Booklet: Spiritual First Aid

Spiritual First Aid - Healing through the Sacraments by Fr Jim McManus CSsR, published by CTS

A clever title leading us to a love of the Sacraments. 'Jesus gave us three great sacraments for the healing of the wounds that the sins of others against us, and our own sins, inflict on our heart: the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick and the Holy Eucharist'.

St. John Paul II sees love as the fundamental and innate vocation of each person. If we violate our vocation by self-seeking, refusing to be self-giving, we feel guilty and have inflicted a wound on our inner being, robbing us of inner peace and serenity.

Fr McManus refers to Carl Jung one of the founding fathers of modern psychiatry and psychology and who had a high regard for the sacrament of Confession. Jung was not a Catholic but wrote of the "relatively few neurotic Catholics, yet they are living under the same conditions as we do' and 'in the case of psychological trouble they would go to the priest and not the doctor. The vast majority of Protestants said they would go to the doctor."

For our sins we need forgiveness; for the wounds of sin we need healing. We receive both in a good confession.

What is meant by 'the wound of sin' ? It is a concept which is fairly new to us penitents. We have been hurt by another person, we cannot forgive them so our hearts become hardened. In Confession we are forgiven our sins but we must also forgive, from the heart, those who have hurt us, otherwise our wound wont be healed. Jesus asks us " love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you".

Sick people need the grace of the Sacrament of the Sick, the grace of the Holy Spirit where the whole person is helped in body, soul and spirit; healing occurs. The celebration of the sacrament includes three prayer movements, the prayer of faith, the laying on of hands and the anointing with blessed oil. By the Anointing of the Sick, priests console those who are sick (2nd Vatican Council). Family and friends can be present and their faith is strengthened and purified through the celebration of this sacrament.

In the third sacrament, the Eucharist 'the source and summit of the Christian life' the Church prays for healing of body, mind and spirit, throughout the year in its celebration. During the Mass the whole community asks for health in body, mind, and spirit just before they receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. We pray to the mother of God for healing. The Mass is further discussed with four different actions: listening, responding, offering and receiving.

This is a very enlightening booklet on spiritual First Aid with many good insights.