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Truth of the Spirit with host Patti Brunner presents part one of the Healing the Family series, designed to help your family to heal so the world can be healed. We talk about getting out of doubt and panic and learning to trust the Lord –no matter what is happening in your family. Listen to the story of Midian and Gideon to understand how you can begin to trust God for your family’s need even when it seems beyond anyone’s control. Learn that the strange basis of all infirmities in the world is a wonderful gift that God our Father gave us since the beginning of time—freewill! And hear something Jesus told St. Faustina about trust and Divine Mercy.
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St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta once said “The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family.” “Healing the Family” is the healing of the Church, it is healing of ancestry, it is healing of brothers and sisters in Christ wherever they worship, it is healing your heart through forgiveness, through intercession, through faith, through a touch from God in the sacrament of the anointing and the sacrament of reconciliation.”
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit, I’m your host Patti Brunner. The Healing the Family series is designed to help you to start with your own family so the world can be healed.
Are you stressed about your family? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the issues in your family? Do they seem unsurmountable? Some of you listening are standing in doubt and panic because of the need for healing within your family. We are going to talk about getting out of doubt and panic and learning to trust the Lord –no matter what is happening in your family. “When you stand firm for the Lord you find healing from doubt and panic.” It is then you can say: “‘This is the day the Lord has made’.” The Lord desires you to walk in trust and joy.
Isaiah chapter 9 says, 1“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. 2You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest, as they exult when dividing the spoils. 3 For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, The rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.”
Some of you may feel like you are walking in darkness where your families are concerned. You may be dwelling in a land of gloom. But Christ is turning up the brightness of light. He has promised joy. Abundant joy! And he smashes the yoke that burdens you. Whatever the burden is –the Lord will conquer.
Isaiah said, “As on the day of Midian”—I think it is important for you to understand what the prophet is talking about here so you can begin to trust God for your family’s need.
This term comes from the book of Judges. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah is prophesying the coming of Christ by referencing something that happened during the time of the Judges, before King David’s time but after Moses led Israel to the Promised Land. Israel was a group of related families that had many battles with other nations. And every time things started looking better they would get worse.
Has that been the way of things for your family?
In the book of Judges we see that often when things were bad, the Israelites called on the Lord for help and he would raise up a leader, called a Judge, but that when things calmed down, the people would turn from God to do their own thing. At the time that Midian invaded them, things had gotten really bad.
In Judges Chapter 6, we hear :“1 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of Mid’ian seven years.”
Are some things really bad in your family?
“6. And Israel was brought very low because of Mid’ian; and the people of Israel cried for help to the LORD.”
–No matter how bad things get, even if it is our fault, the Lord is always faithful and ready to help us when we turn to him with our needs.
So the Lord raised up Gideon and told him to defeat the Midian army.
Gideon wanted to follow through but he was affected by the sheer size of the Midian army. One man against a hundred twenty thousand!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the issues in your family? Do they seem unsurmountable?
First God had him step forward in faith by doing a small task: pull down the altar of the false god, Baal, and the wooden pole of the false goddess and then to honor God with a sacrifice. Gideon was afraid to do this alone. He got 10 of his servants and together they did it at night.
It’s ok to need the help of others. We can pay doctors, nurses, and counselors to help us tackle the problem in our family.
The key was Gideon’s obedience and trust in God. The trust was slow to come. He put God’s direction to take on the difficult task of battling the Midian army to the test before he took the risk to save his family of Israel. In Judges chapter 6: “36 Gideon said to God, “If indeed you are going to save Israel through me, as you have said, 37 I am putting this woolen fleece on the threshing floor, and if dew is on the fleece alone, while all the ground is dry, I shall know that you will save Israel through me, as you have said.” 38 That is what happened. Early the next morning when he wrung out the fleece, he squeezed enough dew from it to fill a bowl. 39 Gideon then said to God, “Do not be angry with me if I speak once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece. Let the fleece alone be dry, but let there be dew on all the ground.” 40 That is what God did that night: the fleece alone was dry, but there was dew on all the ground.”
Once Gideon surrendered his will to the Lord, The Spirit of the LORD took charge of Gideon; and he was able to raise an army of 30,000. It would be 30,000 against 120,000. That gave Gideon a little more confidence. But the thing was, God wanted him to defeat their enemy through the power of the Lord not the power of an army.
The Lord wants you to use HIS power to defeat the problems in your family.
God told Gideon to reduce his army of 30,000 down to 300, which he did. The Lord then gave them a plan and the 300 obeyed and surrounded the enemy blowing trumpets and holding torches. And the Lord took care of the battle. In the battle, the enemy, confused, turned on each other and were destroyed or captured. The power of the Lord defeated the enemy of a hundred twenty thousand.
This is the power of the Lord that the prophet wanted us to hear about in Isaiah Chapter 9! “3 For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, the rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.”
The Lord wants to smash the burden you are carrying. He wants to take you out of darkness and gloom. When you turn to the Lord, cooperate with his way and let him win the battle people will say: “This is the people of joy!”
At each mass we repeat: “‘Say but the word and I shall be healed’!”
During this series Truth of the Spirit will share the truth of the Gospel with you and how the Church applies the truth for healing, healing for your family.
The truth sets free the people who live in darkness when the light is all around them. Fear is the largest wall that forms a prison for people. How do we turn from fear toward trust? When we see the goodness of the Lord we must know that it is available to all who call upon the Lord.
Doubt causes worry. Worry causes stress. Stress causes addiction, illness, and sadness.
Are you living in gloom? Is your family living in gloom? Doubt, worry, and stress affect our hearts and our minds. It also affects our bodies.
“Did you know that physical problems related to chronic stress include the lowering of the immune response, chronic muscle tension, and increased blood pressure? These problems can eventually lead to serious life-threatening illnesses such as heart attacks, kidney disease, and cancer.”
The doubt, worry and stress of others also affect us. They cause choices that can cause war, accidents, job losses, and even the release of carcinogens into our world. We can be stressed by situations beyond our control.
“So, the question is ‘How do we trust God when circumstances seem beyond his control?’ “First of all— God is the Creator of all things—nothing is beyond him.”
In Jeremiah 32:27 the Lord says: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” We only have to look as far as the Gospel to see the power of God over all forms of illness and circumstances.
The Gospel of Matthew says in chapter 4 verse 23: “And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
That gospel continues in verse 24: “So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.”
The first letter of 1 John chapter 5:14-15 says: Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
St. Faustina wrote in her diary these words from Jesus about his Divine Mercy, Jesus said: “Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul… Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity.” That’s paragraph 1602 from her diary.
Examples of Jesus healing are plentiful in the gospels. He also addresses worry:
Matthew chapter 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
Then Jesus tells us : Mt. 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”
Here are some Scriptures that address worry:
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your worries upon Him because he cares for you.”
Psalm 91:1,2 “1 [I.] You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, 2 Say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.””
Paul wrote to the Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
And Philippians 4:19 “My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
So if we could trust the Lord why are our families in such need of healing? This is a good question. And it is one that Truth of the Spirit will help you find the answer for. Truly we can trust the Lord.
The strange basis of all infirmities in the world is a wonderful gift that God our Father gave us since the beginning of time—Freewill! The wonderful gift of freewill allows us to love God and each other with tremendous joy. From the beginning of time, God gave us the gift of freewill so that we, his children, could freely choose to love him. We can use our freewill to trust God. We can use our freewill be believers.
Freewill also allows his children to make mistakes. And we have! If you are seeking help today, you may be thinking, my daughter has cancer, or my son is an alcoholic or my parent has Alzheimer’s. What does that have to do with freewill?
When Adam and Eve made the mistake of disobeying God, sin entered the world and so did death, infirmity and suffering. Through freewill, man has continued to make mistakes and sin. We inherit death, infirmity and suffering whether we are innocent or guilty.
Each time someone in the world sins there are consequences. Even the innocent are affected. The consequences of sin are rampant in our world today and our sin, and the sin of those in the past, causes us to once again be yoked with gloom and darkness.
But, like Gideon and the Israelites at Midian, the Lord is ready to rescue us as we turn to him. Jesus redeemed us of sin and the eternal death and separation from God.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”. God wants us to pull down the eternal joy of no death, no infirmity, no suffering into our daily lives, into the lives of our families. Even when it seems hopeless.
Let me end this episode with a true story about a fifth century Christian family of Constantinople who sent their two boys off to college. While the brothers were travelling to Beirut, Phoenicia, to attend university, their ship was wrecked. There was no communication from them, and the couple assumed, naturally, that the young men had died at sea. The couple was heartbroken but they didn’t break their trust and relationship with God. Years later, the elderly couple made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where they encountered their sons living as monks. The boys, it turned out, had made it safely to shore. 1600 years ago there were no cell phones to call home! The surviving brothers became monks, giving their lives to Christ, eventually living in a monastery in Jerusalem.
Grateful to have his family re-united, and taking it as a sign, the father, Xenophon, gave up his senatorial position in Constantinople, and his high society and lived for the rest of his life as a monk in Jerusalem. A few years later, the entire family gave their lives rather than deny their faith. Xenophon Mary John and Arcadius this family are now are all saints of the Church.
They are an example to us that often times our plans for our children don’t turn out the way we plan, but if we keep our trust in God He will take care of them, and just might change our lives, too, along the way.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit, I’m your host Patti Brunner. Be sure and subscribe and come back for more of the series Healing the Family, because with the Holy Spirit there’s always more. Amen.
