Toward a Theology of Healing

The Conference

Die Konferenz

Biblical healing narratives bear witness to the fact that God became man to bring salvation. The fragility of the human body and soul, the experience of loneliness, and the deep wound of sin reveal our inability to be self-sufficient and our being directed toward others—and ultimately toward the Other.

Through suffering, human beings grow beyond themselves and reach out for “salvation” and “help” (cf. Ps 121:1), which they seek in the encounter with others. These encounters do more than just comfort; they call us to communion. Healing occurs when human beings establish relationships— with their neighbors and, ultimately, with Christ himself. This raises the question of how the Lord draws near to us in our suffering: through his word, the communion of believers, and especially in the Church’s sacraments, through which his healing presence is at work. This conference will explore the following aspects: the experience of human woundedness and the cry for healing, the ways in which healing is offered in encountering Christ, and the paradoxical truth that, as someone called to love, a human person remains “vulnerable” and finds true fulfillment in his or her openness to others.

These encounters do more than just comfort; they call us to communion. Healing occurs when human beings establish relationships— with their neighbors and, ultimately, with Christ himself. This raises the question of how the Lord draws near to us in our suffering: through his word, the communion of believers, and especially in the Church’s sacraments, through which his healing presence is at work.

This conference will explore the following aspects: the experience of human woundedness and the cry for healing, the ways in which healing is offered in encountering Christ, and the paradoxical truth that, as someone called to love, a human person remains “vulnerable” and finds true fulfillment in his or her openness to others.