Healing Through The Sacraments

Sacraments are visible signs of an invisible healing, "medicine for immortality," according to St. Ignatius of Antioch. The sacraments are meant to be experienced as personal encounters with Christ in his Church, so that the healing we so urgently need can go forth from them. The purpose of this book is to contribute to that experience.

Understanding the Sacraments of Vocation presents insightful catechesis or mystagogy on the sacraments of vocation based on the words, actions, and signs of the rites and pastorally connects the meaning of the sacraments into daily Christian life.

"In this follow-up to his bestselling Be Healed, Bob Schuchts explains how the sacraments can fuel your emotional and spiritual healing and bring you closer to God."--Publisher.

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Sacraments. (Second Place). In the first book to directly integrate the Twelve Steps with the practice of Catholicism, Scott Weeman, founder and director of Catholic in Recovery, pairs his personal story with compassionate straight talk to show Catholics how to bridge the commonly felt gap between the Higher Power of twelve-step programs and the merciful God that he rediscovered in the heart of the sacraments. Weeman entered sobriety from alcohol and drugs on October 10, 2011, and he's made it his full-time ministry to help others who struggle with various types of addiction to find spiritual wholeness through Catholic in Recovery, an organization he founded and directs. In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Weeman candidly tackles the struggle he and other addicts have with getting to know intimately the unnamed Higher Power of recovery. He shares stories of his compulsion to find a personal relationship with God and how his tentative steps back to the Catholic Church opened new doors of healing and brought him surprising joy as he came to know Christ in the sacraments. Catholics in recovery and those moving toward it, as well as the people who love them will recognize Weeman's story and his spiritual struggle to personally encounter God. He tells us how: Baptism helps you admit powerlessness over an unmanageable problem, face your desperate need for God, and choose to believe in and submit to God’s mercy. Reconciliation affirms and strengthens the hard work of examining your life, admitting wrongs, and making amends. The Eucharist provides ongoing sustenance and draws you to the healing power of Christ. The graces of Confirmation strengthen each person to keep moving forward and to share the good news of recovery and new life in Christ. Weeman's words are boldly challenging and brimming with compassion and through them you will discover inspiration, hope, sage advice, and refreshingly practical help.

“Somewhere deep inside each one of us is a burning desire to finally become the person God created us to be.” Do you suffer from spiritual or emotional wounds that are keeping you from reaching that goal? The bestselling book Be Healed is based on retired Catholic therapist Bob Schuchts’s popular program for spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. Incorporating elements of charismatic spirituality and steeped in scripture and the wisdom of the Church, this book offers hope in the healing power of God through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments. Schuchts, founder of the John Paul II Healing Center, sensitively shares his own journey of healing after enduring a series of betrayals in high school—his father’s infidelity, his parents’ divorce, his older brother’s drug addiction—and his subsequent periods of struggle with God and faith. Be Healed includes helpful tools such as charts, tables, lists, reflection questions, and personal challenges to guide you on your journey of healing. Schuchts’s trusted process for finding inner peace and healing is boldly Christ-centered, maintaining focus on the person of Jesus as “the life-giving and ever-present physician of our souls.” Schuchts will help you recognize your brokenness and find your hope and healing in the risen Christ.

Understanding the Sacraments of Healing offers insightful catechesis on the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick. Guiding readers through the words, actions, and signs of the rites, this book explores the connection between the sacraments of healing and daily Christian life.