Father Burke Masters, the Catholic chaplain of the Chicago Cubs, recently visited St. Mary Mokena to give a three-day retreat on healing.
Inspired by the book, “Be Healed” by Dr. Bob Schuchts, the retreat aimed to help people experience the love of the Holy Trinity, become aware of how their wounds affect their lives, and develop practical ways to find healing and freedom.
Mission Day 1
On the first night of the mission, Father Masters focused on building a relationship with God, forming one’s identity in Him, and discovering one’s mission in life. “God loves you and has a great plan for your life. Invest time in your relationship with Him through prayer, Scripture and the Sacraments,” said Father Masters.
Mission Day 2
The second night explored God’s pursuit of all people, despite their sins, and the importance of fixing the root causes of those sins. “Around our wounds, the evil one tries to convince us of identity lies like, ‘You are not lovable,’ said Father Masters. “Then around the lies, we form unhealthy vows like, ‘I will never love again because that hurt too bad.’ He also emphasized the importance of forgiveness, which he defined as “releasing someone from the debt they owe you.”
Mission Day 3
Finally, on the third night, Father Masters discussed how to renounce our sins and embrace the Sacraments of healing. “There are many ways to find healing,” he said. “Grounding ourselves in the secure love of the Holy Trinity is the beginning. Forgiveness plays a key role in healing. Renouncing the lies and vows that we have come to believe about ourselves is another key.”
During each night of the mission, Father Masters also involved audience volunteers in “Visio Divina” activities designed to illustrate the main points of the night. Father Dindo Billote was among the participants.
“The Mission was a time for the Lord to enter our hearts and heal us!” said Father Dindo. “There are core wounds that affect all of us from hurts in our past; Fr. Burke’s Mission helped us unite our suffering to our Triune God and Let the Trinity heal us. Healing means that we can forgive the other which frees us to be more able to love the way we should love our God and neighbor. I felt total love and peace portraying God the Father in the human sculpting exercise. It helped me actuate my pastoral and spiritual fatherhood for my parishioners!”
Those who did not attend Father Burke’s three-night mission can watch the presentations in their entirety in the embedded videos above.
The Mokena Marian 