Lent Sunday Theology Talks
Theology and Spirituality of
HEALING
4. How Do Faith and Prayer Bring Us Hope in Times of Illness and Suffering?
Dear Friends,
On Sunday March 30th we have the last of our series of conversations between The Rev. Dr. Gillian Straine and myself on the Theology and Spirituality of Healing.
We have seen that there is a distinction between curing and healing. Curing is “the strategy of destroying or checking a pathogen, removing a malfunctioning or non-functioning organ, restoring a person to health or well-being”. Healing can be defined as “the restoration of meaning to life. It is the strategy of restoring social and personal meaning for life problems that accompany human health misfortunes.” We shall discuss how while it is good to trust medicine and science to cure our illnesses we can and should look for healing in spiritual practices, find comfort in faith and resort to prayer. We shall focus especially on how should we pray in times of illness.
Here are the titles and the dates of the series (click on the title to see video-recordings of previous talks):
March 9: “Jesus’ miracles and healing activity: should we expect miracles today?”
March 16: “What is spiritual healing? The approaches of faith and science”.
March 23: “‘Lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover’ (Mark 16.18): the healing mission of the Church”.
March 30: “How do faith and prayer bring us hope in times of illness and suffering?”
The Revd. Dr. Gillian Straine is CEO of GoHealth, an ecumenical organisation that equips and inspires Christians and Churches to nurture health and healing in ourselves, our communities and the world. She is an Anglican priest, scientist, cancer survivor, coach and author. She is the author of Introducing Science and Religion: A Path Through Polemic (2013) and Cancer: A Pilgrim Companion (2017).
The class will take place as usual on Sunday at 10 am in the Parish House, 5th floor.
I recorded a podcast on the “Prayer for Healing” with Gillian last week. You can listen to the Podcast HERE
All blessings,
Fr. Luigi Gioia
Theologian In Residence
