There has been a tendency in the medical profession to simply treat people’s various symptoms of illness, rather than realizing that healing is not merely physical healing, but the integration of body, mind and soul, which enables the person to become more fully human and more fully divine. (2 Peter 1; 4). This revelation came to me twenty years ago, when I had been practicing as a doctor for about 15 years. I was in my clinic where I came across a good number of patients suffering from chronic diseases like Bronchial Asthma, Rheumatoid arthritis, Hypertension etc. They were totally dependent on the doctor and medicines. I realized as I wrote the prescription for the patient before me, that I had been writing the same prescription for the same patient for more than ten years without him having a complete cure. I felt a failure in my service as a religious nun and as a medical doctor. Everything felt very empty as I knew I wasn’t able to give the fullness of life to the sick that I wanted to.

Jesus is the only physician who can give life

I opened the Bible at chapter thirty-seven of Ezekiel and the story of the dry bones. In my mind’s eye I saw a picture of a valley with dry bones and the miraculous way of these bones united together. I could see flesh on them and skin had covered them. Finally breath came to them. It was like a revelation and I was convinced even more, that Jesus is the only physician who can give life.

In John 10:10 it says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. Jesus healed the paralyzed man by first saying “your sins are forgiven”. This revelation changed all my attitudes towards health and healing. I realized that unless the soul is liberated from sin, and the mind is healed from negative thoughts, negative emotions and attitudes, physical healing will never happen and the sole mediator of the healing is Jesus. With a new spirit I entered into the field of holistic healing which is the art of healing body, mind and soul. Since then I have seen wonders happening in my ministry.

This revelation became the inspiration for starting a holistic healing centre in Kerala, South India. Here ten of our religious sisters along with lay doctors and nurses work as a team with the aim of bringing about the healing of the sick and suffering. This links in with the motto of our congregation which is ‘LOVE HEALS THROUGH THE BODY TO THE SOUL’.

Integration of the whole person necessary for health

Today all over the world, there is a growing belief in the importance of a holistic approach to healing rather than using one particular system of medicine. The word ‘Holistic’ is derived from the Greek ‘Holos’ meaning ‘whole’. Holistic health seeks the integration of body, mind and soul including consciousness by exploring one’s inner space which is the indwelling and temple of the Holy Trinity. This integration of a whole person is the sine qua non of perfect health, which also includes curative and preventive health care system. Most health professionals seem to think that the patient is like a piece of machinery, with the doctor seeking to repair the damaged parts which are the diseases and symptoms. The person as a whole being is completely out of the picture. This is seen in the reluctance of the doctors to listen patiently to what the sick and desperate patient has to say to them about how they are feeling. There is an almost exclusive dependence on diagnostic devices to find the cause of illness. The emphasis is on medical and surgical intervention to the almost complete exclusion of other steps to reach the troubled and distressed mind and soul. Holistic healing is a challenge to renew the vision and mode of treatment used in modem medicine.

Three progressive steps for holistic healing

As I see it there are three progressive steps for the holistic healing. The first step is simply a warm welcome and a compassionate attitude to each and every person who is in pain, followed by a complete medical check up. The second step is personal and family counselling with awareness classes to liberate the person who is ill from all the negative emotions and mental attitudes that might be underpinning their situation. Then the final step, which is very important, is the spiritual dimension of healing.

Our centre in India has much advanced in this level. The Lord Jesus is the chief physician of this centre. The inner healing of the mind and soul is the core process of a total healing. This takes place through the healing touch of Jesus in the inner core of a person. Negative emotions, like fear, resentment, lack of forgiveness, guilt, anxiety, rejection and loneliness can become the root cause of psycho somatic diseases like allergies, Irritable Bowel disorder, Rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, muscular and neurological disorders etc.

Hatred caused paralysis

One of the healings, which had taken place in our centre, for example, was that of a young man aged thirty-five who had paralysis of both lower limbs. He was brought to the centre for one month. He could not sit up or walk. He had treatment in one of the famous neurological centres in Kerala but, his physical condition remained the same. As I was counselling the patient, Jesus showed me a picture of a knife and I wondered whether he had been involved in a crime of murder.

As I started interviewing him and asking him about his life, he told me that he could not forgive his brother in-law. Apparently they had a shared business together. While the business was flourishing things had been fine and they were very happy and were good friends. But then, all of a sudden the business started having problems and running into debt. The man’s brother in-law instead of supporting him, cheated him by putting all the debts in his name. This injustice had greatly upset him and he began to hate his brother in-law. Finally, things reached such a pitch that he decided to stab him while he was asleep during the early hours of the morning. In readiness for this he kept a sharpened knife under his pillow. But the morning, that he decided to do this, as he was about to get up and take the knife to stab his brother in-law, he found himself unable to rise from his bed. Totally paralyzed his family took him to the hospital.

Forgiveness brought liberation

I explained to him that this buried resentment, hatred and desire for revenge rather than any clinical malfunction was in fact the cause of his paralysis. I asked him to pray for the grace of forgiveness. In the beginning, he was not at all cooperative. But, after a few days, God filled him with the Holy Spirit and with many tears, he told me that he had decided to forgive his brother in-law from the heart. At that moment itself he started moving his toes and within a day he had started walking without support. The miracle of holistic healing had happened! I have witnessed many other similar instances where healing has come through the touch of the Divine like this.

To conclude, it is my belief that this kind holistic healing approach is the best way to cure people and liberate them from the physical illnesses, addictions and many of the mental and spiritual bondages that people in the modern era are afflicted by. The Christian healing ministry I feel has a lot to offer in the field of health and education. Through self-awareness and integration, people and whole families can be transformed and be brought to full health of mind, body and spirit, in the Lord Jesus. And even if they are not totally healed by developing a positive approach to life amidst sufferings and contradictions and conflicts they are much better able to cope.

For more info contact David and Eileel Brum (part of the European Team) Tel 0208 542 2476. Or see the centre website www.holisticdharmagiri.org

Dr Betty Nina is a Medical Sister of St Joseph in Kerala, South India.