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So many healings, so many blessings ...
Mike & Maria Pia Oliver report on the powerful way in which the Holy Spirit moved in their parish during a recent Healing Weekend run by Pauline Edwards & Fr Laurence Brassill O.S.A.
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At the beginning of each Parish Pastoral Council meeting at St Edmund's church our parish priest, Fr Tom Taaffe, always reads from chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, which lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. What may have seemed academic suddenly came alive, when we saw many of these gifts in action during a four-day healing weekend in January, run by Pauline Edwards and Fr Laurence Brassill. They have a powerful yet very gentle ministry and see themselves as enablers; they encouraged members of the parish to join them in praying over people, to emphasise that it is Jesus who heals. A Healing Evening on the Thursday was followed by two full days of healing prayer, with lunch provided on the Saturday. On Sunday prayer was offered after three Masses. We were totally unprepared for the numbers of healings and the way in which the Holy Spirit moved in such a powerful and tangible way. Throughout the weekend there was a steady stream of people coming forward to testify how they had been affected. There were many physical healings. A young woman, partially deaf in one ear, had her hearing restored. A little girl of 8 who's leg was badly swollen by a lymphoedema told how she saw the swelling shrink while she was being prayed over; the next day she returned to tell how she had also been healed of nightmares and insomnia. A lady's shoulder pain disappeared on Thursday, and on Friday her knees were healed. Healings There were many other physical healings reported including back pain, arthritis, deafness and sinus problems. However, emotional healings were even more dramatic. One lady was healed of long-standing anxiety, depression and agoraphobia as well as having the broken relationship with her daughter restored after years of alienation. Another testified to feeling a completely new person following a lifetime of low self-esteem after being abused as a child. A man wept profuse tears of joy as he told how the anxiety and distress of caring for his terminally ill wife was totally lifted. Several others told of being freed from depression. We continue to receive reports of more healings and blessings. Evangelisation The event was not just about healing, it was also about evangelisation. The Gospel message was preached in a powerful way and, when people saw the healings, it came alive to them. Several have said they now feel drawn back to the church. The key to everything was the amount of prayer beforehand by many faithful intercessors. Unity Many of those attending were from other denominations, several saying how much they were impressed by what they witnessed and some testifying to blessings they had received. It is significant that the event took place at the start of the week of prayer for Christian unity.
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When
I was small I contracted an infection which left me with pain
in my ears and a loss of hearing. During the Thursday Healing
Evening I was sitting at the back of the church and couldn't hear
properly what was being said. I had to keep asking the person
sitting next to me. When Pauline asked if there was anyone with
hearing problems I put up my hand. That evening I kept getting
pain in my ear and I said "Lord, what are you doing to me!".
On Friday evening I was sitting on my bed praying when I realised
that I could hear my cousin's children playing down-stairs. The
next day I returned to the church and again sat at the back. I
could now hear everything clearly. 
My
wfe Sheila has been suffering from cancer for 15 years, and the
past four years have been very difficult. We used to do a lot
of walking but now Sheila is confined to a weekchair and is in
a lot of pain My daughter Teresa had leukaemia when she was 2
years old but was cured by the doctors. We have been involved
in the Renewal for some time. I didn't really want to come to
the Healing Weekend but Sheila insisted, so I took her in her
wheelchair. On the Saturday something happened to me, I received
a tremendous blessing and heard a voice inside me saying "All
will be well". All the anxiety and distress just disappeared.
I came up to the altar to give a testimony and just wept tears
of joy. I haven't stopped smiling since then!
All
my life, since I was very young I have suffered from anxiety and
depression and I have been on anti-depressants for 15 years. It
started when I was bullied at school by a teacher and I eventually
ran away from school and developed a fear of people in authority.
My mother never showed me love. When I was in my 30s my father
developed Alzheimers and I cared for him. I was unable to get
out much and eventually I also developed agoraphobia. I am presently
in remission from cancer of the scalp.