Healing of The Family Tree By Father Stefan

 

Mass for the Healing of the Family Tree

When I was a young priest I came across the idea that there is such a thing as intergenerational healing. We are affected both positively and negatively by the choices that family members have done in the past. As the famous poem says, “No man is an Island.” St Paul would say, “We are the Body of Christ and individually member of it.” 1Cor12:27

I will try to show that praying for intergenerational healing flows quite nicely from what we believe in our Catholic Faith. Once a month I have a mass for the Healing of the Family Tree. At this mass people bring me their family tree and I place them at the foot of the altar. If you want to see when I do these masses check out my website at www.fatherstefan.wordpress.com. I have hundreds of family tree sent to me from all over the world. Every month all these people are being prayed for.

Actually this mass is no different than what we do at most masses. Most mass intentions are for a deceased person.  (In a future blog, I will explain that having a mass said for the living is more powerful for the person than a mass said for them when they are dead, but that is for a future time.) We believe that the mass said for the deceased person truly has as a positive effect on the person. Well at the masses for the healing of the family tree we bring our entire family tree to Jesus. One of the things that I have learned is that illnesses are connected to events and sins in the past, and when the past event is touched or brought to Jesus the present event is touched and healing can take place.

An example, a person might suffer from an eating disorder. At the mass she might see a past ancestor suffering starvation. When she prays for healing of that person she is also healed of her eating disorder.

If you read the chapter in my book, ‘Miracles Healing for a Broken World,” in the chapter on curses and evil spirits, you will read about my experiences with intergenerational healing.  I wrote in the book Miracles, “In the same way that physical conditions such as alcoholism, depression, or heart disease run in families, spiritual condition can run through families as well.  When it comes to physical maladies, a doctor asks his patients questions about the family medical history. However, sometimes illnesses are rooted in generational attitudes or sins. For example, sometimes events like abortion, unexpected deaths, or infant deaths run in families. I believe this is true, in large part, because of personal experiences. I have prayed with people who appear to be suffering from incurable conditions, but when I’ve prayed for healing of the generation, I’ve seen remarkable results”

I am not saying that all illness are caused by past events or even most. All I am saying is that we are all interconnected. The good and bad that we do has effects for many generations.  Again as the famous poem says, “No Man is an Island.”

In future blogs, I will make my case for this type of healing, as how it flows from our Catholic Faith.

Remember to pray for your family members who have gone before us. One of the Spiritual works of Mercy is to pray for the dead.

God Bless

Fr Stefan