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DOES JESUS REALLY STILL HEAL TODAY?

I have said previously on this blog that Jesus still heals today….. but is this really so? There are a few healings associated with religious shrines, or connected to various saints, but that is something we do not get to hear about very often. In the Catholic church,  healing services are held more frequently these days than when I was a child and usually include the priest going round and giving the ‘Sacrament of the sick’.  Sometimes, you have to state that you are really sick to receive this.  Yet, do we not all need healing in some way? I knew of a priest (now a very old man’) who held healing services, but I rather got the idea that he was tolerated by the Catholic church, rather than embraced by it.

In Pentecostal churches, healings apparently occur more often and are associated with the ‘Gifts of the Spirit’ such as ‘Speaking in tongues’ etc. This has spread over into the Catholic church more these days, with the Charismatics doing much the same as the Pentecostals, including laying claim to many healings and also ‘Speaking in tongues’. I do not really know what to think about all this…….. I have heard Catholics who are very, very against the Charismatic movement. It is often hard to know what to beieve.  One thing is sure though….. there is a hunger for both spiritual and physical healing. People read in the bible how Jesus told the apostles to carry on the healing he had done and they wonder why more emphasis is not put on it today. They then turn to therapies such as reiki: in fact, I have seen it said that reiki is actually just that, a continuation of the healing of Jesus. I myself am uncertain about the Charistmatic movement in the Catholic church: I have no idea whether the people who rubbish it are right or not.   For this reason, I found a book I read recently by somebody called Francis MacNutt extrememely interesting.

Francis MacNutt is a Catholic who is involved in the Charismatic movement. After I read the book, I discovered that he used to be a Catholic priest, although sadly he left the priesthood and got married – something which understandably earned him a lot of criticism from other Charismatics. He now runs a healing ministry called  Christian Healing Ministeries with his wife Judith. The book I read though is called ‘The Prayer That Heals: Praying For Healing In The Family’ and its purpose is to encourage us all to pray regularly for healing with our friends and family. To read a book like that by (as I thought at the time) a Catholic priest was amazing – and I was really quite disappointed to learn, after finishing the book, that he  has left the priesthood.  Nevertheless, his faith in the fact that God does indeed heal – and heal very regularly – when we pray for somebody in this way is obviously very strong indeed. If you are interested in Christian healing, I suggest you read this book.

I have very little experience of praying for healing in the way Francis suggests: as he says in the book, people are usually shy and embarrased about praying with each other.  My only experience (and this might sound silly) is of praying for our very old dog when he was alive (he died last summer). It is a long story and I will not go into it here, but he came to us in the first place very much as the answer to a prayer – the most direct answer to a prayer I have ever had – and we always considered him to be a bit of a miracle dog, so praying for him did not seem strange. I used to lie down on the floor with him, place my hands on him and pray for him. He survived two or three strokes, one particular one we came back home to discover him almost dead.  On that occasion, when I prayed for him I saw him visibly improve.  So, what Francis MacNutt writes about is not so strange to me. He tells that healings happen often, that bones re-grow, cancers disappear. Interesting stuff!

Of course, in the Catholic church, we are taught that putting up patiently with suffering  is good, that suffering has a value. Many of the saints suffered, some even asked God if they could suffer more! Undoubtedly, we have to be ready to accept the will of God, whatever it might be. Jesus though did heal, and he told his disciples to carry on his healing works…..

It is all confusing, but there is one thing I am sure about ……. I think it would be far better to follow Francis MacNutt’s advice than to get involved in something as suspect as reiki!

 

WHAT IS REALLY SAD!

A recent commenter tells me they think my blog is sad! What I actually think is sad is when a Catholic finds their faith is not enough for them and has to turn to something like reiki!

I totally agree that there are many paths to God, but I do not see that anyone who truly believes in the Catholic church can think that is okay to practise reiki. I most certainly believe that God still heals today, just as He always  has done, but you know that when Jesus healed he always made it clear that God has to be at the heart of any healing and that belief in Him is all-important, far more important than the physical healing. You can experience reiki – either as a healer or as the one wanting to being healed – without ever hearing the word God and I doubt that there have been very many people who have been converted to be a believer in God through reiki! I know that there is not enough attention given to healing in the church today, but there are still many healing services and there are still many people being healed.

I go back again to the reiki attunement ceremony. As far as the experiences of myself and my husband go, then maybe you believe we either made them up or imagined them. If that is the case, then okay. But if you do believe I am telling the truth, then all I ask is that you just stop and think about what happened to us and how you would have felt had it happened to you. If God is truly behind reiki, why give my husband such a terrifying experience without comforting him in any way? Likewise, with my experience …….. anyone who is a Catholic will  know how powerful the name of Jesus is? Why is it, if reiki is ‘from God’ that just saying the name of Jesus stopped the whole process? If reiki is ‘from God’, then without doubt saying the name of Jesus should have intensified the process, not brought it to such an abrupt end! Surely, that is just common sense?

I hate that phrase that keeps coming out ‘reiki is not a faith’.  Okay, it is not a faith in that you are not required to believe in any kind of god or higher being. You are however required to believe in the hidden forces which, during the reiki attunements, immediately give the person being attuned amazing powers to be able to heal.  Nobody actually says who or what those forces are, it is hidden – which is why some people make the mistake of assuming that they must be to do with God. The devil is, unfortunately, very clever: he loves nothing better than to fool people into thinking that something is from God when it acually is not in any way from Him.

The really sad thing about the latest comment on this blog is the fact that the lady has obviously been very influenced by the many nuns and maybe some priests who have talked themselves into believing that reiki is okay (I myself have only heard, through this blog, of one priest who practises reiki, but no doubt there are more). I guess that, like the priest in my story, they just think that ‘anything to do with healing must be okay’ and do not go into it any further than that. One think is sure, any priest or nun who is dedicated to loyally following the teachings of their church would not take up reiki. No way is it in accordance with the teaching of the church! These people have a lot to answer for, because they hold a big responsibility in leading people like my commenter to follow their examples.

 

A FINAL WORD TO COMMENTERS

I believe that reiki is wrong…… not because some poor, misguided, religious despots have told me to believe that, but because of my family’s own experiences. My husband’s experience was very frightening for him, although I am sure many pro-reiki people reading about it would just say he was imagining it because he was afraid! My own experience though was of being calm, but having the whole ‘thing’ that was happening to me stopped, just because I said “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” quietly and calmly in my head. That is why I am convinced it is not right……

The recent commenter who accuses me of a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude is wrong. I have respect for most followers of reiki, as I am sure they genuinely believe it is right. How could I think otherwise, as I myself believed it was okay for a while, I myself went through the ‘attunements’?

I do not intend to continue to respond to pro-reiki comments on here. I am a simple housewife; I have no skills at all when it comes to arguing the finer theological points concerning reiki. All I wanted to do on here was to give my own story (which is exactly as it happened) and to list some sites which will hopefully impart more information to anyone inquiring about why reiki is wrong. I repeat that I believe that reiki is wrong because of my own experiences. My belief is sincere, but I do not wish to force my opinion on anybody else. You either believe my experiences, or believe that I have made it all up. If you want to participate in a more detailed argument about the rights and wrongs of reiki, please contact the owners of the sites in my ‘links’ list: hopefully, they will be able to argue their case far better than I ever could.

I leave you with a few final thoughts….. When somebody goes through those ‘attunements’ to become a reiki healer, a big change comes over them. They suddenly acquire some strange, magical ‘power’ that enables them to heal. If you are present at such a ceremony, you will no doubt see somebody having to run off and vomit, so big is the change that comes over them. Where does this ‘power’ come from? Throughout the bible, God generally makes it crystal clear that anything imparted from Him to a human is unmistakably from Him. With reiki, the ‘power’ is imparted by having some strange, secret symbols traced over the head of the person being ‘attuned’!

I myself do not pretend to be able to prove to anyone that reiki is wrong: but if there is any doubt at all about where the ‘power’ behind it comes from then I personally would prefer not to take the risk. Dabbling in stuff you do not understand can be extremely dangerous…….

ANOTHER PRO-REIKI COMMENT

On September 1, 2011 at 8:24 pm Bob said:

Come on guys…seriously? Reiki is evil? Witchcraft? What is this the middle ages? It sounds to me like there was a deeply buried seed of dogma you were never quite ready to get rid of. I will bet that if any of you went back and studied any of the early Christian texts, you would be very uncomfortable with them. The fact of the matter is that the Catholic church has always denounced anything it cant understand or control. And as for “God’s churches”… If they are God’s, then why aren’t they unified? And before anyone starts with the whole “true church” thing… Let’s be honest with ourselves. There is no true church. Once again flesh has gotten in the way of our higher understanding. Those who follow religious dogma that have absolutely NO roots in early christianity and call reiki witchcraft are being duplicitous. I am a christian, a reiki master, and plan on being an ordained christian minister some day. Any comments?

MY REPLY

I have said it before and I will say it one more time……. This site is not meant for people who are already diehard devotees of reiki. There are literally thousands of websites out there extolling the virtues of reiki, but very few anti-reiki sites.

This site is aimed at Christians who are considering becoming involved in reiki and are wanting to know whether or not it is compatible with their Christian beliefs. Having read both points of view they are then, of course, perfectly free to make up their own minds. This is my site……. and I am entitled to put my own views and experiences on it.

I would add that I do not visit pro-reiki sites telling them how misguided their views are. I respect that there are many people who practise reiki sincerely believing that there is nothing wrong with it. I respect their right to do so unharrassed by those of us who – equally sincerely – are convinced it is wrong. I have noticed though that many of the pro-reiki people who come here do not treat my views with the same respect. Surely, any person calling themselves a Christian should, at all times, have only love and respect for others in their hearts?

Sadly, it is very true that Christian churches are divided. Commenters here do not assist the cause towards improving on that situation by ridiculing other faiths, whether Catholic or otherwise. Only by loving and understanding each other will any degree of unity ever be achieved.

One final word…… I do understand that it is difficult for any Christian devotee of reiki to even begin to acknowledge it might be wrong. When they see such words as ‘witchcraft’ and ‘evil’ used about reiki, I guess they are bound to act angrily, thinking we are all crazy nutcases who are talking a load of old-fashioned nonsense! All I can do is ask them to try to get beyond that, to pray and ask God to help them to discern what is the truth. I also draw to their attention the comment by an exorcist which I have made a separate post about today, just before doing this one. If anybody at all should know whether the words ‘witchcraft’ and ‘evil’ have any connection at all to the practice of reiki, then I guess it should be him!

I am not going to make a habit of replying to pro-reiki posts: I have said all that needs to be said now. By all means read whatever you want on here and comment if you have to – but please, only do so with love and respect in your hearts!

FROM AN EXORCIST

I am sorry but I have neglected this blog a bit recently, due to other problems rather taking me over! I have however been intending to draw your attention to a comment from somebody who describes himself as a Diocesan Exorcist. You might not believe what I have written about my own family’s experiences – and indeed, I do not claim to be an expert – but this guy certainly is!

On October 5, 2010 at 3:18 pm Fr. John Abberton said:

I have just discovered your site. I am a diocesan exorcist and I can tell you (after 11 years experience and attending conferences with other Catholic exorcists) that reiki is extremely dangerous. I am at the moment involved in trying to help someone who has caused havoc in her family through her involvement in this (she is a “reiki master”) she is seriously disturbed now with hearing voices and being attacked by evil spirits. I do not know of any Catholic exorcist who has anything but negative comments to make about reiki. Apart from that, as you know, the philosophy (if we can call it that) is in direct contradiction to Catholic teaching. It is based on a false understanding of the human person which means that from the foundation up it is based on lies. Priests who endorse it need a good shake up and should be ashamed of themselves for leading people into error. I would urge anyone involved in this to stop it immediately.

Fr. John Abberton http://yorkshireshepherd.blogspot.com

JESUS IS EVERYTHING

On the 25th April, Fr Patrick (or Padraig) Joseph Leonard left the following response to my post on ‘Christians Who Practise Reiki’: -

Dear friend, I respect your opinion about REIKI and sympathise with you on the suffering caused by him, but involvement with satanism causes very grave psychological problems which REIKI does not pretend to heal. The Catholic Church has exorcists who deal with this. Also REIKI healing depends on the will of God, not on the REIKI practitioner. I suggest that you read my book ¨REIKI for Christians¨ as described in the site above. The preface was written by a well respected Catholic Bishop. It may be acquired from angela@the healing pages.com Sincerely. Fr.Patrick Leonard

Father Leonard is evidently a Catholic priest and a member of the Holy Ghost Congregation with 43 years missionary experience of working in Brazil. He was introduced to reiki through his work at the Health Education Institute of Itajuba in Brazil. He has written a book entitled ‘REIKI FOR CHRISTIANS‘, the preface of which was written by Dom Irineu Danelon (Bishop of Lins in Brazil, Coordinator of Sobriety Pastoral, a member of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil and known well by the current pope).

Father Leonard, I do not understand some of what you say in your message. For one thing, you seem to think I have been involved in satanism in some way; you are definitely wrong there!

I was very surprised to find a Catholic priest and a well-known bishop endorsing reiki. Father Leonard, how do you know that reiki is from God? Who told you? You won’t find that in the bible, or in any of the Church’s teachings. How do you know exactly what happens during an attunement? I prayed during my attunement and I believe that my prayers actually prevented me from being attuned: why would that be so, if reiki really is from God?

It is so easy to forget what a clever deceiver satan is and how he can sometimes hide his works as being something good. We like to think that something like reiki is from God, so we convince ourselves that it is, with nothing to back our beliefs up.

As A Catholic priest, Father Leonard, you are privileged…… you are given special gifts, you hold Jesus in your hands. When you have Jesus – who still heals today – why would you need reiki? To a Christian, Jesus should be all we need, all we will ever need. Why are we never satisfied, why do we look elsewhere for something more, when we already have everything?

I wish you peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See also: -

http://www.thehealingpages.com/catholic-priest-writes-reiki-book

 

IN ANSWER TO A RECENT COMMENT…..

This is my reply to a recent comment to my ‘Christians who practise reiki’ post by somebody called Sherri, who wrote on August 27, 2009: -

It is often difficult for us to understand things that are outside of our own experiences, and easy to be fearful of things outside of our comfort zone, but I can tell you as someone who has experience with Reiki that is is nothing to be afraid of. When I practice Reiki, it is letting God-energy flow through me, asking to be a vessel for healing energy -which is love. As someone who has had a relationship with Jesus my entire life, I can tell you that it is the time when I most feel His presence, in the purest kind of way, and many that I have provided Reiki for have felt the very same feelings even though they were lifelong Christians as well and still devoted to their church or Christianity.

Reiki is a practice of laying on of hands to heal in love – it could be considered the most closely related practice to what Jesus did…and exactly what he told us to do in following him. The essence of Jesus’s teachings were love and faith, which are also the essence of Reiki – it does not preclude Jesus’s actions or teachings, but actually demonstrates them. Being able to love another without judgment and allow that to flow through you is a very powerful thing, but one that many of us, as Christians, forget to do.

In John 14:12, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” From this passage it would seemd that anyone who is NOT doing these things like Jesus did might not have the strongest faith in Him. At the very least, we should be open to the idea that some people are trying to behave like Jesus, just as He told us to do, and attacking such a loving practice is probably not a fair thing to do, because you cannot know what is in the heart of every person who practices Reiki. I would suggest that anyone who feels drawn to try Reiki do so, to know for themselves rather than just reading in fear.

Love, light, and peace to you in your journey.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for your comment Sherri.

First of all, I have to say how disappointed I am that it is only the pro-reiki people who are commenting here. Nobody else seems to care………

Even more disappointing is the fact that none of the pro-reiki people who do comment really seem to have read my post properly and really taken on board the experiences I mention in this blog……

So, Sherri……. you say that “It is often difficult for us to understand things that are outside of our own experiences, and easy to be fearful of things outside of our comfort zone!”. I agree with your comment wholeheartedly. But this is not in any way outside of my own experience! I went through the reiki 1 attunements, so cannot be accused of not trying this for myself! When you “suggest that anyone who feels drawn to try Reiki do so, to know for themselves rather than just reading in fear”, I say that this is exactly what I have done!

I understand fully that you genuinely and sincerely believe that reiki comes from God. So did my sister-in-law. But how can you know for certain that the ‘power’ comes from God? If it really does, how come God is never mentioned anywhere in the attunement ceremony? How come that anyone, however anti-God their beliefs and life-styles are, can become a reki practitioner? Read the bible and you will see that God expects us to place Him always at the centre of our lives. Only through Him can we find salvation. Would He really give something like reiki, which according to you is a sacred thing, to somebody who hates him? Would he ignore his churches and give it through other means? I don’t think so!

You have not mentioned my husband’s experience at all; you have totally ignored it – but it is a crucial part of this website. I wonder if you even really bothered to read it! Try to put yourself in my husband’s position and imagine how you would feel if you had seen an absolutely terrifying image of Jesus suffering during your attunement. You might deny it, but I think it very unlikely you would still believe that reiki is this lovely thing you want to believe it is.

That’s at the crux of this problem really. We all tend to believe what we want to believe….. you are probably thinking the same thing about me, whilst denying any possibility that you are doing the same thing. I know that, with my sister-in-law, she had placed so much faith in reiki – indeed, built her life around it – that there was no way she could ever have admitted to herself that it might even be a little bit wrong! That’s another thing about us humans…… we never like to face the possibility that something we have placed all our hope and trust in could be wrong after all!

I agree that we should be doing what Jesus has told us to do. I believe that God is love and that He can, if He so wishes, heal us of anything He likes to. I believe that people are still being healed today, but through prayer and faith……. not through reiki! Remember that the devil is very clever and cunning and he can make something seem good and as if it comes from God, even though it is really not good at all.

I do recognise and respect though that many reiki practitioners do honestly and sincerely believe that reiki does come from God. All I am asking on this blog is that they pause a while and really question things a little more closely. And, to any other reiki advocates reading this blog – your comments are always welcome, but please do not totally ignore the experiences that my husband and I went through and treat me as if I know nothing at all about reiki!

May God bless you all.

THE ENNEAGRAM

Every day I receive in my mailbox a newsletter compiled by a nun from Seattle. She is a delightful lady and I always enjoy reading her latest musings. Today though, I was a little bit concerned to see that she is reading a book entitled ‘Personality types – using the Enneagram for self discovery’. Another new age concept gradually creeping into Christian lives, I fear!

Here are a couple of links: -

EWTN on the Enneagram
Our Lady’s Warriors on the Enneagram.
Ephesians-511.net

By the way, I am a little bit unsure where to go with this blog at the moment; I have put up all the imformation I have got, but the response from others has been almost non-existent. I will leave it up anyway, at least for the time being!