To the Editor:
Usually I like Father Ron Rolheiser’s articles in The Catholic Messenger. I have been inspired by them and have learned from them. The one on June 27, “Struggling for our father’s blessings,” made a good point, but I disagree with his conclusion.
He wrote about the consequences of not being affirmed (“blessed,” he called it) by your father, and he described those consequences well. From my own experience and from talking with others, I would add that the same effects can come from not being affirmed by your mother or older siblings, and not just your father.
Fr. Rolheiser’s solution to the situation is to bless others or to make others happy; then this hunger or lack in your life will go away. I disagree. You cannot give to others what you do not have yourself.
In my own life, this hunger or lack of affirmation was not healed until I was prayed over for healing of memories. This is a powerful, Spirit-filled experience that heals those past pains, helps one forgive those who caused them, and gives the needed affirmation. The Church should be providing this much-needed healing prayer to groups or congregations on a regular basis. There are so many hurting people in need of it.
Teresa Mottet
Fairfield
