FAMILY TREE HEALING : ARTICLES
by Robert T. Sears, S.J.
Trinitarian Ground of Healing of Families
Since the 1960s therapists have increasingly focused on family systems for healing. Bert Hellinger working with Family Constellations, discovered "laws" of completeness and priority that this article correlates with his five scriptural stages of spiritual/emotional faith development. Jesus' death of the cross restored what God had intended before Adam and Eve sinned. We are born again in Baptism to this new family, but we have to keep choosing Jesus' way to be gradually transformed. The paper was published in The Journal of Christian Healing, Volume 31, #2, Fall/Winter, 2015.
Theology of Prayer as Response to the Creative Love of God
Prayer—traditionally adoration, confession, thanksgiving and petition—develops in different stages:-discursive, contemplative and unitive prayer. It is an ever deeper response to God's creative love in us, forming us in the image of Jesus to do the works of Jesus. This article considers prayer as cooperating with God's plan of salvation to restore our new birth into Jesus' family to be transformed in God's Love, to minister healing with the heart, mind and power of Jesus. The paper was published in The Journal of Christian Healing, Volume 32, #2, Fall/Winter, 2016.
The Cosmo-Theological Concepts of Jacob L. Moreno: Universal Spontaneity-Creativity
Jacob L. Moreno, the founder of Psychodrama and Sociodrama, developed his principles and methods of both fields from role-reversing with God. Working from his initial spiritual experience, this paper first examines the three basic principles of his "God-hypothesis," then shows their relevance for guiding true creativity in everyday life and ultimately for the healing of humanity. This paper relates his view to Christian theology and spirituality to challenge Christians to respond creatively to our ever-changing world situation. The paper was published in The Journal of Christian Healing, Volume 33, #1, Summer, 2017.
Interrupted Love: Healing Addiction through the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Addiction attaches the desire for
God to specific behaviors, things or people. Bill Wilson and AA was a
breakthrough but also limited. Chris Prentiss’ and Arthur Janov showed
that facing primal pain lies at the root of addictions, and the need for
companionship and joy (Jim Wilder) to face that pain. Jesus, with Mary,
carried our primal pain of abandonment on the cross with the resultant
release of joy and community. The article concludes with suggestions for
healing addictions. Published in
The Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 26, # 2,
Fall/Winter, 2010.
Is There a
Scriptural Approach to Mental Health?
Scripture says little directly about
mental illness as we know it today. This article presents five stages
of faith development revealed in Scripture that lead to the image of
Christ and ultimately of God’s own triune love, the source and goal of
all healing. Modern therapies are related to God action in these
stages. This article was published in
The Journal of Christian
Healing, Vol.
24, # 1, Spring/Summer, 2008.
The Trauma of the
Broken Church: Healing Through Ecumenism
This talk deals with the suppressed
trauma of the brokenness of the Christian church which is now “taken for
granted” and largely untreated. Divisions between God’s people can be
traced to Adam and Eve and Israel’s history, but they persist through
Christians’ rejection of Judaism, in the Orthodox/Catholic schism, and
in the Protestant Reformation and consequent splintering of the church.
This article presents a short history of this fragmentation (into some
38,000 Christian denominations today), and the scandal it presents in
face of Jesus’ prayer “that they all may be one…that the world may
believe” (Jn 17:21). It concludes with a prayer of repentance for our
sins and those of our forebears and a prayer that all may cooperate with
Jesus’ prayer for unity. Published in
The Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 24, #2,
Fall/Winter, 2008.
A Theology of Joy and Healing
Joy is essential to healing, yet is often overlooked. This article explores the
foundation of Christian joy in God’s love and Jesus’ teaching of the beatitudes.
It was published in the Journal of Christian
Healing, Vol. 19, #2, Summer, 1997, pp. 3-19. 17 pp.
Healing and
Family Spiritual/Emotional Systems
This foundational article integrates a development theology of the Holy Spirit
with intergenerational family systems therapy of Murray Bowen and Ivan
Boszormenyi-Nagy. Originally published in Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 5, # 1 (1983), pp. 10-23. 14 pp.
Model for
Spiritual Development
This is a shorter introduction to the five stages of spiritual development, with
three cases given to show their applicability. 9pp.
Trinitarian
Love and Male-Female Community
The healed family expresses God’s triune love. That principle is then applied to
five areas: male headship, mutual subordination, separation, celibate
friendships, and growth within relationships. Originally published in
Journal of Christian Healing, Vol. 6,
#1 (1984), pp. 32-39. 8 pp.
Healing the
Gender Wars: A Scriptural View
This article traces male-female relations from Genesis to the New Testament to
show how competition is transformed to insightful collaboration. Each of the
five stages of development is experienced differently (mother, spouse, soul
mate, co-minister, God image) and calls for a different approach to healing. 15 pp.
Jung and
Christianity: An Interpersonal Perspective
This article correlates Jung’s view of shadow, anima/us and God-image that
emerge with individuation with what I have called “individuating faith” in light
of interpersonal Christian stages of development. Originally published in
Journal of Christian Healing, Vol. 12,
#2 (Summer, 1990), pp. 11-19. 9 pp.
Resurrection Spirituality and Healing the Earth
This article presents a theology of resurrection and its importance for earth
healing. It evaluates the “creation-centered approach” of Matthew Fox in light
of a “resurrection-centered approach,” and gives steps for prayer for healing
the earth. Paper given at the Conference of the North American Association of
Christianity and Ecology, 1987, later published in Review for Religious,
Vol. 49, # 2 (Mar./Apr. 1990), pp. 163-177. 10 pp.
A Christian
Approach to Discerning Spiritualities
Christian healing requires discernment. This article develops criteria for
discerning a Christian approach to healing and applies them to three common
approaches: Matthew Fox's Creation-Centered Spirituality, A Course in Miracles
and New Age Spirituality. Originally published in
Journal of Christian
Healing, Vol. 21, # 1 (Spring, 1999), pp. 15-34. 10 pp.
Trinitarian
Love as Ground of the Church
This article gives further theological underpinnings for Trinity as ground of
community. It presents four stages of spiritual development (later expanded to
five) and gives their grounding and theological implications for church
development. Originally published in Theological Studies, Vol. 37 (Dec.
1976), pp. 652-679, 27 pp.. With critique by Roger Haight, SJ and response by R.
Sears, SJ.
Resurrecting the Wounded Community
This article gives stages of community development related to Scott Peck’s four
stages and suggests how ACTheals.org (and similar communities) needs to move beyond
pseudo-community and chaos to acknowledge its shadow side and embrace its
different gifts. Originally published in Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 16, # 4 (Winter, 1994), pp. 3-15.
Theology and Energy Healing
This is a talk for an Association of Christian Therapists Post-Conference Circle
of Inquiry on Energy Healing, Oct, 2002. It considers evidence for several levels
of human energy fields from Barbara Brennan, Richard Gerber, MD and Ewert Cousins
and offers a Christian theological interpretation based on Sears’ stages of
spiritual development. 9 pp.