What is Healing?

Dear Saint William Parishioners, 
 
I pray you are all having a blessed summer. I have now been your pastor for a little over two and half years and it has been a great joy and privilege. I returned to Saint William with a heart set on leading our parish to be a place of lived encounter with the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. During my transition as pastor, I have been forming our staff to have their own encounter with Christ so that they can be ministers of that encounter in the way that we serve you, the People of God, at St. William. With the staff, I have shared my own experiences with God and how He continues to transform my heart as we read Be Healed and Be Transformed by Bob Schuchts and now we are reading Unbound by Neal Lozano. Our time together has been an incredible journey of physical and spiritual healing and renewal. It has truly been a blessing for us.  
 
In the past year we have started to have healing classes, and unbound training for prayer teams in Spanish and English. Many of our parishioners who have attended have experienced the healing power of our God in deep and profound ways. When we hear the word healing, what comes to mind? I have been asked many times, “What is healing?” The way I define it is simply an Encounter with the Risen Lord in the midst of our brokenness. For example, we can think of the Samaritan Woman at the Well in chapter 4 of John’s Gospel. She encounters Jesus, and He speaks to her shame and brokenness… He reveals her heart to her. Notice, He did not cure her of any illnesses, He just loved her where she was hurt the most. Her shame was broken, and she runs with excitement to tell everyone in the village that the Messiah was present. The villagers come and listen to Jesus preach and they come to believe that He is the Christ, the One to come. 
 
This kind of encounter is available to us today. It was not just for those who encountered Jesus two thousand years ago. Our healing series, prayer team trainings, and prayer sessions are three ways that we provide opportunities for that encounter. In addition, we will be holding the Healing the Whole Person weekend retreat, led by Dr. Bob Schuchts from the John Paul II Healing Center (in Tallahassee, Florida) here at our parish from November 9-11, 2023.

Registration will be opening on Monday, August 7, 2023, and I encourage all of you to sign up if you are available on those dates. It will fill up quickly, so I encourage you to register as soon as it opens.
 
May God bless you, and may Saint William truly become a place of Encounter and Healing with our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ! 
 

 
   Fr. Francisco Rodriguez III
   Pastor