By Mary Cooney
The Lord really worked in me during the week of Summer School. Through the lectures and seminars I was taught about Charismatic gifts as well as how to forgive and let go of the things that were stopping me from knowing His love. I was able to forgive someone who had really hurt me in the past, and then hand that person over to God to take care of – this letting go really brought me so much closer to God and I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I hadn’t attended Summer School.
On the night of Baptism in the Spirit, I was being prayed with and when I fell in the Spirit, I felt as though I was really falling back into Jesus’ arms, and that He was just lying there with me, showing me how much He loved me and cared about me. I had always known in my head that God loved me, but this was the first time I had really felt it. After I stood up and went to sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I could not stop smiling or giggling!! As I read Song of Songs, I felt like Jesus was sitting right with me, whispering these lovely things in my ear. I’ve never felt so loved, and I was on such a high!
Part two of how God showed me His love was on the Friday evening. I had enjoyed the night session on Mission and Evangelisation but came out really frustrated and angry for some reason. During Supper my friend came to me and said she had her leg healed! One of her legs had been a bit shorter than the other, causing back pain. At the same time, my other friend came to tell me the same thing. Although I was very happy for them, I started to cry because I had terrible back problems due to uneven legs and had been in and out of hospitals, undergone various treatments and attended every healing Mass under the sun, but God hadn’t healed me…
I wondered why these two friends of mine could just get fixed so quickly but I couldn’t! They convinced me to go for healing prayer, and I was scared but excited to see if it could actually work.
I explained my situation and then sat in a way that meant I could clearly see one leg was shorter. Almost as soon as the praying began, one of my friends gasped! She burst into tears and said it was growing! I looked down at my feet and I could clearly see my right leg was getting longer! It was seriously evening up! I sat there, surrounded by awestruck friends watching my leg grow! I was so overwhelmed that I burst into tears and couldn’t stop. I hugged everyone and then fell on my knees, so grateful. God was real and He loved me enough to heal me right in front of my eyes! I stood up and felt taller immediately – it was the most surreal experience of my life and I ran around telling everyone I saw, stopping occasionally to look at my legs, nice and even.
My relationship with Jesus grew so much on Summer School, and it’s now stronger than ever. God is so real and He loves me. Now I feel like I can go out into the world and show them how good God is by sharing my story.
