Healing for Body, Mind, and Spirit

The popular definition of health is the condition of being sound in body, mind and spirit. This clearly implies freedom from disease and pain, and it also implies the fullness of the vitality of life. Sickness, of course, impairs our vital functions and diminishes our life forces. When a person looks sick, or as we sometimes say, “half-alive” or “like death warmed over,” we know this person needs more “life” or vitality – the purpose of all forms of healing. Yet Jesus promised, “I came so that they might have  life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10, emphasis added). Jesus offers us abundant life, the fullness of life. The fullness of life that he offers is fullness of physical life, emotional life, and spiritual life – healing in body, mind, and spirit.

As we have already seen, Jesus has revealed to us that this fullness of life, which is health in the broadest sense, is preeminently conferred through the Eucharist: “the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57, NAB, emphasis added). We have already seen too that Jesus’ words imply a habitual and frequent action: Whoever feeds on him, that is, nourished by Communion habitually or frequently, will have life.

Think of how we are nourished physically. The food that we ate last week satisfied our hunger at a time. Even though that satisfaction is now gone, that food has become part of the continuous process of nourishment, keeping our bodies alive. On one hand, that food had a temporary effect: It satisfied our hunger. On the other hand, though, it also has an ongoing effect. It is keeping our bodies alive. Just as we have to feed our bodies repeatedly to sustain physical life, so too we have to repeatedly feed on Christ to sustain our spiritual life. This is why Jesus uses the word “feeds” in John 6:57. He is reminding us that we have to receive him frequently and habitually in Communion and not simply consume his Body and Blood once. Unlike baptism, this is not a one-time sacrament.

The important point to remember is that receiving Communion is very different in its healing function than the spiritual prayer for healing we say over an individual. The Eucharist is not merely some abstract, spiritual contact with Jesus. In the Eucharist we have direct physical contact with Jesus. Why is this so important? When we study the Gospel accounts of people being healed, we discover a notable fact: We see that everyone who touched Jesus was healed if they touched him with expectant faith. Matthew 14:35-36 (NAB) tells us, “People brought to him all those who were sick and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak, and as many as touched it were healed.” In the Eucharist, we touch Jesus and Jesus touches us.

In John 6:56 (RSV) Jesus says, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” The Greek word for abide is meno. This is one of St. John’s favorite words; he uses it in ten places in his Gospel. The word meno means to remain intimately present to, to be nestled into, to be grafted into. It conveys a very deep sense of intimacy, and in no way signifies a temporary encounter. Even though our encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist is temporary, the effect is lasting. We are grafted into Christ and we are united with him, like branches united to the vine (see John 15:4).

In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, several prayers at Communion time refer to the healing power of the Eucharist. For instance, immediately after the Lord’s Prayer, the priest says the following prayer (italics added): “Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” Upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that this simple prayer encompasses several distinct forms of healing. First of all, the priest prays a prayer of deliverance, so that we might all be healed of any extrinsic spiritual disorders that occur from the attacks of demonic forces. This is based on 1 Corinthians 10:21 (RSV): “You cannot partake of the [eucharistic] table of the Lord and of the table of demons.” Secondly, he prays for societal or communitarian healing (i.e., peace that heals interpersonal or intrapersonal conflict). Thirdly, he prays for the healing of our intrinsic spiritual disorders, asking God to free us from our state of sin. Finally, he prays for our emotional healing, freedom from anxiety and guilt feelings so we can experience inner peace and joyful hope.

Later on, the priest has the option of reciting another prayer that speaks about physicial healing (body) and emotional healing (mind) as he prepares to receive Holy Communion himself (italics added): “ Lord Jesus Christ, with faith in your love and mercy I eat your body and drink your Blood. Let it not bring me condemnation, but health in mind and body.”

Finally, there is a prayer that the congregation recites before approaching the altar to receive Holy Communion: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” This prayer has its origins in the story about the healing of a centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5-13. In faith, he knew that Jesus needed only to say the word for his servant to be healed. “And Jesus said to the centurion, ‘You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you;” (Mt. 8:13, NAB).

Our prayer before Communion, then is a paraphrase of the centurion’s words. When we pray, “…but only say the word and I shall be healed,” we are, in some way, replicating the healing faith of that centurion. If our spirit echoes that blessed assurance, “I shall be healed,” and if we do not merely mouth the words, then this simple prayer of expectancy can educe some astonishing results in terms of bodily healing, emotional integration, and spiritual growth.

In Acts 2:42 (NAB), we read that the early Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” It is noteworthy that they did not simply participate in these activities, including the Eucharist (the “breaking of bread”), but devotedthemselves to them. The word devoted has several connotations and says much about the expectant faith of those early Christians, especially as they approached Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist. And we we have already seen in a previous chapter, it is equally noteworthy that their devotion had a corporate dimension and was a truly communitarian experience: the whole community had this surging expectancy of faith because they all believed that they were to experience a real encounter with Jesus himself. The fullness of life which Jesus confers on us through the Eucharist is not due to following the ritual but because of him: “The one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57, NAB, emphasis added).

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.