Some time ago a faith healer came to town and spent an evening at our church. Her name is Lorraine Louvat. What was so compelling to me was that our church was filled with people of all faiths and people of no faith. Lorraine is a Catholic woman who at the age of 4 was told by God she would have a strong gift of healing but would use it later in life. Until the early 90s Lorraine was pretty much a prayer hermit. She is not a religious sister. In 1963 she met with a someone by the name of Padre Pio, who himself was blessed with incredible gifts and was canonized as a saint in 2003. 
Padre Pio had very extraordinary gifts, including the stigmata and the ability to "read hearts" and foresee things in the future. Long before Pope John Paul II was elected as Pope in 1979, Padre Pio had told him that one day he would be Pope. At the time of their meeting, Lorraine knew nothing about Padre Pio but when she went to confession to him he provided her spiritual direction confirming her divine gift of healing.
By the way, one of my parishioners told me that back in 1963 she was on line to go to confession to Padre Pio there in Italy when word came that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. It was just before she went into the confessional and she was sobbing over the death of the president. Padre Pio told her not to worry because he had just gone to confession the day before!
Back to Lorraine. She insisted that her ministry of healing was the work of Jesus. In fact, she wanted the Blessed Sacrament displayed in what we call Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. And all through the service Lorraine kept referencing Jesus and His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament and how He is the healer, not her.
My hope for Boulder is that what happened that evening will become the beacon of light I so want our parish to be for all the people of Boulder. The Light of Christ shining in the dark, drawing people of all kinds into His love, symbolized by the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Comments