Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton giving non-sacramental healing anointing at the end of the event. Photo: Theresia Titus.
By Theresia Titus
Miracle Prayers ministry celebrated its fifth anniversary on 10 October at Osborne Park, inviting Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton and author Samuel Clear for talking sessions.
The ministry was established on 9 October 2013 in collaboration with Fr John Rea, Glendalough Parish Priest Fr Doug Harris and the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community.
The event started with a praise and worship session, which was then followed by some readings.
During his talk, Bishop Sproxton shared his personal experience of miraculous healing that happened back when he was a newly ordained priest for a few years and was assigned to St Mary’s Cathedral.
He was also chaplain at Royal Perth Hospital.
“One evening I was called to the hospital because there was a lady there dying. She was in her 80s. She was dying because something had gone wrong within, something had burst, and her blood became poisoned,” he said.
The woman had septicaemia, causing her organs to fail.
Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton speaking at Miracle Prayers Ministry fifth anniversary. Photo: Theresia Titus.
Bishop Sproxton was informed by the doctors that the woman might not survive through the night.
“Her family was there, a very strong Catholic family, and when I finished giving her the anointing of the sick, she was unconscious, and the family asked if I would pray with them,” he recalled.
“So I said the prayers for the dying and prayed the rosary with them, and then after quite a lengthy time there with them, I went back to the presbytery.”
Bishop Sproxton went back to the ward the next morning only to find that the woman, who was dying the night before, was sitting up and eating breakfast.
“I tell the story not to say that I am a saint, or that I have miraculous powers. I tell the story to highlight the importance of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick; its power.
“But I also want to tell you the story because it made me wonder: why of all the anointing of people that I have done, this old lady had this miraculous cure,” Bishop Sproxton continued.
“Because it was undoubtedly miraculous, it was turning around of her condition in the most dramatic way: her body was no longer poisoned, the organs that were failing had worked properly, all in a few hours.”
Reflecting on his experience, Bishop Sproxton mentioned a couple of reasons why it was the lady who had the miraculous cure.
His first possible reason was that there might have been family members of hers who needed reconciliation.
The second might be that there were hospital staff who did not believe in God, rationalising everything and needing to be confronted with extraordinary signs to have their lives open to the possibility of God and healing beyond medicine.
“Then lastly I thought about myself. Maybe it was time, perhaps by that time after a few years of being a priest, I sort of have developed a relaxed way of looking at things,” he said.
“You’re doing things many times, and you became complacent about it, maybe you don’t realise the wonder of what you’re doing, particularly when it comes to the Sacraments.”
Author Samuel Clear sharing his missionary journey at Miracle Prayers Ministry fifth anniversary. Photo: Theresia Titus.
Bishop Sproxton believes that healing is not merely physical and mental.
He emphasised that “there are other necessary healings for our lives like reconciliation with people or perhaps gaining a deeper understanding of faith”.
“These are the sort of things that I think we need to pray for as well, and value perhaps even more than the physical healing,” he added.
“The physical healing is a great blessing, no one would argue or diminish it, but I think God does it for a reason: it’s a mission.
“Pope Francis talks about us being a mission, each person is a mission to others,” he explained.
Bishop Sproxton concluded his talk by saying how miracles happened in our lives can change us and give “confidence to other people who are perhaps not quite sure what is the way to go: to follow God or to follow paths the world presents”.
Author Samuel Clear, who wrote his book based on his missionary journey to unite the Church around the world, highlighted the importance of prayer.
“The act of bringing God in, the wonderful power of prayer simply because God loves us,” Mr Clear said.
“God loves you, wants to be in communion with you.
“The one encouragement I have is to trust God, it does not mean it will not hurt; my experience, in fact, it usually does, but how beautiful the pain is and the suffering is,” he added.
The event concluded with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic Adoration, non-sacramental healing anointing, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.