Chapel of the Holy Cross
For those who have read my previous reflections they usually begin with, “As many of you know, we travel often.” This one is no different, but this time we are more local, Sedona.
We spend several weeks in the summer in Sedona. On this trip John and I went back to visit the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was afternoon we were thinking it wouldn’t be crowded. Wrong. There was a mass being offered at 3:00. We stayed. The focus of the priest’s homily was generational healing. Coming from and living in a family that needs healing, it really caught my attention. So much so that we went to St John Vianney Catholic Church the following Sunday. The same priest, the pastor, was present and continued the trek of generational healing. After the service, I waited to speak with Father Ignatius. He referenced a book during the service, which I asked about. It turns out it was his thesis work.
What I learned in his sermons and from our brief conversation, it is very personal to him. It is not the first time I heard of generational healing. It has other names. His words hit home and opened some wounds for me that lay just beneath the surface. Many occurrences and patterns in our lives are generational, whether by habit or inheritance. Many of us have caught our selves doing or saying things that our parents did or said and promised ourselves that we would not do or say. For many the events are harmless, for others they are deep seeded and hurtful.
The hurtful events can be large or small. I remember my father-in-law in his eighties lamenting that his parents would never allow him to have a bicycle. For others events go much deeper and are passed on from generation to generation; addictions—spiritual–abuse—emotional—verbal—physical—sexual–abortion.
I have only begun reading the book. It is not something to breeze through, but a book to ponder and pray about. Its intent is to teach us or show us that the only way for any of us to heal our hearts of whatever our issues are is by forgiveness and mercy. I believe it begins with praying to God to heal ourselves of all and any afflictions, including bitterness and resentment. Depending on the wounds, it may seem impossible. Jesus, as our model, suffered and forgave. He sought to heal and cure diseases (dis-ease).
I am not promoting this book. I am sharing some of its concepts that are helping me. I deliberately did not mention the title or the full name of the author. I came upon this because I am now open to this journey. Years ago, I would not have been open at all. I am a work in progress. A great benefit of aging and retirement is the time and perspective to reflect and pray more. I have to laugh at myself. I am not sure what all the 12-step program entails but I believe I am in it. I know forgiveness of self and others are involved. I feel like I am on that journey. I have some very heavy issues with family that I am working on forgiving. I am also in the process of going to people I may have hurt and ask them for their forgiveness.
I have read, “To Forgive is Dvine.” I want to learn to forgive as Jesus forgives. I pray every morning for those who have hurt me and recognize the patterns of previous generations. I pray it back generations and forward to future generations.