Hi, Elaine —

Thanks for the question.

Your question centers around a spirituality called the Charismatic movement that is approved by the Church.

My spiritual growth in the faith did not come from the Charismatic movement, but more from a monastic environment (Benedictine). Nevertheless, let me make a few comments.

I don't doubt that through divine providence the Lord has healed many around the world through healing Masses.  That said, the priest is ordained to mainly heal his parishioners through the sacraments.

Man can be hurt physically and spiritually. When we are hurt or impaired physically, we have to use our God-given mind to get well and get healed if possible. If it is not possible, we have to accept it as our cross and know that God never permits anything to happen, that a greater good can't be pulled out of.

This is the way my colleague Eric put it in a different posting:

Spiritually, we are blessed as Catholics to have the Sacrament of Confession. Again, this is the primary reason for why all priests are ordained: to administer the sacraments.

Though healing Masses have their place in the Church, we are spiritually healed mainly through the sacrament of Confession.

On the question about phone blessings. Fr. Mitch Pacwa from EWTN answered a similar question here:

• Can that EWTN priestly T.V. blessing really come to me at home over the airways?

Based on what Fr. Mitch has said, I would say Yes, you do receive a real blessing over the phone, though the blessings the priest gives in person, in my opinion, are stronger because the priest can physically touch the person he is blessing.

I hope this answers your questions.

Mike

Hi, Elaine —

Just to add a few thoughts.

Every priest can administer the sacraments of healing, that is, Confession and Anointing of the Sick. By the same token, God has granted special charisms to members of the Church (some of whom are priests). These Charisms or gifts include healing, prophesy, tongues, and so forth.

None of these are meant to take away from the normative sacramental life of the Church. At the same time, these gifts are not so extraordinary that they should be kept in the closet, which we've done for centuries.

As it relates to healing, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for far too long was reserved for the dying. While the Church now makes this sacrament available to all the sick now, it's usually only administered for those who are in the hospital or about to go into the hospital for surgery and so forth.

The problem is that we've so emphasized the redemptive value of suffering (in the West) that we've forgotten that God is the author of Life and not death, sickness, or disease. We've forgotten the words of David in the Psalms:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.

(Psalm 103:1-3)

We've also forgotten that the Catholic Church is, by definition, a supernatural entity. Miracles such as healing are no big deal.

Heck, when a priest baptizes a child, we witness a miracle. A pagan, a spiritually dead human being, is born again and becomes not just a creature of God but a Child of God. From that moment, the child is a priest by his or her Baptism, in his or her own right. That child is given authority over satan and his minions. From that moment when that child enters room, Jesus Christ walks in with him or her. So someone getting cured of cancer, as great as that may be, is not as great of miracle as what happens in Baptism. We just treat it that way because it defies the sciences, at least in our thinking.

I'm fortunate, that in my parish, our Pastor anoints the sick after the 4:00 PM Vigil Mass every First Saturday. He's made the Sacrament a regular part of Church life for the parish, as it ought to be. Obviously, he's available for house and hospital calls. He also encourages people to see him after any Mass and at any time if they need the sacrament. By making it specifically available after a certain monthly Mass, he is reminding people of this forgotten sacrament. The lines get longer every month, as people seek to be anointed.

John