At the beginning of August, I attended a retreat for all
catechists. It wasn’t required, but was highly recommended that we attend, and
I felt I could use all the training I could get so I was happy to attend.
During our time there we heard from our priest and the adult formation director
on what it means to be a disciple (there are three levels of discipleship in
case you didn’t know—seeker, disciple and apostle) and what a disciple looks like.
Although I enjoyed these sessions, the most beneficial time at the retreat was
my time in healing prayer.
The adult formation director, Keith, was offering three time
slots for healing prayer. I had thought about signing up for one but I was nervous
because I had no idea what it would involve. During one of the breaks he mentioned
to me that there was still some space available and asked if I would be
interested. I felt like there was a reason he brought it up to me and that maybe
God felt I needed to do it, so I decided to sign up.
Keith began the session by explaining what healing prayer
is—it is prayer led by someone to help bring you closer to the Lord by giving
up anything you are going through in life up to Him. Keith led the prayer and I
was able to pray silently about anything I wanted to bring to the Lord. Keith
asked me questions about things that are weighing on me or that I have
struggled with my life. Without getting into too much personal detail, I will say
that I had some things that I have held inside and tried to deal with on my own
instead of praying about them and asking God to help me get through them. I
think the most beneficial part of healing prayer was when I did an exercise
that symbolized giving my worries and anxieties up to the Lord. Keith had me
stretch out my arm and have my hand palm up and hold my other hand over my
heart. He then asked me to physically take each concern from my heart with my
hand and put it in my other hand. Once I had put all my worries in my outstretched
hand, it felt weighed down and very heavy. He then had me lift up my hand and
ask the Lord to take them away. I instantly felt like a weight was lifted off
my shoulders! It was such a freeing feeling to not have these always wearing me
down and stressing me out. During another part of the session, Keith put holy
water in my hands in the sign of the cross and also on my forehead. I lifted up
my hands and had some quiet prayer time and all of the sudden my hands and head
were really warm! I have always prayed to the Lord and felt a connection to
Him, but this was the first time that I felt like I truly felt the presence of
the Holy Spirit, as if I was being surrounded. I felt like I was just filled
with the love of the Holy Spirit and knew that I was safe and everything would
be OK. After the session was over, I was amazed at the feeling I had of being
light and free of any worry and I physically couldn’t stop smiling! I was truly
so happy, the happiest I had felt in a while and I knew then that there was a deeper
reason I signed up to be a catechist—not only to bring children closer to God
but also a want to deepen my relationship with Him.
I’ve wanted to write about this experience since I came back
from the retreat, but it has taken me a while to process and put into words the
wonderful experience I had. I don’t know if my words will fully describe what I
felt, but I hope that sharing what it was like for me might encourage others to
try it as well.
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