The Healing Power of the Eucharist

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, St. Paul speaks about three parts of the human personality: “May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (NAB, emphasis added). In other translations, this tripartite division of spirit, soul, and body is rendered as body, mind, and spirit. These are the three major areas in which human beings can suffer from wounds, and the three dimensions of the human personality where God’s healing action can take place.

Two areas are self-explanatory, and the damage that can occur to them is rather evident. The body, of course, refers to our physical body. Our bodies can suffer from a congenital defect, be ravaged by disease, or be injured in an accident. When this happens, some type of healing is needed for the body to recover. Likewise with the mind. We are all familiar with the psychological illnesses that can affect a person’s mind and the many therapies available for such disorders. Many people, however, do not recognize that we human beings are subject to spiritual disorders – those that disturb our relationship with God in grace and prayer.

In the realm of our spirit, two types of defect can occur which call for some type of healing. The first type of spiritual defect is an intrinsic spiritual disorder that consists of a kind of “soul-soiling” which we call a state of sin – either grevious or minor (see 1 John 5:17) – or habits of sin (see 1 John 3:6). The second type of spiritual defect is an extrinsic spiritual disorder that occurs as the result of demonic attacks from outside the soul. These demonic forces are the works of the devil or his minions – demons and evil spirits that work against our spiritual welfare. The “Our Father” (or Lord’s Prayer) refers to both of these spiritual forces, intrinsic and extrinsic. When we pray the petition, “Forgive us our trespasses,” we are asking God to free us from the intrinsic spiritual disorders that have occurred because we have yielded to sin. When we pray the last petition in the prayer, ”Deliver us from evil,” we are asking God to protect us from the extrinsic spiritual disorders that we can be brought on by attacks of the evil one from outside. It is from this last petition that we get the term “deliverance prayer,” which is a kind of minor exorcism.

When we thus examine the realm of the human spirit (soul), we can conclude there are not three, but four types of disorder that require, correspondingly, four types of healing: physical: emotional: intrinsic spiritual healing, which is healing from sin’ and extrinsic spiritual healing in which demonic forces are dispelled. Moreover, as we shall show in future articles, all four types of healing are eminently available through the Eucharist. Clearly it follows that a smorgasbord of healing benefits is available to us through the healing power of the Eucharist.

This excerpt is from the book The Healing Power of the Eucharist, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Books, an imprint of St. Anthony Messenger Press. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.