Leadership
Healing Broken Spirits
by Fr. Tom Welk, c.pp.s., Provincial Council
The woman sitting in front of me (with bullet-proof glass between us)
in the Sedgwick County jail was, obviously, a broken individual. She was
in the jail after being accused of abusing her nearly three-year-old son to
the point of causing his death. Her live-in boyfriend was also there in the
jail. She had asked to see me. He had not.
During our hour-long conversation she shared openly about her past
life. Several times she acknowledged that what she and her boyfriend did
was inexcusable. As she stated, “I know many of the people here claim
that they are innocent of what they are accused of. They claim the charges
are false. My boyfriend and I are guilty of killing our son.” She expressed
honest and sincere remorse about what they had done.
She continued, “We were out of control. We did not know how to dis-
cipline him. We had no parenting skills. We contacted dcf [Department
of Children and Families] for help. We never heard back from them.” (Let
me add by way of comment about this: the Kansas budget was devastated
during the administration of the past governor due to massive tax cuts.
Many social programs in Kansas were cut to the bone to make up for the
revenue shortfall.)
It was not just what this woman shared with me that led me to con-
clude she had gone through some rough times. Her physical appearance
spoke volumes. Two of her front teeth were missing; she had an ugly scar
on her forehead. I did not press her to share any details. What I did share
was this observation, “You impress me as someone having a broken soul.”
I quickly changed my comment to, “You impress me as someone having a
broken spirit.” With that the floodgates opened.
No one can live with a broken spirit. Sad to say, there are many in
our world with broken spirits. They are in desperate need of healing. We
recently celebrated the feast of Pentecost. It is the feast when we are gifted
with a Spirit that is Holy; a Spirit of Wholeness. It is the gift that Jesus
came to bring us. We are not always a holy people. Sin is part and parcel
of our lives. Rather than holy spirits, unholy spirits rule us at times.
Sinfulness is another way to describe brokenness. Though we are
often separated from God, Jesus on the other hand was always in com-
plete union with God. There was no sinfulness, no brokenness in him.
Continuing to provide this ministry of healing was the commission given
the followers of Jesus. As is recorded in the gospel of John: “As the Father
continued on page 5
June 2018 • The New Wine Press • 3