The Road to Healing

In Korean society we frequently come across references to the word 'healing,' perhaps a sign that our society is undergoing a pathological change, with many of us becoming worn out and lonely and finding it more difficult to keep the body and mind healthy. The editorial in the Peace Weekly points out that for some people the keys for the transformation to healthful living may be as simple as adding new projects, including plans to travel to new destinations. 

The Buddhists have encouraged this transformation to health by holding 'stays' in their temples, where people can come for a few days to get away from the concerns that bind them to the world, preventing them from enjoying peace of mind. The World Health Organization, in 1996, issued their definition of health. Using a holistic approach, they provided criteria for determining not only what makes for physical and mental heath but spiritual health as well.

Healing, all healing--physical, mental, spiritual--is, as the editorial puts it, in God's domain. Because, ultimately, God is the only healer. In the Old Testament, becoming a new person--recovery to spiritual health--often begins with the healing of physical disease. In the New Testament, healing is clearly shown to extend beyond the healing of the body to the spiritual--and salvation.

This healing of the spirit is also available whenever we receive the sacraments of the Church; they help bring the love of God into our lives. The grace of God should be one of the means to rid ourselves of disease in both  body and  mind, as well as in the spirit. Because of these benefits, the editorial believes the Church should be more interested in promoting this apostolate, which should help satisfy, according to the editorial, our need for the sacred.

God, from the beginning, poured into humanity his grace, and if our lives are sufficiently open to the continual graces that are being offered, nothing but good can come from this openness, and health would be one of the gifts received. We need only to empty ourselves, forgive others, and do what the voice of conscience dictates.