them with love, joy, and peace. If any evil spirits have attached themselves to me or oppressed me in any way, I command you, spirits of earth, fire, water, the netherworld, or of nature to depart now and go straight to Jesus Christ, for him to deal with you as he wills.
Come Holy Spirit, renew me, fill me anew with your power, your life and your joy. Strengthen me where I feel weak and clothe me with your light. Fill me with your life. Lord Jesus, please send your holy angels to minister to me and protect me from all forms of sickness, harm, and accidents. I thank you and praise you my Lord, God and King.
Psalm 916
You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the punishments of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.
NOTES
The prayers are cited from unknown sources unless otherwise noted.
Gabriele Amorth, “From the Greek Ritual,” An Exorcist Tells His Story (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1999), p. 199. Reprinted with permission of Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA.
By Loomis/Wickes, Introductory Prayer for Submission and Protection, 8/2000.
By Loomis/Wickes, Prayer for Trafficking People, 8/2000
Amorth, An Exorcist Tells His Story, pp. 201-202. Reprinted with permission of Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA.
Reverend John H. Hampsch C.M.F. Reprinted with permission, www.claretiantapeministry.org.
Psalm 91, New Revised Standard Version Bible: copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Inhuman and Human Spirits
SPIRIT TYPES - Compared to US Military
►Ancestral (Human and/or inhuman) Air Force
►Trauma (Abuse & Fear; inhuman) Navy
►Sin Spirits (Our own sins; Inhuman) Army
►Occult Spirits (Satan & false god worship) Marines
All of the above listed open doors letting unwantedspirits in.
For more information on human spirits, (ghosts) see the paranormal section of this website
“No journey to freedom takes place without the grace of God & the power of His Holy Spirit working in & through you.”
One of the most common ways unwanted spirits sabotage us is by attaching to our emotional hurts, many we experienced as a child. Unhealed hurts are food for unwanted spirits, so they aggrivate our known and unrecognized hurts, to make more food for themselves.
But, as we go through the healing process, the hurts go away, leaving the unwanted spirits with little food. They then become weak and are easy to remove while healing with the Lord.
In our own lives we have things that can keep us from healing.These things can be expressions of evil spirits influence.
Why do they influence us in this manner?
They do not want us to heal & get free, they enjoy making us miserable.
•If hurts are not healed, spirits will return to their food source Lk 11 24
We have double blocks, our own & unwanted spirits prevent our healing
Healing & Deliverance releases us from bondage
into blessing!
• I am strong in You Lord. Apart from You I have no authority over the evil one. I now clothe my loved ones and myself with Your armor, against any plans of the evil one against my loved ones and self today. I put on the belt of truth that sets me free. I put on Your breastplate of righteousness and rest in Your righteousness - not mine.
• My feet are shod with the Gospel of Peace, therefore I will not fight with others but do my best to be at peace with them. I put on the helmet of Your salvation that protects my mind from the accusations, attacks, curses, deceptions, lies, schemes, temptations, tricks, schemes and whiles of the devil. I am under construction and Gods grace gives me time to change. I take Your shield of faith to turn every accusation, attack, curse, deceptions lie, scheme, temptation, trick and scheme from the enemy onto himself and stand on Your promises.
• Satan, In the Name of True Jesus, I tear down strongholds, principalities, powers and rulers of yours over myself and others and speak the Blood of True Jesus to You! The Lord Jesus Himself rebukes You!!! I take the sword of the Spirit and stand on every written and spoken promise to us by our Heavenly Father and cut You off from every plan in our lives and proclaim Your defeat and torment in hell!!! It is written all I must do is submit to God and resist You and You must flee! I have submitted to God and resist you, therefore, by His Word I tell You to GO!!!
• I place the Blood of True Jesus over our families, homes, ministries, places of employment, bank accounts, debts, cars, pets, possessions and myself--all of which belong to God--and serve notice to You that Your power is broken in the Name of Jesus Christ!!
• In the name of True Jesus I bind spiritual ancestral, trauma, occult and sin nature forces not of True Jesus of the air, water, ground, fire, electricity, and netherworld from interfering in this day. I bind and forbid any interaction among enemy spirits, and scramble all lines of communication to other spirits not of True Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I command you spirits to leave and go to the feet of True Jesus, without making a fuss, never to return. I speak this in Jesus’ Holy Name. Amen
• PROTECTION FOR OTHERS •
• Spirit to spirit, in the Name of True Jesus, with the authority Jesus Christ gave me as a Christian, I bind any entity not of our Lord Jesus Christ from _______, from his/her physical being, psyche, spirituality, emotions, personality & sexuality.
• Lord Jesus, I commit ______ to you to love, heal, protect and bless this day in all the ways you desire. Thank You Lord for this protection, in Your Precious Name. Amen
Saint Michael Prayer
• Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness, schemes, wiles, tricks and snares of the devil. Restrain him, O God, we humbly pray, and Michael, Prince of the heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast to the feet of True Jesus, Satan and all the evil spirits, prowling about the world seeking the ruin and destruction of souls Amen
Prayer To Break a Curse
• “Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You died on the cross for my sins & rose again from the dead. You redeemed me by Your blood & I belong to & want to live for You! I confess all my known & unknown sins, I’m sorry for them all. I forgive all others as I want You to forgive me. Forgive & cleanse me with Your blood. I come to You as my savior, healer & deliverer. You know the evil one & my needs, the ones tormenting, binding, defiling, & that unclean spirit. I claim the promise of Your word, “Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered.” I call upon You now, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, deliver me & set me free. Satan, I renounce you & all your works, & loose myself from you, in the Name of True Jesus, & I command you to leave me now!” Amen
There are many spirits around us and perhaps they affect us in ways we seldom detect. Christ cast them out at every turn and mentioned not just "devils" but also "ghosts" and "unclean" spirits. Is there a difference?
Many are those who believe that in addition to Satan's minions, there are human spirits who are doing their purgatory on earth (St. Padre Pio spoke of this) or are earthbound due to obsession.
These spirits -- some deliverance experts maintain -- can likewise cause ill fortune, disruptions in our lives (especially with our emotions), and even illness (we note Christ casting out "unclean" spirits to heal). It raises a question: is an unclean spirit a demon, or a human soul that has not gone through purgatory (has not been cleansed)?
And if "spirits" linger behind -- or are in bondage here -- might they display the same negative characteristics that they did during life, including anger?
Skeptics argue that there is no Catholic teaching on this -- and they are right. There's a paucity of Church direction on it. Others proclaim it as superstition.
We can say that there often seems to be a supernatural dynamic interwoven in the course of daily life: good and negative, angels and demons -- and perhaps other forms of existence. We won't understand it all until we're on the other side of the veil (until then, much is speculation).
But according to a growing number of Christian deliverance experts, including Jan Reagor, of Montana, a Catholic who has long studied and worked with such cases (often with priests), there is a spiritual analogue to physical cleanliness and in fact she describes her ministry as "cleansing" homes, believing, as she does, that many different spiritual entities can interact with us and do on a constant basis.
If there is a "familiar" feeling to a spirit, says Jan, it is possibly a deceased family member, and if not that, someone who lived in the home or on the property or in the vicinity. She claims there are also "ancestral spirits" -- deceased family members who "can pass from generation to generation" and "affect mental illness and other such infirmities, and can bring a person curses and other problems which they encounter during their lifetimes. These spirits are identified by discernment and detection by getting a family history." She has written two manuals on the subject. Controversial stuff, but also fascinating -- and potentially beneficial.
Meanwhile, there are the inhuman spirits (read: demons) and she says that they cause foul sulfur-like odors and dark red "orbs" and are "often described as blacker than black." These entities come through sinfulness, human faults, and in a special way through occult past-times such as witchcraft, psychic phenomena, Santeria, voodoo, Goth, palm reading, horoscopes, and the Ouija board (to name a few).
Reagor breaks them down even into sub-classes, naming "elemental spirits" as malicious entities that appear foul and beastlike and are on "assignment" from the evil one. Blessed oil, water, and salt are powerful against demons, she notes, while prayers and Masses for any deceased that may be earthbound (if we accept this premise) can solve a "haunted" situation. These spirits need our prayers and love to head for the Light and are dealt with, she and others maintain, differently than demons. The Eucharist and the "Jericho walk" are also said to reclaim land for God (that is, praying seven times around a property).
We have to be careful with these things. One caution: avoid being overly curious. Do not become immersed. Seek not to be a ghost-hunter. Keep away from practices that can bring more problems than they cure.
But realize too that there are spirits all around us.
How about music?
In our view, they can bring dark forces in the same way as the occult because in a way certain types of music are occult-like to begin with. Bands made up to look like demons or calling themselves things like Black Sabbath can bring in dark spirits just as choirs and holy music draw angels.
Draw down the angels! And remember that besides music, our sinfulness and even objects in the home can allow darkness to enter. It can be like germs -- a spiritual epidemic. What books, posters, paintings, tattoos, statues, antiques, videos, websites, TV programs, and magazines are in your home?
Intractable problems (such as arguments, divorce, loneliness, or inability to succeed) can be caused, at times, by a spirit or spirits around a person (spirits that seek to separate us).
"Earthbound spirits," says another from California who claims spiritual insight, are of a "lower vibration than spirits who have gone to God. Angels are of an extremely high vibration. They are much harder to see and have to make the intention to slow their vibration so that they may be visible. Ghosts attract things of extremely low vibration, such as demons (unholy angels). This is another explanation of why they must go -- even if they feel they are helping their loved ones, they are not -- it is very dangerous for them to hang out. Another reason is because they too can get manipulated by demons, just as we can. [Many] 'ghosts' become manipulated by the unholy angels and turn into manipulated ghosts. Make sure that the grandmother talking to your child is a spirit and not a ghost, no matter how friendly she is."
"Ghosts are humans who have died and not yet gone back to the Father. Manipulated ghosts have been attacked and have fallen prey to the manipulations of the unholy angels and become convinced that they are demons too. The unholy Angels twist the manipulated ghosts and use them against people like pawns, and this is why ghosts can become very destructive and evil, because they are tapping into this source. Remember these manipulated ghosts are at their core children of God, and they still have the chance to go back to the Father, to learn more about love and have more opportunity to share in his love. Manipulated ghosts need more assistance to return back home to the Father because they can no longer see themselves as once human, they see only the darkness and the manipulation fed to them. These are the ghosts that appear disfigured, distorted, a perversion of what they were. Anywhere there is a perversion of how something was intended to be, count on the fact that there is demonic influence present."
These things are deep.
Too deep? It is all stated for your own determination. We certainly respect skepticism.
And yet, we live at a time when many seem afflicted -- and in need of help that is not provided to us, despite the example (and instructions, see Matthew 10:8) of Jesus. We can be attacked while awake. We can be attacked at night. No need for paranoia. The need is to pray.
Many are the manifestations. Spirits can operate in both the natural and supernatural. Often, they attack during sleep. It is very important, therefore, to pray before we go to sleep, and immediately upon rising, so they can take no root. Wrote Brother Gabriel (Thomas) Ridenour of Caribou, Maine (concerning an article about terrifying, "freak" dreams, during which people feel paralyzed):
"I had it happen to me several times during my last year as a teacher in a Christian school in Kentucky some ten years ago. Each occurrence was a prelude to some attack in the natural realm. It was as if the devil was trying to make the point that if he couldn't scare me one way, he would try some other. Once it was followed by a wave of gossip and slander by some of the school parents. Another time as I was out on a prayer walk along an open stretch of country road late at night a pickup truck drove by at high speed and hit me square in the back with a half-full Coke bottle, only to turn around and come back at me head-on and hit me in the arm with another, which left me with a nasty bruise.
"Always as I lay 'paralyzed' I would try to call on the name of Jesus, but could only do so in my mind and with great difficulty. Then it would leave. Once as it was leaving I could hear a hideous laughter in my right ear. The windows were open and dogs began to bark one after another as the thing made its way through the neighborhood. If I had not experienced this myself, I would think anyone who said they had such an experience was crazy."
It is important to know that darkness exists and how it manifests but not to dwell on it -- which can give it more power. When we pray the Rosary, it is especially powerful. Evil usually dissipates instantly, when we call upon Mary. I especially recommend the Scriptural Rosary (which combines the power of the Bible with the grace of the Blessed Mother).
See it, purge it, and move on -- in faith. Fasting and reading the Bible are powerful at times of duress, which in the Name of Jesus must lift (whether that trial is eventual or immediate). Cast out, move on, and fill voids with the Holy Spirit.
There is no need to know all the alleged intricacies of spiritual workings, no need to search out every detail, just to know that when they negatively affect us, they ultimately are rooted in a force of darkness.
The antidote is the Light of Jesus.
Nothing dark -- no thing -- can stand before it.
[resources: spiritual warfare books, Scriptural Rosary, and Jan Reagor's handbook, "Prayers for deliverance and blessing for homes and other buildings," available at Alive in Jesus Healing Ministry, P.O. Box 73, Gt. Falls, MT 59403; for a brochure e-mail here or her website]
[Also: Michael H. Brown spiritual retreat and Mass, Minnesota and Retreat in New Jersey]
BELIEVE IT and RECEIVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a POWERFUL PRAYER! When you are DOWN to nothing ... God is UP to
something'
Father, in the Name of Jesus, bless me even while I'm reading this
prayer and bless the one that sent this to me in a special way. Open
Doors in our lives today, Save and set free!
Give us a double portion of your Spirit as we take back everything that
The devil has stolen:
****Emotional Health
****Physical Health
****Finances
****Relationships
****Children
****Jobs
****Homes
****Marriages
I cancel every plot, plan and scheme the enemy has devised Against us in
The NAME OF JESUS. And I declare:
NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WILL PROSPER. I speak LIFE into every dead
situation. And, I thank you that nothing is over until YOU say it's
Over! Speak prophetically into our lives and to our situations:
****our households are blessed;
****our health is blessed ;
****our marriages are blessed;
****our finances are blessed;
****our relationships are blessed;
****our businesses are blessed;
****our jobs are blessed;
****our children are blessed;
****our grandchildren are blessed;
****our parents are blessed;
****our siblings are blessed;
****our ministries are blessed;
****our decisions are blessed;
****our friends are blessed.
****Mortgages are paid and debts canceled; our hearts' desire is on the
Way; According to YOUR perfect will and plan for our lives.
YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER FORSAKE US! IN JESUS' NAME!
AMEN!
The Lord spoke to my heart during our CFC Governance Household Meeting. To night was the continuation of our Household Leaders Training (HLT) on Faith in God.
And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
There is good news regarding aging. It turns out, just because you get older doesn't necessarily mean your health and happiness go down the drain. It is a choice we make.
Take for instance Betty Brothers, who discovered the modern-day fountain of youth, complete with 6-pack abs. It is a combination of exercise and positive relationships.
"My doctor said I had the blood pressure and the cholesterol of a teenager and he said I was extremely healthy for my age," Brothers said. "I'm 62 and he said, 'I probably don't wanna see you any more until you're 65,' so that made me very happy."
Turning Back the Hands of Time
Right on her heels are Maria and Joe Camacho. They, too, are making changes to their lives to turn back the hands of time, as far as their bodies and minds go. That is a complete u-turn from where they were just months ago.
"We would go shopping, my husband and I, and I would just start crying in the store," Maria Camacho said.
The couple assumed their declining health and appearance was a normal part of aging. But from your body's point of view "normal" aging is not normal at all.
Manhattan internist Dr. Harry Lodge did double duty: keeping one eye on his patients who were aging well and the other on new scientific research.
The result? The bestseller: Younger Next Year.
Promote Cell Growth
"The message we've been given over and over and over again is a lie about what aging should look like," he said, "It turns out that your cells really don't age. They either grow or decay. And if you do things in your life that trigger growth in the cells, then your body gets stronger, younger, fitter, healthier."
Lodge said your body is better able to resist disease and you live life as functionally as a younger man or woman until very late in the game.
Three months from now, we will all have almost entirely new bodies. That is because most of our cells only live that long. Now, whether the new cells are older or younger, that is to say, whether they grow or decay, depends on how we signal them.
Motion is the signaler. Sedentary muscles tell your cells to decay, but when you exercise, your muscles release substances telling your cells to grow. An hour a day, six days a week will produce amazing results. Even deep into your 70s you can double your leg strength in just three months.
Give Love
In addition to exercise, caring about others also signals cell growth. People who do things like volunteer and get involved in a larger purpose, live longer, healthier lives. People who are socially engaged have half the immortality of people who are isolated.
People involved in a religious community live about four years longer than people who are not.
But negative emotions like stress, anger and loneliness trigger the secretion of adrenaline and cortizol, which turn off vital machinery inside every cell.
"They turn off the parts of our body that are supposed to repair us, to re-do the damage that comes from daily life, to keep ourselves young and nourished and healthy," Lodge said. "We know that cancer, heart attacks, strokes and Alzheimer's are driven very powerfully by emotional substructures."
Connect With Others
Additionally, MRI scans of a depressed person's brain reveals areas that actually begin to die off. Those areas come back to life when the people begin positively connecting with others.
So in the Bible, when we are told to love and care it is actually great medical advice.
Joe Camacho has taken this advice to heart.
"What I try to do is every month is try to think of someone I can help and try to focus on that person to see how I can help them," he said.
He is currently involved in a mentoring program to help inner-city teens.
If you hang out with people with negative attitudes, remember this: happiness is twice as contagious as depression. You can turn that crowd around with a positive attitude.
Humans are designed to be both very physical and positively engaged with others. Pay attention to these, and you'll live longer and live better.
*Originally aired August 12, 2009
(I invite you to pray this prayer regularly, with gratitude. Gratitude is a position of openness and trust, that makes room for the Lord to work on our behalf.)
Speak Blessings Over Your Family
"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." (3 John 1:2)
(Psalm 5:12 12For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.)
The prayer every mother must pray for her child whether that child is prodigal or not:
“By the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, bring every thought and imagination of my child’s mind, every emotion of his heart, every deed of his hands, and every step that he takes under Your Lordship. Lead him to love You with all of his heart, mind, and soul, and his neighbor as himself.”
A Prayer when you are under spiritual attack:
Psalm 18:1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
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PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE MY LIFE, MY LOVE: Lord Jesus I thank You for Your presence with me today. I know that You love me and have called me by name. You came to set the captives free. Thank You for Your love that calls me out of bondage and into Your abundant life. I praise You, bless You, worship You. I stand and proclaim that You are Lord of my life. You are my Life. I repent of my sins and I turn away from them and turn to You. Thank You for filling me with Your Holy Spirit and releasing in me the anointing of Your Spirit to pray this prayer.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE MY HIDING PLACE: I place myself under Your protection, Jesus, and cover myself with Your precious blood.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE MY RIGHTEOUSNESS: Lord Jesus, I enter into deep forgiveness, with gratitude that the Holy Spirit is cleansing me of any roots of bitterness or resentment. I pray now for the one person during the last week who has been the greatest source of pain and annoyance. I forgive that person from the depths of my heart. I pray a blessing on that person. Jesus because I love You I say to those people, "Even though you have hurt me, I am not going to hurt you. I give you to Jesus. I forgive you, accept you, and love you as you are."
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE THE WONDERFUL COUNSELOR: Lord Jesus, I pray now for the one person who has hurt me the most in life. Thank You for Your Spirit, guiding and counseling me in the middle of these hurts. I lift this one up to You to receive Your blessing. Thank You, Lord, for the grace to truly forgive myself for my greatest sin, my biggest breech in my faith relationship with You. You have forgiven me, and I receive from You the grace to forgive myself.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES: Lord Jesus I come to You on behalf of everyone in my family who is not perfectly united to You. I apologize to You for their sinfulness. I acknowledge that some of my family may be, or may have been, involved in the occult - spiritualism, witchcraft and all manner of seeking information from forbidden sources. Lord, forgive. Jesus, in Your Name that is above all names, I break the power of evil over my family. I break all curses, hexes, spells, evil wishes, evil desires, voodoo, black magic, satanic vows, hereditary seals, pacts, spiritual bonding and soul ties with satanic forces, and sever the transmission of those links through my family. Jesus, united with You, I come against the effects of all family links with psychics, astrologers, clairvoyants, mediums and fortune tellers. On behalf of my family I renounce all family participation in seances and divination and activity with tarot cards, ouija boards, astrology and occult games of all kinds. In Your Name, Jesus, I renounce all ways that satan might have a hold on me or my family. I break the transmission of all satanic works passed on through my family. Lord I invite You to remove from my family all effects of involvement in the occult. Any territory handed over to satan by my family, I hereby take back and place under Your Lordship, Jesus. Thank You for beginning now to raise up in my family holy godly committed Christians deeply committed to Your truth.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE MY WISDOM: Thank You, Jesus, that You are Lord of my family. In Your holy name, Jesus, I come against all deeply ingrained patterns of marital unhappiness in my family. I say "No" to all suppression of spouse and all expressions of marital unlove. Thank You, Jesus, for setting us free. In Your Name, Jesus, I stop all hatred, death wishes, evil desires and intentions in marriage relationships in my family. In the power of Your Holy Spirit, I put an end to all transmission of violence, all vindictive, negative behavior, all infidelity and deception. I renounce all family patterns of tension, divorce and hard hearts in the name of Jesus. United with You, Jesus, I bring an end to all deeply ingrained family patterns of feeling trapped in unhappy marriage, all feelings of emptiness and failure. Thank You, Jesus, that You will forgive members of my family for all the ways they have dishonored the sacrament of marriage. I invite You to bring to future generations in our family many committed marriages filled with love, faithfulness, fidelity and kindness.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE MY DEFENSE: Jesus, standing one with You, I now put a stop to all family patterns of wounding children. In Your Name I come against the hurting ways--the abortions, miscarriages, unwanted pregnancies, unwelcome babies, births conceived out of wedlock. In Your presence I renounce all family patterns of not valuing life. I renounce all habits of emotional and physical battering, abandonment and abducting of children. Lord thank You for forgiving all the ways past generations of my family have brought harm to children. Lord Jesus, our Defense, I welcome Your presence in our family, bringing forth in future generations people who reverence and love their children and raise them in ways that honor you. May the future children in my family line know what it means to be deeply loved.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE THE MIGHTY WARRIOR: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Spirit at work in our family, bringing to a halt all patterns of sexual sin, rape, fornication, incest and perversion. Thank You, Mighty Warrior, for the anointing of Your Spirit that breaks this chain of evil and brings sexual health and wholeness into my family. May current and future generations of my family shine with the beauty of a healthy sexuality.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR VICTORY: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Spirit that heals any patterns of mental illness in my family. May there be no more paranoia, schizophrenia, personality disorders, manic-depressive patterns in my family. Through the power of Your Victorious Spirit, Jesus, let there be an end to any family patterns of wounding and repressing masculinity; any suppression and damage to the female spirit. Thank You Jesus, that there will be no more patterns of self-destruction in my family. May the people of our family have Your mind, Jesus. In You, Jesus, I invite healthy thinking, emotional balance and wholesome patterns into my family. Jesus, thank You for bringing a spirit of light and laughter and joy into my family line.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US: Lord Jesus, You tell us there is no fear in love, because perfect Love casts out all fear. Thank You for Your perfect love healing any patterns of fear in my family. Thank You that Your perfect love casts out fear of water, men, height, success, failure, crowds, women, God, death, leaving home, closed places, open spaces, speaking out, flying and pain. Thank You Jesus for setting our family free of fear. Thank You for Your precious protection around my family, driving away any negative spirits that would seek to plant seeds of fear in my family.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE ALL THAT I NEED: Lord Jesus, You are our self control. Thank You for breaking compulsive habits in our family: all addictive patterns of gambling, shopping, talking, drinking, and chemical abuse. Thank You for breaking all patterns of hoarding and squandering resources and talents. Thank you for healing patterns of stinginess and stealing. Thank You for releasing my family from bondage to all compulsive habits in Your mercy, grace and generosity.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE MY HEALING AND WHOLENESS: Lord Jesus, we go to doctors for medicine sometimes, but You are our healer. Thank You for releasing physical healing into my family. Thank You for severing family links to diseases of every kind: heart disease, blood disease, cancer, digestive and eating disorders, ulcers, and all tendencies to form tumors. Thank You for stopping patterns of female disorders in my family: menstrual problems, hormone imbalances, infertility and sexual coldness. Thank You for stopping patterns of male sexual disorders: impotence and transmitted diseases. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit at work in healing physical deformities, hearing problems, immune deficiences, rare diseases, weak eyes, bad teeth, flat feet. Thank You for healing migraines, mental retardation, lung problems, arthritis, skin diseases and bone disorders. Thank You Jesus, for touching all physical traumas with your healing love. Thank You for touching the root causes of all physical disorders in my family. Jesus, thank You for forgiving those in my family for any ways they have chosen sickness to avoid life; for any ways they have tried to meet needs in unhealthy ways. Thank You for building into my family a new pattern of choosing life.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE THE LION OF JUDAH: Thank You Jesus for healing the effects in my family of the evil perpetrated by swindlers, exploiters, torturers, blackmailers and extortionists. Thank You for the anointing of Your Spirit closing the door on evil perpetrated by criminals of every kind. Thank You that all corruption and brutality in my family line is coming to an end.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR STRENGTH AND OUR SONG: Lord Jesus, thank You for stopping all patterns of breaking away in my family. Thank You for the roadblock that stops all runaways in my family: children, adults and parents. Thank You for dissolving all roots of isolation, hiding and escaping. Father, thank You for encircling my family with Your loving, forgiving nature, and putting Your Song in our hearts. Thank You for drawing us together. Thank You for giving us the ability to relate with each other and the community in close, free, loving ways.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR PROVIDER: Thank You, Jesus, for encircling my family with protection, bringing to an end the family pattern of suffering from overwhelming conditions: harsh climates, hunger, abandonment, betrayal, public shame. Thank You for giving my family living conditions that are healthy, enough food, enough money, warmth and shelter. Thank You that we are free to thrive through your Holy Spirit.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE THE REAL LIFE: Thank You, Jesus, for giving each member of our family the mind and heart to serve only one God - the living God. Thank You that our family does not focus on the idols of home,jewels, modes of transportation, food, drink, titles, appearance, power, people, money, land, animals and possessions of every kind. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR CHAMPION AND SHIELD: Lord Jesus, thank You for healing in our family any effects from being different, because we are accepted and bonded into Your family. Thank You that because of You, we do not suffer as a result of speaking a different language, or because of our color, race, skin color, size, talents, or body style.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE: Jesus, thank You for healing any communication disorders in my family: inability to communicate, fear of speaking out, speech defects and especially stuttering. Thank You for healing all patterns of wounding others verbally, all blasphemy, all treachery of the tongue. Thank You for raising up members of my family who communicate healing and wholeness.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR COVENANT: Lord Jesus, thank You for healing patterns of suffering in my family, including the need to suffer and the need to fail. Thank You for healing patterns of broken hearts, rootlessness, and a sense of not belonging. Thank You for healing patterns of rejection, bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. Thank You for bringing to mind ingrained patterns that You are ready to heal--any pattern of shame, pain or grief.
PRAISE YOU, JESUS, YOU ARE WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE: Thank You Jesus for sending your Holy Spirit throughout my family, touching, healing and making whole. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
We've long been interested in the testimony of priests concerning what they call "generational healing." That's when spiritual burdens from the past -- from ancestors -- are allegedly lifted. We say "allegedly" because while this practice is growing, is accepted by many priests, and appears to conflict with no strictures of the Church, it still raises questions among some Christians. It is a fascinating concept: that like Scripture says (Exodus 34:7) -- and as we know from Adam and Eve -- sins of the fathers can be passed down through the generations.
Could this really be? Might spiritual matters be inherited -- passed down like genes?
In the past, we've spoken to experts such as Father John Hampsch of California and Father Robert DeGrandis of Washington, D.C. Last week we called another, Father Lou Cerulli of Montreal, who explained that there are just too many cases where recurring problems -- divorce, alcoholism, financial problems, accidents -- run in families. When a person dies, he believes, spirits that caused such problems or spiritual proclivities are passed on to the descendants.
"All of us are affected at least to some degree," says Father Cerulli. "Some people are more affected than others. Some people have no problems until they are 40 or 50. There are always degrees. But if you're going back to all the generations, there is going to be something. Whether we're aware of it or not is another question."
According to Father Cerulli (who travels extensively giving healing Masses), burdens from the past seem to especially manifest through disorders that are psychological or emotional. To dispel them Father Cerulli focuses on the Eucharist, asking those who seek his help to fill out a "genogram (basically, a family tree with the names of ancestors) and reciting prayers designed to alleviate such problems. During Mass the priest tells those seeking his counsel to continue writing down any facts, thoughts, or memories about deceased relatives. He speaks especially about the effects of past occult involvement. After the gifts are brought up, Father Cerulli says he recites another prayer to break generational curses.
"Then they bring up the family trees and they are placed in a basket that I raise up to the Lord for His healing," explains Father Cerulli. "The Eucharist is celebrated and afterward the genograms are sealed in envelopes that are never opened and given to a community of nuns in Montreal who pray over them for three months, later disposing of them by burning them."
All kinds of problems dissolve. There are physical healings. There is deliverance from disorders like anorexia, bulimia, and even suicidal tendencies. Usually it's the relief from a general malaise that has haunted folks for decades.
"Invariably, there will be people who come up and say they had been carrying a burden -- abortion, miscarriages, infant death -- and afterward you can see the release on their faces," claims Father Cerulli. "Such peace and joy! Often, there is reconciliation. We have cases where there's been an estrangement and people haven't heard from family members for maybe 20 years or more, and all of a sudden there's a knock on the door or a letter in the mail or a phone call. I remember an instance where a lady was even unaware that she had a sibling and after a weekend retreat, she came into contact with this sibling. Sometimes this is within days or weeks of a celebration of the Eucharist for the family tree."
Now Father Cerulli was a late vocation who was ordained in 1991 and was inspired to start his ministry by an English psychiatrist named Dr. Kenneth McCall who wrote extraordinary, groundbreaking books on generational healing (at some point in the future, we'll explore the life of this incredible psychiatrist). Father Cerulli usually gives a monthly healing Mass in Montreal, and will soon be pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola in that Canadian city.
What advice does he give to families who feel they are "haunted" -- that there is something negative hovering around their lineage?
If they can't get to a healing Mass, he advises, they should meet as a family and discuss the issue. "One thing I suggest they do is put their thoughts on paper and develop a genogram as a tool, not as a science, but to become as specific as we can in praying for our families," says the priest. "If possible, get together and look at the family tree. Sit down, have a nice meal together, share your stories, bring your photographs, and put it down on paper. Try to be as specific as possible. Put down names if you can. If you don't know the name of your great-great grandfather, then just put down 'GGF.' After you've had your discussion and made your notes, pray. Pray for the healing of your family tree."
Father Cerulli believes there are spiritual aspects particular to various lineages. For example, Italians often confront occult spirits passed down from ancient paganism or from practices such as witchcraft, the Black Hand, or the "evil eye." There is also much occultism in Latin cultures, notes the priest -- who worked in the financial industry and designed training programs for major corporations before responding to the priestly call.
But really, says Father Cerulli, no ethnicity can be singled out. Every culture has its spiritual problems. Unhealthy practices "open up doors to the family line that never should have been opened," and one striking example, he believes, may be the ancient and seemingly intractable Jewish-Arab division. He believes if it may go back to the fact that Abraham had two sons -- one by his lawful wife, Sarah, the other by their Egyptian servant, Hagar.
The son by Sarah was Isaac, and his descendants were to inherit Canaan. The son born of Hagar was named Ishmael and may have been a patron of Arabs.
"His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers," notes Genesis 16.
"These two guys and these two nations have been at each other ever since," notes Father Cerulli.
"Ultimately, we all have problems. We're all connected. We may be different people and different cultures and different languages, but if you go right back we come from God and are all one, are all connected."
[Fr. DeGrandis's book] [Fr. Hampsch's book] [Dr. McCall's book]
My Dear Heavenly Father, I call to You right now in a special way. It is through Your power that ___________ was created. Every breath he takes, every morning he awakes and every moment of every hour, he lives under Your power. Father, I ask you to touch him with the same power. For, if you created him from nothing, you can certainly recreate him and fill him with the Healing Power of your Spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in him. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells, open any blocked arteries and veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Let the warmth of your Healing love pass through his body to make new any unhealthy areas. So that his body may function the way You created it to function. And Father restore him to full health in spirit, mind, body and soul, so that he may love You for the rest of his life. I ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord and through the intercession of our Blessed Mother.
Amen.
Kyrie eleison(Lord have mercy). God, our Lord, King of ages, All-powerful and Almighty, You Who made everything and Who transforms everything simply by Your will. You Who in Babylon changed into dew the flames of the "seven-times hotter" furnace and protected and saved the three holy children. You are the doctor and the physician of our souls. You are the salvation of those who turn to You. We beseech You to make powerless, banish, and drive out every diabolic power, presence and machination; every evil influence, malefice, or evil eye and all evil actions aimed against your servant. . . Where there is envy and malice, give us an abundance of goodness, endurance, victory, and charity. O Lord, You who love man, we beg You to reach out Your powerful hands and Your most high and mighty arms and come to our aid. Help us, who are made in Your image, send the angel of peace over us, to protect us body and soul. May he keep at bay and vanquish every evil power, every poison or malice invoked against us by corrupt and envious people. Then, under the protection of Your authority may we sing, in gratitude, "The Lord is my salvation; whom should I fear?" I will not fear evil because You are with me, my God, my strength, my powerful Lord, Lord of peace, Father of all ages. Yes, Lord our God, be merciful to us, Your image, and save your servant . . . from every threat or harm from the evil one, and protect him by raising him above all evil. We ask you this through the intercession of our Most Blessed, Glorious Lady, Mary ever Virgin, Mother of God, of the most splendid archangels and all yours saints. Amen."
ANIMA CHRISTI
Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from the side of Christ, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me;
O good Jesus, hear me; within Your wounds, hide me; let me never be separated from You; from the evil one, protect me; at the hour of my death, call me; and bid me come to You; that with Your saints, I may praise You forever and ever. Amen.
PRAYER AGAINST EVERY EVIL
Spirit of our God, Father, Son , and Holy Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, Immaculate Virgin Mary, angels, archangels, and saints of Heaven, descend upon me. Please purify me, Lord, mold me, fill me with Yourself, use me. Banish all the forces of evil from me, destroy them, vanquish them, so that I can be healthy and do good deeds. Banish from me all spells, witchcraft, black magic, malefice, ties, maledictions, and the evil eye; diabolic infestations, oppressions, possessions; all that is evil and sinful, jealousy, perfidy, envy; physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, diabolical ailments. Burn all these evils in hell, that they may never again touch me or any other creature in the entire world. I command and bid all the powers who molest me -- by the power of God all powerful, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary -- to leave me forever, and to be consigned into the everlasting hell, where they will be bound by Saint Michael the archangel, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, our guardian angels, and where they will be crushed under the heel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
PRAYER FOR INNER HEALING
Lord Jesus, You came to heal our wounded and troubled hearts. I beg You to heal the torments that cause anxiety in my heart; I beg You, in a particular way, to heal all who are the cause of sin. I beg You to come into my life and heal me of the psychological harms that struck me in my early years and form the injuries that they caused throughout my life. Lord Jesus, You know my burdens. I lay them all on Your Good Shepherd's Heart. I beseech You -- by the merits of the great, open wound in Your heart -- to heal the small wounds that are in mine. Heal the pain of my memories, so that nothing that has happened to me will cause me to remain in pain and anguish, filled with anxiety.
Heal, O Lord, all those wounds that have been the cause of all the evil that is rooted in my life. I want to forgive all those who have offended me. Look to those inner sores that make me unable to forgive. You Who came to forgive the afflicted of heart, please, heal my own heart.
Heal, my Lord Jesus, those intimate wounds that cause me physical illness. I offer You my heart. Accept it, Lord, purify it, and give me the sentiments of Your Divine Heart. Help me to be meek and humble.
Heal me, O Lord, from the pain caused by the death of my loved ones, which is oppressing me. Grant me to regain peace and joy in the knowledge that You are the Resurrection and the Life. Make me an authentic witness to Your Resurrection, Your victory over sin and death, Your living presence among us. Amen."
PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
My Lord, You are all powerful, You are God, You are Father. We beg You through the intercession and help of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, for the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are enslaved by the evil one. All saints of heaven, come to our aid.
From anxiety, sadness, and obsessions, We beg You: Free us, O Lord. From hatred, fornication, envy, We beg You: Free us, O Lord. From thoughts of jealousy, rage, and death. We beg You: Free us, O Lord. From every thought of suicide and abortion. We beg You: Free us, O Lord. From every form of sinful sexuality. We beg You: Free us, O Lord. From every division in our family, and every harmful friendship. We beg You: Free us, O Lord. From every sort of spell, malefice, witchcraft, and every form of the occult. We beg You: Free us, O Lord.
Lord, You Who said, "I leave you peace, my peace I give you," grant that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we may be liberated from every evil spell and enjoy Your peace always. In the Name of Christ, our Lord. Amen."
"Forgiveness breaks the connection with the unlove of the past. It is a pathway of healing. It's a lifelong practice. There's always something we have to forgive. It's a moment by moment grace. When we simply allow the Lord to empower our choice to forgive, then the transformation process begins. Then we begin to change."
So says Father Lou Cerulli -- a powerful priest (from Canada) and an expert at what they call family or intergenerational healing. It's a heavy statement, full of meaning we have to digest: Forgiveness. Christ said to do it all the time -- not just seven times, but seven times seventy: meaning constantly. It lifts us out of current crises -- stops the aggravation that so often mires us and our loved ones -- and when applied to past generations, even to the deceased, claims this priest, it can have surprising results. This is especially important in the closing moments of this month during which we pray for those in purgatory.
Forgiving the dead? Do we really need to do such a thing? Why?
There are bonds, claims Father Cerull. There are bonds between us and those in our bloodline. Are we not bonded all the way back to the Garden? As a result, Father Cerulli, a former corporate consultant who was ordained about ten years ago, recommends prayer in which deceased relatives are visualized and forgiven. What really helps, he says, is receiving Communion for them. He believes it's especially important to pray for two groups of people: those we liked the most and those we disliked the most! They are the ones who were either closest to us or who caused the greatest antagonism.
Praying for them can often free us from problems that otherwise seem to have hidden roots, asserts this charismatic priest, who hails from Montreal. "We just bring all of them before the Lord and into the Eucharist," he says. "First we ask the deceased to forgive us. In the Presence of Jesus, we ask them to forgive us for any wrongs we may have committed against them. That may include the failure to pray for family members who needed prayer. Then we forgive them -- we forgive them for their sinful habits, and for the damage they have done."
It is a growing ministry that is both controversial and fascinating. Are we really affected by the deceased? Can what relatives and even distant ancestors have done still take a toll? And if so, how do we know what to pray about?
One basic way of approaching this, says Father Cerulli, is to simply state: "I forgive you for whatever you have done that is affecting me today." The priest recommends that we apologize to God on behalf of our ancestors -- "for the insults they have perpetrated, perhaps through occult activity," he states in his tapes. "Receiving forgiveness from Christ removes guilt. Receiving forgiveness from someone else lubricates the healing-love flow. And giving forgiveness removes resentment."
"Jesus says in 1 Corinthians 11:26, 'whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.' And so in this part of the Eucharist we pray for our family trees. We pray that even as Jesus comes into the bread and wine, so will He come into the family we are praying for."
What matters, says Father Cerulli, is not how we may or may not feel, but that we concentrate on showing the Lord to the dead person and let Jesus bring healing to the living. He believes that the afflictions of the deceased can otherwise haunt the living. "The negative bond between us and them is broken," he asserts. "The Eucharist contains all the means we need to be set free."
This is especially important, he says, for deceased relatives who may never have known the healing love of Jesus. Often the bondages we have are not due to demonic spirits, he believes, but to familial spirits. He cites the case of a lady who had an unusual fear of heights and sensed the presence of a dead grand-father, whom she frequently saw in her dreams. After offering the Eucharist on his account, according to Father Cerulli, the woman found that she no longer had a phobia of falling. Further research revealed that her grandfather had died after falling off a ladder.
"Sometimes what people sense as an evil spirit may be rather a familial spirit," he asserts. "However this may work on a spiritual level, it's like someone who is trying to get our attention and needs our prayer."
Healing books: Fr. DeGrandis, Fr. Hampsch's, Dr. McCall']
