WHAT CHOICES DO CATHOLICS REGARDING HEALING?

QUESTION! / ANSWER!

What is the role of the Medical Doctor, a Pharmacist, and Homeopathic practice/medicine?

ANSWER! / COMMENT!

There are some Christians who believe that seeking medical attention is demonstrating a lack of faith in God. In the Word-Faith movement, consulting a doctor is often considered a lack of faith that will actually prevent God from healing you. In groups such as Christian Science, seeking the help of physicians is sometimes viewed as a barrier to using the spiritual energy God has given us to heal ourselves. The logic of these viewpoints is sorely lacking. If your car is damaged, do you take it to a mechanic or wait for God to perform a miracle and heal your car? If the plumbing in your house bursts, do you wait for God to plug the leak, or do you call a plumber? God is just as capable of repairing a car or fixing the plumbing as He is of healing our bodies. The fact that God can and does perform miracles of healing does not mean we should always expect a miracle instead of seeking the help of individuals who possess the knowledge and skill to assist us.

There are many verses that speak of using “medical treatments” such as applying bandages (Isaiah 1:6), oil (James 5:14), oil and wine (Luke 10:34), leaves (Ezekiel 47:12), wine (1 Timothy 5:23), and salves, particularly the “balm of Gilead” (Jeremiah 8:22). Also, Luke, the author of Acts and the Gospel of Luke, is referred to by Paul as “the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14).

So, should Christians go to doctors? God created us as intelligent beings and gave us the ability to create medicines and learn how to repair our bodies. There is nothing wrong with applying this knowledge and ability towards physical healing. Doctors can be viewed as God’s gift to us, a means through which God brings healing and recovery. At the same time, our ultimate faith and trust is to be in God, not in doctors or medicine. As with all difficult decisions, we should seek God who promises to give us wisdom when we ask for it (James 1:5).

Sirach 38:1-15 "Honor the Physician with the honor due him, according to your need of him, for the Lord created him; for healing comes from the Most High, and he will receive a gift from the king. The skill of the Physician lifts up his head and in the presence of great men he is admired (So you see, a Doctor is a divinely appointed occupation). The Lord created medicines from the earth and a sensible man will not despise them (This answers your question - Yes, wholistic medicine is an option). Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that his power might be known? And he gave skill to men that he might be glorified in his marvelous works. By them he heals and takes away pain (Again, this refers to a doctor as a divine agent of God); the pharmacist makes of them a compound. His works will never be finished; and from him health is upon the face of the earth (another reference to wholistic medicine). My son when you are sick do not be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you (Yes, the Lord can heal you miraculously, or through wholistic medicine or through a doctor). Give up your faults and direct your hands aright, and cleanse your heart from all sin (Oftentimes, illness and sickness can be a consequence of unrepented unconfessed sin)....And give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; let him not leave you for their is need of him. There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians (again, stressing the importance of doctors), for they too will pray to the Lord that he should grant them success in diagnosis and in healing for the sake of preserving life (This verse presumes that doctors are believers in God). He who sins before his Maker, may he fall into the care of a physician."

The Catholic position on your question is not either a doctor or wholistic medicine. We believe in “both and” - the Lord uses both to heal.

2nd question, Yes our bodies were made perfectly but our bodies are subject to decay and decomposition as a result of sin. Science calls this the ‘2nd Law of Thermodynamics’ which states “all matter tends towards decomposition.” In reference to the human body this is a scientific fact and biblical truth.

“In sickness lies a particular grace. The sick person is helpless, dependent, broken open to God. He is ready to beg. And God can heal him. Grace can find a foothold in every humble plea” (Adrienne Voy Speyr – Mark, Meditations for a Community, Michelle K. Borras, Ignatius Press, San Francisco CA).