From today onwards, I would like to dedicate my daily meditations to a topic that I consider to be of particular importance in these times, as many people are seeking healing and often resorting to questionable and dubious methods. The topic is inner healing.
In this context, it is important to note that, as Christians, we cannot use any healing method offered to us without first subjecting it to discernment, especially if it is related to another religion or uses psychotechnical methods from the esoteric realm.
Over the next few days, this series will pause to reflect on all that God has already done and continues to offer us to help our souls heal.
This is not about healing physical or mental illnesses, which require appropriate treatment, but rather how our souls can recover their inner health with God’s grace. I hope that the meditations over the coming days will help us recognise the immense treasure of the Catholic faith with greater gratitude.
The origin of disorder
Firstly, it is important to consider the source of all disorder. As we can deduce from the Genesis texts, in the paradisiacal state, man lived in a state of integrity. God Himself exclaims that the culmination of His creative work, man, was ‘very good’ (Gen. 1:31). The relationship between man and his Creator was trusting and familiar; the Lord took delight in being with men and cultivating a close relationship with them. As the Church teaches us, in the paradisiacal state, man enjoyed participation in divine life; the powers of his soul were in order; and he lived in harmony with the Creator and creation (Catechism, nos. 374–378).
However, when man fell into sin, great disorder began: original justice was lost, understanding was clouded, the will was weakened and the passions rebelled against the spirit. In a state of sin, man could not remain in Paradise, and death entered the world. Trust and familiarity with God were lost, and the soul was cast out of its home.
Nevertheless, God did not turn His back on man, even though he had lost Paradise through his own fault, along with all his descendants.
The first thing we can ascertain about fallen man is that he could no longer perceive his transcendent vocation; he became spiritually blind, with all the consequences recounted in subsequent accounts of Sacred Scripture.
Therefore, if we seek the healing of the soul, the first and most essential thing will be to restore our relationship with God.
Healing of the soul through faith
Finding true faith in God is the most important thing for a person. Indeed, the soul suffers deeply when it lacks knowledge of God.
Man was created for God and finds his home in Him. His eternal destiny is to live in communion with God, to worship Him, to allow himself to be loved by Him and to respond to this love. Therefore, it is only in the Lord that his deepest longings can be fulfilled. The soul can never live in true peace and happiness unless it recognises its Father and Creator, and lives in communion with Him. It is hungry for God and longs for Him. Thus, it seeks its own identity; it seeks the lost Paradise; it seeks its homeland and its home.
However, man can fall under bad influences and open himself to false doctrines, allowing false images of God to take hold and confuse his soul. He can also lose himself in earthly life, seeking the joys and pleasures of the senses as the purpose of his existence. When this happens, the soul remains dormant and fails to discover its deepest vocation. Perhaps the person is not even aware of this. However, deep down, the soul becomes ill and feels a void because it is not living in accordance with the transcendent and essential dimension of its existence. Thus, it begins to seek substitutes. “You made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” says St. Augustine, describing his inner state.
The moment one consciously embraces faith, the process of healing the soul begins. The soul finds guidance and awakens from its confusion. By converting — by consciously opening oneself to the love of the Lord — the soul is penetrated by the supernatural light of God, and it rejoices and sheds tears of gratitude. It knows that it has come home, and especially if it had been far from God, it can hardly contain its joy. It will never want to lose this treasure it has found!
The same applies to people who were fortunate enough to be brought up in the Christian faith: they receive greater light the moment they consciously decide to live by it.
The light that faith gives us does not mean attaining the supernatural vision of God, which we will only be able to enjoy in heaven. Nor are the soul’s powers immediately healed when we embrace the faith, nor do the shadows of darkness recede once and for all. However, with the light of faith, the Lord begins to realize His salvific work in us.
In the coming days, we will see how God has arranged everything so that man, who has strayed so far from Him, can once again place himself under the sweet yoke of His love and prepare for eternity. There, in eternal life, we will be completely immersed in the light of God and no stain will be able to darken us anymore.
