How Can You Heal Your Family Tree?

Standing on my head ^ | July 19, 2014 | Fr. Dwight Longenecker

[NYer]

Healing the Family Tree is a groundbreaking book by the British psychiatrist Kenneth McCall. I met Dr McCall when I lived in England, and used his book in my own developing healing ministry as an Anglican priest. Dr McCall was brought up in China as the son of Christian missionaries. While there he experienced exorcisms and the influence of generational curses on families. As he matured he studied to practice medicine and specialized in psychiatry. He discovered that some incurable psychiatric patients had, as part of their problem, unresolved deaths within their family circle. He experimented with a new therapy in which he invited the pastor or rabbi of the patient to conduct a funeral service for the dead relative. In many cases he found a marked improvement in his patient, and in the book he tells the startling stories of some very remarkable complete recoveries.

He went on to discover that sometimes the trouble in the family history was not simply an unresolved death, but an unresolved trauma, and addiction problem or even an occult curse which had been placed on the family. McCall’s theory is that, in some cases of emotional or mental disturbance there is also a spiritual dimension. One can discuss this in sensationalist language saying the living person is “haunted” or “cursed”. However, one might just as easily use less dramatic language and say that there is a spiritual disturbance within the inherited family memory. The language used to describe the problem is secondary. The solution is what I find so interesting.

As a Protestant, McCall simply started to have funeral services for the dead in order to help the living find healing and reconciliation. Then McCall began to discover the Catholic tradition of praying for the dead. He spoke to a Catholic who explained the logic behind requiem masses–masses said for the repose of the soul of the departed. McCall discovered the Catholic belief in purgatory and began to understand that it has always been part of Catholic teaching that the dead could be prayed for, and that the prayers offered for them–especially the prayers of the Mass–would help them on their journey and assist them to be reconciled. McCall’s great discovery is that this traditional Catholic practice is not only beneficial for the dead, but also for the living.

This is why, therefore, as a Catholic priest I encourage the traditional customs of offering Masses for our dead, lighting candles and saying a prayer for the dead and making sure we offer proper funeral masses for the dead. The living benefit from this practice because I am convinced that real spiritual bonds exist between family members just as real as the biological, genetic bonds that exist between us and our children and between us and our ancestors. Some say “time heals all wounds.” This is not true. Christ heals all wounds. If there is lingering family sin, trauma, addiction, violence or unresolved death it needs to be dealt with through the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist. This should be as natural for Catholics as going to the doctor when something is wrong physically.

Of course, within the Christian healing ministry we do not look for magical answers or instant answers. Sometimes there are remarkable, seemingly miraculous answers. More often the healing is gradual, deep and real. In the area of emotional, mental and relational problems the spiritual dimension is often only one factor in a complicated network of problems. Each one needs to be unpicked carefully and gradually for the total healing of the mind, body and spirit. This needs to take place within a caring community of faith, with a solid discipline of prayer and professional guidance. While there are amazing hearings, most often they are rooted in a larger, more down to earth ministry of day to day discipline and prayer.

If you have family problems from the past take it to confession, take it to Mass, offer masses for the repose of the souls of your loved ones. Remember them at each mass when the dead are prayed for. It will bring your family health, healing, wholeness and bring you closer to the abundant life Christ promises.

My book Praying the Rosary for Inner Healing touches on some of these same problems and has helped many people. Learn more about it here.

[NYer]

This is why, therefore, as a Catholic priest I encourage the traditional customs of offering Masses for our dead, lighting candles and saying a prayer for the dead and making sure we offer proper funeral masses for the dead. The living benefit from this practice because I am convinced that real spiritual bonds exist between family members just as real as the biological, genetic bonds that exist between us and our children and between us and our ancestors. Some say “time heals all wounds.” This is not true. Christ heals all wounds.

Over the past two years, working strictly from oral tradition, I have been able to track down many of my ancestors using census records and other documents available at several online genealogical sites. In the process, I discovered relatives whose names had never been mentioned. Not only was a daily regimen of prayer begun for all of them, I was also able to recover photographs of these relatives, going back 4 generations, from the estate of a recently deceased distant cousin. Masses have been offered up for them. It has brought great comfort to know they are now in my daily prayers. Given the state of contemporary society, what assurances do any of us have that our descendants will do the same for us.

Ping!

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

The protestants (or, rather, the loony Charismatics) with their whole “generational curse” thing are just as loony as the Papists who compare it to praying for the dead.

What curse or sin could possibly survive the blood of the lamb?

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

This concept of going back through your ancestors to find people to pray for has a Mormonic feel to it. Although, they baptize their dead, to release them from outer darkness, whereas you are praying to get them out of, is it purgatory?

[GeronL]

by pruning the weakest branches!

chop chop!

[KarlInOhio]

by pruning the weakest branches!

chop chop!

My family tree could use a pruning of a could particularly dumb limbs.

[jcon40]

Family Constellation therapy looks at this from another point of view other than theologically based. Though many family histories have significant religious belief systems that are transgenerational

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Constellations&sa=U&ei=mvXKU92AMpH4oATgx4GwDQ&ved=0CAsQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNE7DGZbE9lYm-GejPkdNO6fXp596g

[Born to Conserve]

With chicken blood and painted faces?

[knittnmom]

My family tree could use a pruning of a could particularly dumb limbs

Let me guess - they have trouble finding the right words? ;-)

[GreyFriar]

Praying for the souls of the deceased, not to them.

Also, “Caring Connections Can Stretch”: http://www.bswett.com/1990-07ConnectionsStretch.html

“This is why “Love God supremely” is the first commandment, and “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the second commandment. Those whose love for God is stronger than all their other loves combined automatically go to God, but those whose love for their neighbors is stronger than their love for God automatically go to their neighbors.

Thus, in theory, at least, in accordance with the law of attraction, the direction that a soul tends to move in spiritual space could be computed as the vector-sum of all that soul’s attractions.

Since my session with Joan and Robert, many caring discarnates have benefitted from being told:

Look, there’s a thin, thread-like connection between you and the one you love. Do you see it?
(They almost always do.) Now move up a little, toward the light, and notice what happens. See? The connection will stretch. (They are often amazed.) Do you know what that means? It means you don’t have to wait and hang around here in order to help the ones you love. You can rise up to the light without severing your connections. You can let all those connections stretch. When you’re in the light, you will be cleaned up, and receive guidance and strength and support, so you can help them better. And you can still find them by following your connection back to them—wherever they may be—as long as you care enough to do so. And then, as each of them dies, you can go to them and help them rise to the light. See? That’s how your love is supposed to work.:

Memo: In this work, remember why the two great commandments are given in that order, by sequence as well as importance. FIRST love God to establish your connection to God. THEN love your neighbor to establish your connection to your neighbor.

[Aliska]

I have that book. There were several accounts of disturbed children who had lost an older sibling through miscarriage or abortion. There was deliverance of an insane girl by saying the Our Father.

They had a mass on a riverbank where there had been a ghost (Anglican mass).

There was a disturbed woman who had had a lesbian affair.

There was a family who had a valuable stolen artifact that belonged to someone else hidden under the floorboards, were told to return it.

One of McAll's key questions was, "Who was the most unloved?"

Various other healings. I tried a lot of ideas in the book but evidently not enough. Then I started reading that the practices might be heretical. I didn't particular see that but McAll had some kind of special gift where he claimed to know things others didn't know. I don't quite equate it to spiritualism.

The part about lost babies touched me the most and gave me hope. They would be seen or described as the age they would have been had they been born. The same is described in a lot of NDE experiences.

This goes quite a ways back. Catholics have had workshops based on this book, their own subsequent books, and praying the mass. Most seemed pretty benign but one lady acted out, thrashing and laboring to deliver a baby she had lost (that wasn't in McAll's book).

When I was having many masses said, I felt like I was trying to "buy" them out of wherever unpleasant they might be, even though I prayed. I didn't attend any of the masses (some far away) but attended many many daily masses offered for others like they do.

[frog in a pot]

Quite interesting, thank you.

[NYer]

This concept of going back through your ancestors to find people to pray for has a Mormonic feel to it.

Many documents are sourced to the Mormon Church which requires its members to track down their ancestors' records for purposes of having them baptized into the Mormon Church. The other greatest source of documents are the Catholic Church which has always maintained scrupulous records of baptisms, marriages and funerals (some can also provide information on other sacraments). And, yes, my prayers are offered up for those still in purgatory.

[zot]

Thank you for your post # 10. It shows some important lessons learned. Soul rescue is good work.

[real saxophonist]

My family tree goes back to the Mayflower, and there’s a reason I fly the Culpeper Flag, rather than the Gadsden Flag.

[metmom]

Well said.....

[cloudmountain]

This concept of going back through your ancestors to find people to pray for has a Mormonic feel to it. Although, they baptize their dead, to release them from outer darkness, whereas you are praying to get them out of, is it purgatory?

I pray "for those who need it the most." That would, of course, be ME but I know that there are others who are suffering more and need more prayers.

I'm not SURE of who they are exactly but I pray for those family and friends who need my prayers the most...and let God decide who they may be (besides me).

[cloudmountain]

We sinners DO have to acknowledge our sins.

*We also have to REPENT.

*Included in repentance, that is, the desire not to sin again, is the effort to NOT commit those sins again.

We AVOID the "near occasion of sin." We KNOW all to well the lacunae in our souls and we CAN avoid the people, places, events, movies, magazines, books, etc., that cause us to sin.
Without the effort to avoid the "near occasions of sins" our repentance is only lip service.

[johngrace]

I was praying a few years back at night in my room with the computer on the browser. Well I had whispering sounds coming from the room . Nobody was there but me. I thought it must be fallen angels to trick. So I covered the Blood of Christ over it. But it kept happening. So I asked The Lord what is it I am being shown here. The St Gertrude prayer for purgatory came up on my browser. I prayed it several times. I never heard the sounds like that again. I pray this prayer at more times now.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Ca C'est Bon