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45 pages

English

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For many years, Elza Spaedy believed what happened to her was her fault. She didn't think she deserved to be loved, but now she knows these were lies the devil wanted her to believe.After her miraculous healing with the help of her pastor, Elza broke free from those lies and is now determined to help other victims of sexual abuse experience their own healing.Freedom Through Christ is an unforgettable walk through the darkness of sexual abuse and into the light of Christ's healing love. Readers will experience Elza's amazing survivor story and find out how and where to get help. She shows them how a return to physical, spiritual, and emotional health comes through charity, forgiveness, and trust, as well as through the sacraments and fellowship of the Church.

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Sociologie, société et politique

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Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	29 mai 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781505116861
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0600€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Freedom Through Christ
FREEDOM THROUGH CHRIST
A Memoir of Healing in the Aftermath of Sexual Abuse
ELZA SPAEDY
TAN Books Gastonia, North Carolina
Freedom Through Christ: A Memoir of Healing in the Aftermath of Sexual Abuse © 2020 Elza Spaedy
All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in critical review, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible—Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
Cover design by Caroline Kiser
Cover image by Michelle Bell
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020932826
ISBN: 978-1-5051-1684-7
Published in the United States by TAN Books PO Box 269 Gastonia, NC 28053 www.TANBooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
To all the millions of victims of sexual abuse throughout the world and, in a special way, to those who still find themselves paralyzed by the grips of the evil one because of this trauma
CONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
1: A Simple Beginning
2: The Wound
3: Finding Healing Through Forgiveness and Charity
4: Finding Healing Through Trust
5: Finding Healing Through Professional Help
6: Finding Healing Through the Church
7: Finding Healing Through Sharing My Story
8: Abuse in the Church
9: Another Trauma That Needs Healing
Conclusion
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
FOREWORD
T here is a general expectation in the public mind that when dealing with spiritual matters, especially those relating to healing, deliverance, and exorcism, the Catholic Church is the logical place to turn for help. Sadly, when I was ordained in 1992, I learned very quickly that the seminary had never prepared me for ministering to those individuals who were in need of this type of spiritual healing.
Thankfully, things have changed since then, and over the years, I have been blessed with numerous opportunities and people who have helped me assist those who come to me in need. This has been especially true within the sacrament of Reconciliation. It is often in confession that the priest comes in contact with humanity in its brokenness. When the penitent comes truly seeking forgiveness and healing, God does amazing and wonderful things.
In this book, Elza Spaedy has shared the depths of her heart. In recognizing her own brokenness and her need for healing, Elza has allowed God to penetrate the depths of her heart and soul. Because God is love, he always calls us to move in gratitude from self to others. While this has been a challenging and somewhat uncertain path for Elza, she has been obedient to God’s call and willingly placed herself at his service.
Secular statistics regarding the various types of abuse present in our society are staggering. Certainly, the media likes to focus on the abuse that has occurred within churches and religious organizations, but in truth, various types of abuse are present at all levels of society. Extended family members and family friends make up a substantial number of incidents that occur. As Elza rightly points out, these instances of abuse leave the victim broken, battered, and often filled with shame and fear.
The devil, in all of his manifestations, is always looking for the cracks through which he can torment the children of men. His most common attack comes in the form of daily temptations. For those who have the aid of the Church’s sacramental life, these daily attacks can be faced and conquered. For those, however, who carry unresolved wounds from trauma, they often need additional help to bring about healing and wholeness.
Scripture teaches us that the devil is the “father of lies” (Jn 8:44). In wounded hearts, he often finds it easy to suggest various lies that perpetuate the pain, the shame, and the misery. God’s desire, however, is our freedom and liberation (cf. Ps 34:18; Jer 29:11). God desires to share with us his abundant life (Jn 10:10).
Each human being, created in the image and likeness of God, is beloved. God calls us into being for communion with himself. His greatest desire is that we come to him and allow him to heal us and make us whole. My hope is that Elza’s story might be a catalyst for others who are in need of the healing touch of God. Her willingness to walk through her own pain and share with her readers the path of healing can be a great blessing for those who still “walk in darkness and the shadow of death” (Lk 1:79) so that they, too, might come to healing and experience new life in Christ.
My prayer for all those who read this book is that through these pages, the witness of one woman’s journey might be a healing balm and a lasting blessing.
Father John Putnam
Pastor of Saint Mark Catholic Church, Huntersville, NC
PREFACE
I dedicated this very painful but much needed book to all the millions of victims of sexual abuse throughout the world and, in a special way, to those who still find themselves paralyzed by the grips of the evil one because of this trauma. I want to be your voice until you find your own through healing. Please know that I pray for each and every one of you daily!
You are God’s beloved children and he loves you more than you can imagine. He desires nothing more than to be your healer and comforter. In the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (11:28–29).
I don’t know about you, but I was so tired of fighting this fight. Christ has already won the battle for me and for you. It’s time for you to surrender everything to God. Please know that you are not alone. Keep your eyes on the cross to help you know and remember that our good Lord always has you in the palms of his loving hands.
INTRODUCTION
J ust over two years ago and prior to my miraculous healing, if you had told me that I would be writing a book about the sexual abuse I suffered as a little girl, I would have said you were crazy. But as fate would have it, here I am, opening up about the most painful and devastating thing that’s ever happened to me.
I was raped.
In the aftermath of this horrific experience, I looked for books that I thought could help. Unfortunately, all I could find then were disturbing stories from victims who had almost “gone crazy” after their trauma, never truly becoming survivors. Most of the stories I read were from people who either didn’t even mention God or, worse, were bitter toward him, seeing him as the one who allowed the evil to happen. I believed in God at this point in my life, but I certainly didn’t know him or his love yet. Still, he gave me the wisdom to stop reading those books. I felt they were not helping me; on the contrary, they were dragging me into an even bigger pit of despair. What I needed then was a story that would give me hope that I could be healed.
Then one day it hit me: why can’t my story be the one that healed me?
While working on my other book, Wisdom From the Women We Love , it became clear to me that God was calling me to write this book about my childhood trauma. I will be forever grateful to the women who agreed to contributing a story to the wisdom book because it was while reading their very personal and sometimes painful stories and witnessing their courage that I myself gained the courage to finally tell my whole story.
It didn’t happen overnight, but soon I began to write, and as I started telling my story, I could hear the Lord telling me to not hold back. It is only by his grace that I was able to delve deep into my pain. And as difficult as it was to lay bare my life and my soul, I also knew that I had to be obedient and do exactly what he was asking of me. After all, he is the one who brought me to this place of freedom. I also felt that I owe it to all those millions of victims out there to be as transparent and open as possible so this book might fulfill its purpose: to let God use me to heal others by sharing my story.
What I have painfully learned in the last few years since speaking out about my abuse is that, unfortunately, my story is far from unique. There are many people all around me who have gone through something similar. Sadly, I also know that not everyone has the same support system that I have had.
I also discovered there are many adults who have gone through this type of trauma as kids and have not yet told anyone, including their own spouses. I can’t even begin to tell you how much my heart aches for those people! I pray the Lord will give them the strength and courage they need to tell their loved ones what they’ve been through. God never meant for us to carry these heavy crosses on our own. We need family and friends who can be there for us. More than ever, I strongly believe that we all need our faith community precisely so we, by first being filled with God’s grace, can help each other carry our crosses.
While I know that my case is one of the worst and most extreme cases of sexual abuse, I also know that sexual abuse comes in many different forms. The boy who was repeatedly touched inappropriately by a family friend; the girl who was groped by someone sitting next to her on a plane while she was sleeping; the college girl forced to get drunk by a guy she thought was her friend, only to be taken advantage of; the adult woman who has to endure all kinds of sexual harassment from her boss for fear of retaliation.
I could go on and on with differen