THE HEALING MISSION.

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15359, 6 October 1923, Page 6

THE HEALING MISSION.

SOME IMPRESSIONS. THE SERVICES IN AUCKLAND. The big church started to All quite early.. 'By nine the nave was well Ailed and all the workers in their places. The stewards in the aisles and the white-robed nurses- in the chancel. From under our feet it seemed there came the sound of singing. One thought at once of the early Christians in he subterranean vaults of the catacombs of Rome, celebrating their Eucharist: The singing came from the vestries beneath the sanctuary, where special cases were waiting to be dealt with before the service began. During the time of waiting, whilst hymns were softly played, some stood and sang, others sat, some knelt in prayer, all at their case, children in their Father’s house.

At 10, in came a simple procession. The missioner, vested in cassock and surplice, four priests and the bishop vested in red stoles. The service began quite simply—a hymn, prayers said by the bishop. - Then the missioner, standing at the chancel steps, addressed the vast congregation-. An almost unearthly calm pervaded the church as everyone listened with tense earnestness to the missioner as he simply told them the old, old story of Jesus and His love. “My friends, I can do nothing of myself; were I for one moment to think that I could, I would cease to be an instrument, a channel of God’s grace.” And so-with the irresistable eloquence of sincerity he held the vast audience enthralled. “The same Jesus of Nazareth who had compassion on the multitude is here," he went on, “and if our eyes were opened: we would see Him, His holy angels and the cloud of witnesses. Do you not think He has compassion on us to-day? He is the same Jesus yesterday, to-day and for ever." Spiritual healing is the inflowing of the divine life of Christ. We must be prepared to receive Christ in our hearts; all that is contrary to His spirit must be put away, we must come confessing our sins and with simple faith, the faith of the woman with the issue of blood, ‘lf I may but touch the hem of His garment I shall be whole.’ ” Then he spoke about the life beyond. "The healing of our bodies is a manifestation of the love of God, but He wants

us, our real selves, our souls. We must never forgett that the soul comes first, for whether we like it or not, we all have to die. What of that life beyond? We are all here and now weaving the garment wherewith we will be clothed hereafter. We weave this garment by each thought, word and deed. The cry of the multitude to-day is ‘Sirs, we would see Jesus,’ and the church to reveal Jesus must reveal Him as a healer of soul and body. The ministry of healing must find the same place in the ministry of the church as it did in the ministry of Christ: He healed the whole man, soul and body." As the missioner finished his address' a sigh like the wind rustling in the corn passed over the church. Somehow he had succeeded in obliterating his own personality and revealing the presence of the Man of Galilee. A great stillness reigned as the missioner and the bishop began their ministrations to the cases in cots and chairs who were placed In the sidechapel. With infinite tenderness the servants of Christ moved among their poor broken brethren. First the missioner laid his hands on the head of the sufferer, then the bishop followed giving the church’s blessing. As each patient was dealt with gentle hands moved Ihetn out of the church into rest and refreshment rooms. Then came the laying on of hands at the altar rails. For over two hours a steady stream of suffering humanity moved up to the altar rails, received the blessing, and moved quietly out of church.

Standing in the chancel and by the altar rails were nurses 1 who gently guided and helped the infirm. A wonderful calm rested upon Hie whole scene—no bustle, no haste. The soft tones of the organ playing old familiar hymns, the deep murmur of the voices of the servants of the sanctuary and the gentle rustle of the living stream which flowed without a break up the nave to the altar rails. The most precious memory of the mission is to look on the faces of the patients. A presence was with them, they were filled with that which is not of this world—- “ But what or those who And— Ah this Nor tongue nor pen can shew, The love or Jesus what it is None but His iovecl ones know.”

The lines of St. Bernard best describe the look on those faces. As one bishop said, “No one who brought anything went empty away.” Those who brought the oblation of body and soul and spirit and laid it at the feet of Jesus were indeed “filled witli good things. In the Refreshment Room. In the parish hall, which had been beautifully decorated and arranged as a large drawing-room, one saw another side of the mission. The babble of chattering on every side of men and women and children demonstrating to

their loved ones the wonder of God’s love and power. Things were heard which took us back to the New Testament records. One dear old lady who had never heard since she was nine years old, come into the refreshment room from Hie church stone-deaf. After she had finished her tea she beamed on the workers and departed making signs of farewell. Not long after she was back again, beside herself with joy—on her way home her hearing had returned I The bishop summed it all up in one short saying: "If this is not Christ's work, I do not know what is!”