Healing prayer meditation.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden… and you will find rest for your souls.

Healing prayer meditation.

by Dennis S. Hankins

Jesus invites us to come to him for He delights to restore and to refresh our souls. 

We pray today for an increase in us of the sprit of life in Christ in us. We want more of the life of Jesus in us!  

We pray that our faith will increase.  

We pray for an increase in hope. We pray for a fervent charity and for an increase in brotherly affection.

We pray to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

We pray for those fighting cancer,and AIDS.  We pray for those thinking of suicide.  May the Gd of peace And comfort help them in their distress.

We pray for an increase in the rich and merciful love  of Christ among us.

We pray for an increase  of signs, wonders and miracles among us.  Let us claim these things in the mighty name of Jesus who delights to bless us with rest for our soul!

Amen and Amen!

  

Meditation on healing prayer by Dennis S. Hankins.

1st Peter 5:7-9  Cast all your anxieties on him for he cares about you.

A Meditation on healing prayer  by Dennis S. Hankins.

Since my brain cancer diagnosis, hundreds if not thousands of prayer warriors are praying for me  and my family.and that the medicine will be exceedingly effective.  These many and effective prayers fill us with hope!  helping to lift my heart and mind to the Lord, encouraging me to keep up the  good fight.  That's  what these meditations on healing  prayer are meant to do for all who receive them.  it came into heart to write these since my diagnosis.  I hope they will inspire great faith, great hope and great love, as we pray for another that we may be  healed.  

We do not bow before a reluctant God,  for every fear, every anxiety every crippling thought, about the future we can cast upon the Lord because he cares about every burden we bring to him.  He cares about every thing that troubles our hearts.  Every mother who has cared for a sick child at midnight knows this is true as she whispers the name of Jesus  over her little daughter's feverish brow.  

Today  let us fervently pray for one another that we may be healed, for Jesus cares about us, about every  hurt, about every tear,  about every diagnosis.  Dearest merciful lord pour out upon all special bodily and spiritual grace such as we need today. Before your sacred heart we bow to bask in your mercy!  Thank you that you  care for us.  We trust in you Jesus, A men! 

 

  

Supernatural Love Inspires the Manifestations of the Spirit

Reflections on the Readings

January 31, 2016 - Year C

The 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dennis S. Hankins

http://www.

Supernatural Love Inspires the Manifestations of the Spirit

Love never ends. So faith, hope and love abide. (1st Corinthians 13:13) Make love your aim.  (1st Cor. 14:1)

The love Paul writes of is indulgent—generous, tolerant, forgiving, kindly, forbearing and compassionate.  It is also 

visceral,—it is deeply heartfelt.  This is a picture of our God who is love; the God who first loved us in that while were yet sinners Christ died for us !

And God's love has been poured into our hearts by the holy Spirit which has been given to us; therefore, a sterile faith lacking good works is unthinkable.  Paul's preaching was not in words alone, but his ministry was accompanied by the power and demonstration of the Spirit with signs and wonders. (Romans 15:19)

Quench not the Spirit is Paul's Admonition to the Church.

For to quench the Spirit is to miss an encounter with the merciful love of God. We should pray that God will use us to show his love, by inviting him to make us a blessing in the manifestations of the graces of the Spirit through us.  This is not for self edification or importance, but rather to one is given to speak wisdom, to another is given knowledge, to another faith, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles by the same Spirit.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

All manifestations of the Spirit are an encounter with the supernatural, merciful love of God. For God is love, and his love and mercy bring healing and forgiveness!  

Jesus is Risen, and his is the glorified body of Resurrection life so; therefore, we understand that he possesses the power of an endless and indestructible life.  

  Peter and John encountered the cripple at the Temple begging alms at the hour of prayer . Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!  And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong, and leaping, he stood and entered the Temple with Peter and John, walking and leaping and praising God.  And all were amazed who witnessed this miracle.  

Blessing, glory, and honor to him who has all authority in heaven and earth .  Jesus is Lord! He is the one who loved us and gave himself for us so that we might have life more abundantly.  Amen! May the Lord give us a lively and courageous faith, to give  what we have, namely an outstretched  hand of mercy, love, hope, and healing, in the mighty name of Jesus! 

Reading through the book of Acts reveals an infant Church possessing a vibrant and intimate faith in Jesus.  And Jesus confirmed their faith with signs following as they walked in the friendship of Jesus and in the fulness and comfort of the Holy Spirit.  For the Spirit that raisedJesus from the dead dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)Amen ! 

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

A healing prayer meditation for Wednesday, January 27, 2016

For the  eyes of the Lord are are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.   (1st Peter 2:12)  

 A healing prayer meditation for Wednesday, January 27, 2016

We come together to the throne of grace with confidence to pray for one another.  You are the Father of mercies, and I pray for (say the name here).  I ask that You will pour your merciful love upon all who hurt in body or soul.  Let your kindness descend upon us today.  You see the good fight of faith in which we are engaged, and You always hear the prayers and petitions of our heart.  Your ears are open to our prayers.  

Let us not doubt that at the throne of grace, we find God receiving us and the burdens  we bring to Him.  Now we claim in the name of Jesus the healing we seek for ourselves and for those for whom we pray.  Thank you for every bodily and spiritual grace our lives so urgently need.  Honor and praise to You, Jesus; we trust in You!  Amen!

Meditation for healing Prayer For Tuesday, January 26, 2016.

Meditation for healing Prayer For Tuesday, January 26, 2016.

                            

Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.(Galatians 6:2)

Let us today whisper the name of Jesus for those who will have cancer treatments this week , or suffering pain in their body or heart.  my brother and sister in Christ I pray that you will be filled with every bodily and spiritual grace.  Christ is with you.  In his name let us pray  for one another that we may be healed.  For with God nothing is impossible.

in Christ we are touched  by the power of his endless and indestructible life. From the healing Christ  flows into us divine and merciful love for you and me. thus the law of love,and life  in Christ is rich among us.  Confirm our prayers with signs snd wonders among us  as Christ the healer walks a mong us today.  Jesus is Lord! Amen & Amen!!

Meditation on the Healing presence of Christ through Holy communion I am the Living Bread

Healing prayer for Sunday, January 24, 2016

Meditation on the Healing presence of Christ through Holy communion 

I am the Living Bread

Jesus said, he who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him.  (John 6:54)

The healing Christ comes to us through holy communion, to heal us, forgive us , to restore us, to make us whole!. 

ST Thresa of Avila  asks us,

If while he went about the world the sick were healed by merely 

 touching his clothes 

 "How can we doubt that he will work miracles when he is within us, if we have faith, or that he will give us what we ask of him since he is in our house?  His Majesty is is not wont to offer too little payment for his lodging if we threat  him well."

Through the gift your body and blood I pray that you will make us whole.  Touch the cancer in our bodies and deny its power, relieve those who who have pain and comfort all who mourn.  Jesus We trust in you!  We love you and welcome you to our house.Amen!

Healing prayer for Sunday, January 24, 2016

Healing prayer for Sunday, January 24, 2016

Meditation on the Healing presence of Christ through Holy communion 

I am the Living Bread

Jesus said, he who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him.  (John 6:54)

The healing Christ comes to us through holy communion, to heal us, forgive us , to restore us, to make us whole!. 

 

ST Thresa of Avila  asks us,

If while he went about the world the sick were healed by merely 

 touching his clothes 

 "How can we doubt that he will work miracles when he is within us, if we have faith, or that he will give us what we ask of him since he is in our house?  His Majesty is is not wont to offer too little payment for his lodging if we treat  him well."

Through the gift your body and blood I pray that you will make us whole.  Touch the cancer in our bodies and deny its power, relieve those who who have pain and comfort all who mourn.  We trust in you.  We love you and welcome to our house.  

nnis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

g prayer meditation for Saturday — January 23, 2016

Healing prayer meditation   for Saturday — January 23, 2016

The words of Jesus are spirit and life. John 6:63.

Jesus said "ask, and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and it shall be opened to you." Jesus invites us to have a lively prayer of faith that is filled with expectation, is fervent and persistent.

So we pray for one another to be filled with every bodily and spiritual grace.   For those fighting cancer, I invoke the prayers of of St. Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer patients.  The night before a scheduled leg amputation, Jesus answered Peregrine's prayer and healed his cancerous leg.

Today let us take great hope in the promise given in James 5:16 that the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. For the prayers of the faithful have great power. 

Let us pray for one another that we may be healed.

Now to him who  by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory … (Ephesians 3:20)

Blessed  be God , even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort.   Amen & Amen !

The Unity of the Faith— How Beautiful is the Body of Christ--The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflections on the Readings

January 24, 2015 - Year C

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dennis S. Hankins

http://www.

The Unity of the Faith— How Beautiful is the Body of Christ

If one member suffers all suffer together. If one member is honored all rejoice together. Now  are you the Body of Christ and individually members of it. (1st Corinthians 12:26-27)

What we have in common is greater than what makes us different.  This premise guides ecumenical dialogue and relationships among all Christians.

We living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (1st Peter 2:5).

Having tasted the kindness of the Lord, the early Church had all things in common with each member given to drink of the same Spirit.

They devoted themselves to one another and to the teaching of the apostles and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

In Ephesians 4:11 Paul explains that to the Church was given Apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up the Body of Christ until we attain the unity of the faith, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.  

Here are several practical realities of the unity of the faith. First, it inspires a rich and effective prayer life in every member. 

Jesus said, " If two of you agree on earth as touching  any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my father who is in heaven. (Matt. 18:19)                                                                                                    

This is a recipe for miracles, for the blessing and help for each member of the precious Body of Christ.  

Secondly, the unity of faith inspires a mutual love and respect, making us mindful of the unique relationships that are ours in the Body of  Christ.

Thirdly, the unity of the faith inspires an expectation and longing for the fulness of the Holy Spirit. St. John xxiii convened the 2nd Vatican ecumenical Council with this prayer: "Renew thy wonders in this our day as by a new Pentecost!"  At the first Pentecost, the Church is all together in prayer, including the Apostles, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and other women.  They were in prayerful waiting for what Jesus described as the Promise of the Father—the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said, "Wait in the city until you are clothed with power!" (Acts 1:8) And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, there came a sound from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house and their hearts, and thus was each one filled with the Holy Spirit and began to rejoice and praise God in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance— speaking of the wonderful works of God. 

Fourth, the unity of the faith inspires our confession and conviction that Jesus is Lord!

Not Paul, not Cephas, not Appolos, but Jesus alone is Lord and and He is Lord  over all things in heaven and on earth.

Fifth, the unity of the faith inspires us to be a vibrant and spiritually gifted witness for Jesus who said, "You shall be my witnesses to the ends of the earth."

  In this Sunday's gospel Jesus exclaims, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the oppressed and recovery of sight to the blind, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." Amen ! Let us  embrace this year of mercy and be fervent in the Spirit, eager to share a grace of the Spirit and to be the face of Jesus for someone today, the gentle and hope-filled voice of Jesus to someone who needs encouragement and also to be the nailed-scarred hand of Jesus touching someone who needs a prayer of comfort and healing. He confirms our witness and words and service with signs following!   In the mighty name of Jesus, who in his infinite mercy continues to go about in our witness of him doing good and bringing his healing love and forgiveness to all oppressed by the devil. (Acts10:38)  May it be so.  And May our Lord ever fill us with his Holy Spirit and fire! 

Amen and Amen!!

Proclaim him and bless his name;

  for the Lord is our delight.

His mercy lasts for ever,

  his faithfulness through all the ages.

 

                                                                                                                         

  

                    

                       

      

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Life in the Spirit

Reflections on the Readings

January 17, 2015 - Year C

The second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dennis S. Hankins

http://www.

Life in the Spirit

                    

The Manifestations of the Holy Spirit remind us of the Abundant Life there is in Jesus! The Holy Spirit gives the Church its conviction and confession that Jesus is Lord.  Manifestations of the Spirit are for the common good; for the edification of each member of the Church, for we all drink of the same Spirit who inspires our language of prayer.  He guides us, teaches us, and glorifies Jesus among us. The Church, alive in the Spirit, is a body of mutual love and prayerful support. For in the Spirit, the Lord reveals through each one of us (for the good of our brothers and sisters) his glory and abundant life.  Paul is concerned that we are not uninformed concerning the fulness of Christ's Spirit among us. Jesus is Lord, and in the Church we receive the fulness of his merciful heart encountering his loving and merciful Lordship.  Men of political ambitions challenge Jesus. But Jesus, for us men and for our salvation, came down  from heaven  and was incarnate of the virgin Mary and became man, to ransom us, to heal us, to forgive us. Of his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace . Jesus is not running for Lord—He is Lord —May Mary, who interceded with her Son concerning  the shortage of wine at the marriage party in Cana of Galilee, intercede for us to have a fresh supply of the new wine of the Spirit so that we may have a new awareness of the merciful heart of Jesus— a new encounter with the glory of Jesus Christ for the good of the Body of Christ and for the life of the world.  Praised be Jesus Christ who gives us the gift of himself in the bread which is his body and in the wine which is his blood. 

For God has called us through the gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Thess 2:4-11).

May we truly reflect in our face the merciful glory of the Lord and be to each other a conduit of the gifts of the Spirit, so that there be no shortage of the precious love of Jesus among us.  

Dear brothers and sisters, may we fervently believe that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! Let us ask largely of his merciful heart. For the Son of man came not to be served, but to  serve.  And thus we are to one another but servants sharing with each other gifts of the Spirit for the common good.   Holy Spirit, sweet wine of heaven, help us to be ever full of the joy of Jesus and eager to share the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the mutual care and for the good and blessing of all.  Amen! 

                       

      

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Reflecting on our Baptism

Reflections on the Readings

January 10, 2015 - Year C

The Epiphany of the Lord

Dennis S. Hankins

http://www.

Reflecting on our Baptism

                     From the alternate 2nd Reading Titus 2

Beloved: When the kindness and generous love of God appeared, …but because of his mercy he saved us through

 the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

A good and probing question to contemplate is "Am I living up to my baptism?"

Upon entering a catholic church we dip our finger into the holy water font and make the sign of the cross,  renewing ourselves in the kindness and generous love of God, recalling the bath of our rebirth! The words of Jesus to Nicodemus come to mind here: Unless one is born anew of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of of heaven ( John 3) So we enter and exit the Church with a celebratory reflection on the kindness and generous love and mercy of God. Truly we are a new creation through the bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus humbled himself—He who knew no sin, submitting himself to John's baptism showing us the way to Him is truly through the bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Then let us daily celebrate and live up to and in the grace of our baptism by which we encountered the kindness and generous mercy and love of God.  Amen!  

                       

      

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Announcing Debbie's New Piano CD Project

I'm pleased to announce Debbie's release of her latest inspirational piano arrangements album titled Sounds of Amazing Grace.
Songs include: Bless The Lord (medley)
What a Friend ( Medley)
Amazing Grace
The Love of God
Power in the Blood
and my favorite The Lord's Prayer

This amazing CD is available for $15. Send your check to: Debbie Hankins, 6220 Apache Trail, Knoxville, TN 37920, and we will be happy to mail it to you.

Happy New Year!
Dennis

St.Teresa of Avila on the Eucharist

St.Teresa of Avila on the Eucharist.

"The Lord had given this person such a lively faith that, when she heard people say they wished they had lived when Christ walked on this earth, she would smile to herself, for she knew that we have Him as truly with us in the Most Holy Sacrament as people had Him then, and wonder what more they could possibly want.

I know, too, that for many years this person, though by no means perfect, always tried to strengthen her faith, when she communicated, by thinking that it was exactly as if she saw the Lord entering her house, with her own bodily eyes, for she believed in very truth that this Lord was entering her poor abode, and she ceased, as far as she could, to think of outward things, and went into her abode with Him. She tried to recollect her senses so that they might all become aware of this great blessing, or rather, so that they should not hinder the soul from becoming conscious of it. She imagined herself at His feet and wept with the Magdalen exactly as if she had seen Him with her bodily eyes in the Pharisee's house. Even if she felt no devotion, faith told her that it was good to be there.

For, unless we want to be foolish and to close our minds to facts, we cannot suppose that this is the work of the imagination, as it is when we think of the Lord on the Cross, or of other incidents of the Passion, and picture within ourselves how these things happened. This is something which is happening now; it is absolutely true; and we have no need to go and seek Him somewhere a long way off. For we know that, until the accidents of bread have been consumed by our natural heat, the good Jesus is with us and we should [not lose so good an opportunity but should] come to Him. If, while He went about in the world, the sick were healed merely by touching His clothes, how can we doubt that He will work miracles when He is within us, if we have faith, or that He will give us what we ask of Him since He is in our house? His Majesty is not wont to offer us too little payment for His lodging if we treat Him well."

Shine Jesus, Shine!

Reflections on the Readings

January 3, 2015 - Year C

The Epiphany of the Lord

Dennis S. Hankins

Isaiah 60:1-6

Shine Jesus, Shine!

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,

the glory of the Lord shines upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth,

and thick clouds cover the peoples;

but upon you the LORD shines,

and over you appears his glory.

Nations shall walk by your light,

and kings by your shining radiance.

Raise your eyes and look about;

they all gather and come to you:

your sons come from afar,

         The Church  understands it is the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the gift of God's love in the incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary. By the Holy Spirit we understand that the Baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger is God wrapped in humanity. The same Holy Spirit who came upon Mary led the Wise men by the light of a Star to Him whom John the Baptist would declare to be the Light of the world!  There is no darkness in Christ because the one who reveals Christ, the Holy Spirit, leads us to him who is the way, the truth and the life. I suggest that the life of the believer is one of continual Epiphany, for we are always  growing in grace and  in the knowledge of our Lord and  Savior Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18).    

  Some embrace the anonymity of darkness because their deeds are evil. (John 3:19) But today we rejoice that Christ our light delivers us from darkness and makes us citizens of Christ's Kingdom of Light and Life; even Jesus in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ( Colossians 1:13)  What the world learned 2,000 years ago is that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. John, the Apostle, in his Gospel said this of his Lord: "In Him was life and the life is the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and  the darkness has not overcome him!( John 1: 4 & 5)

As the song proclaims Shine , Jesus, Shine!

And we, too, are invited to let our light shine to the glory of God, the Father.  Amen!

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com