Catholic priest recommends confession and prayer to release stress

Fr. Brancker speaking at the My 13 ‘Resilience Through Complementary Therapies’ educational conference

Dominicans are being encouraged to use confession and prayer to help manage the damaging effects of stress on the human body.

Parish Priest of Grand Bay, Father Brancker John made the case for that approach while speaking at the ‘Resilience Through Complementary Therapies’ educational conference which was organized by the Dominica Nurses Association (DNA) and Department of Nursing of All Saints University. 

“Stress is one of the number one killers of the human body, if not the number one killer of the human body. Stress impacts the body in all kind of ways and can cause the parts of the body to malfunction,” Fr. John said. “Our faults, our wrong doings can cause stress and if we walk around with that for a long period of time can you imagine what that will do to the human body? Something as fragile as the human body? It will destroy it.”

He continued, “And the word tells us to get rid of this and how do we get rid of faults and our wrong doings? – by confession, by releasing it. We call it sometimes therapy…to free yourself from what ills you spiritually, to release from your body and your soul what is killing you.” 

Fr John went on to say, “Sometimes our challenges at home can cause us undue stress in the work place; can make life very difficult for us in the work place. And when we come to work, we have all kinds of things on our mind except what we are supposed to be doing.”

He recommends that one engages in prayer as the “first priority” before beginning work.

“Before we do what we do as professionals, invite the ultimate Healer to take over and I’m asking you before you begin, pray and allow the Lord to lead your work, understanding that all healing comes from God. And if we haven’t healed ourselves, it is difficult for us to bring healing to somebody else. We cannot give what we do not have,” the Catholic clergyman advised.

He said healing should be holistic – spiritually, physically and complete with the soul.

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32 Comments

  1. Wesleyman
    May 20, 2019

    Not covering your sins means, confessing your sins to God and seeking forgiveness from the people whom you have wronged. For far too long, the Catholic church has used them scam, to find out where people are vulnerable and this is how they are able to prey on the innocent. People it is time you recognize that God is waiting for you to confess to him, the Bible says, Jesus is our mediator, “father” John needs to confess his sins just like each of us, stop confessing to people who need confession themselves, Go to Christ, “He is faithful and just to forgive you from your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 20, 2019

      There was a lady from Wesley, who once worked on the Londonderry Estate, once in a while she told me she would take two dry coconut, home. She told me she went and confess to a priest name Vizannou; Sucker might be dead now or he is over a hundred years old now.

      The lady in question died at age 103 years old: Frobel Laville owned the Estate in the 1950’s up to the time when Edison James and the UWP acquired it. 

      Anyway, the lady told me, one day Laville told her “you are one of the most honest person working on my Estate; you are not a thief, you only take two dry coconut once in a while.”

      The lady told me the only person she told how she took two dry coconut from the Estate was the priest!

      I do not know how old you are Wesleyman, but that woman was my grandmother the woman you might know as Ma John.

      The priest told Laville!

  2. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    May 19, 2019

    Let me say this to all of you nameless faceless  uneducated ignorant idiots who running your mouths about plagiarism; I challenge any one of you to write your name on DNO followed with anything you all claimed I plagiarized verbatim.
    Being jealous of me and my academics will not help any of you!
    The only thing jealousy accomplishes is shorten peoples life; to be jealous of me will cause the same thing which I detailed “stress.”
    Envying others for what they possess causes stress too!
    Don’t try to be like me because none of you can; you all are beneath me; but as everything else that is the way Dominicans are, if it is not “me” it can’t be him.

    I been dealing with scums for as long as I can remember when I wrote on Cakafet, you all told Fred White to ban me from his site. 

     I built my own site; when I built it hell broke loose you all wrote and told http://Yvonnedods.com host am a thief

    • Psudado Alano-Sdod Maletek
      May 20, 2019

      Ok ok we get it, you boast you’ve been banned from numerous sites, you don’t plagarise(ize) you only cut&paste. Lol lol

  3. Dominican
    May 19, 2019

    Father Brancker, the catholic church is hardly a democratic institution. However, the Vatican is a sovereign state, the only church that I know to have this status. In my humble opinion confession is a psychological means to control its folowers. It are the priests, who are traditionally the custodians of their parisioners’ secret wrongdoings and that gave them enormous power, which I submit can be, and have been used for gentle blackmail. I am a catholic but for this reason I do not frequent the confessional.

  4. Badbaje
    May 19, 2019

    While Catholic priests “recommends confession and prayer to release stress” priests and leaders of the catholic and other faiths are to take out their stress on the young and innocent children by molesting, raping, and committing other offenses against them.

    Let us hear what you would say to your fellow “religious leaders” about their stress and what you recommend they do about it. Oh I forgot, people are to do as those leaders say, not as they do!

    Shame, shame, shame and more shame on you and yours!

  5. Joanne Vidal
    May 18, 2019

    Thank you Rev Brancker John. Your words are very true! Proverbs 28 : 13 says “He that covers his sins will not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” We are all different and our experiences are unique. While there may be some people who may not need to confess, there who those who do. For those who do need to confess, It is very important to have someone who is trusted to speak to. This trusted person could be a spiritual leader, professional, teacher, friend or someone who can be trusted. It is also very important to pray as well. This should be encouraged in our society – our homes, churches, schools, communities. May God continue to bless, keep & guide you. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

    • Wesleyman
      May 20, 2019

      Not covering your sins means, confessing your sins to God and seeking forgiveness from the people whom you have wronged. For far too long, the Catholic church has used them scam, to find out where people are vulnerable and this is how they are able to prey on the innocent. People it is time you recognize that God is waiting for you to confess to him, the Bible says, Jesus is our mediator, “father” John needs to confess his sins just like each of us, stop confessing to people who need confession themselves, Go to Christ, “He is faithful and just to forgive you from your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”

  6. Former SMA pupil
    May 18, 2019

    We as black ppl need to put down the white man’s bible. During slavery certain passages were removed to prevent rebellion from captivity. The white man created the bible and even the image of Jesus Christ is false. Read up on Cesarè Borgia, the Council of Nicea, the 40 principles of Ma’at, etc to get a better understanding of how this book that we blindly follow now but only through forgetting the brutality, suffering and deaths of our ancestors that we worship a deity in the image of our captors. By doing so we betray our ancestors to appease the white man who slaughtered them. Lest we not forget

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 19, 2019

      You  did not learn when you attended SMA: You should be ashamed of yourself for being so foolish!
      The Bible is not “the white man Bible” it the written word of God!
      “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.
      2. The same was in the beginning  with God.
      3. All things were made by him; and without him was was not any thing made that was made.
      4. In him was life; and the life was the light men.” (John 1, 2, 3, 4).

      As far as I know and can certainly prove scientifically; every ethnic grope of people derived from black people.

      Life itself began in Namibia in Africa, we know the Garden of Eden was at a place in Ethiopia; needless to say more.

      Except to tell you the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) found in every human alive was found in Eve, the oldest exoskeleton found on the continent of Africa!

      The Word is Jesus Christ: God himself!

  7. Lost-but-Found
    May 17, 2019

    Sir, have you considered discarding the collar around your neck which may be restriction oxygen flow to your head and causing you not to understand The Most High’s words as intended?

    Why waste precious time repeating and pushing dogma that is not scripturally grounded. The mother of all harlots has done a comprehensive job in leading the sheep astray. Why continue to be immersed in an adulterated religion which is adorned with pagan trimmings? I implore you to be like the Bereans and search the Word to prove and test everything I say. Be sure to give credence to the Torah as a foundational source. Your spiritual life depends on it.

    Unfortunately a large multitude continue to stumble in darkness, even at the tragic risk of perishing without knowing who they are or whose they are (Deut. 28).

    Do understand that I am not here to judge you or anyone else. My message is being shared in love, humility and the full acknowledgement that I am really Lost-but-Found.

  8. Dora
    May 17, 2019

    The bible say confess your sins to no man. People business you want to know man? and take it to make a calypso?
    hmmm.. will and come again Branker.

  9. Priest
    May 17, 2019

    Oh oh Brakes want to get some more beff, here u go: Bless me fadda for I have sinned. Fadda I steal my modda sugar, I steel her Ice pop in de frige, fadda I covett my naybor’s wife. Do I say 3 haily Mary and 2 our fadda?

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 17, 2019

      When I was a little boy they they claim they made me make first communion, than at twelve they had a another ritual they call conformation!
      So, grandmother told me I have to go and confess my sins to some priest, I asks her how do people confess; she told me anything bad that I do I must tell the priest; so I went.

        After the priest made some sort of stupid sign believe to be the sign of the cross; and told me to tell him my sins, I told the fool how I screwed the hell out of girl!

      It was all a self  imaginary lie:

      Hahahahahahahahah!

      I did not have any sexual intercourse with a woman until I was seduced between the age of seventeen and eighteen years old!

      Then he made some more stupid sign, and told me to go and say three times hale Mary for my sins of having sex with a girl!

      These people are full of crap!

  10. May 16, 2019

    The apostle Paul advised us: “Do not be conformed to the World but be transformed by the “renewing of your mind” so that you will know what is the good, acceptable and perfect Will of God”

    The fact that man is conformed to the Laws of the World is the reason for the stress that builds up in us with the intentions of destroying us both mentally and physically.

    Our minds must enter its process of renewal; for we are born in the body with a mind in its carnal state, a condition which can only receive the seeds of our human or natural senses good and bad-those are the fruits in us, and around us, destroying everyone that walk their paths.

    That is the reason Jesus said: “Those I love, I will rebuke and chasten” Jesus is telling us that our mind will need training and discipline, to learn to respond to the Laws of the Spirit where Life belong. That Life is Love with the neon beams of Light in Spirit and in Truth–the body is dead without that Life.

  11. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    May 16, 2019

    Continue:
    The body reaction to emergency stress is set off by the adrenal medulla.

    The medulla of each adrenal gland is directly connected to the nervous system: when an emergency arises, it pours the hormone epinephrine into the bloodstream.

    This has the effect of speeding up the heart, and raising the blood pressure, emptying glucose supplies swiftly into the blood, and dilating the blood vessels in the muscles to give them immediate use of this energy; at the same time, the pupils of the eyes dilate.

    In Dominica nonsense takes precedence over medical and scientific fact everybody playing doctor, when they do not know squat about what they spewing!

    Preach the word of God if you were called by God, and know his word, leave psychology, and other forms of medicine to people in such practice.

    I shall return with information on psychological stress:

    • Psudado Alano-Sdod Maletek
      May 17, 2019

      Why, why return, dude point taken just move on.

      • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
        May 17, 2019

        People who are shallow, are always contented with halfway measures: I am one who like detail; hence when I am finished my discussion , even a child can benefit from it.

        Now if what I conveyed is beyond your intelligence, and you are not capable to understand you might simply remain quiet rather than using some fictitious pseudo “false name” to prove anything!

        My name is Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque: be informed that knowledge cannot be bought!

        Fill in the blanks!

        • Dods
          May 19, 2019

          My name is Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque: : be informed that knowledge cannot be bought! (Francisco’s quote from above)
          You are right Etienne-Dods Telemaque, it cannot be bought but it can be plagiarized.
          i am sick of this guy, he copies stuff from the internet and paste it onto DNO as if it is his, he does not give credit to the source.
          What a plagiarist
          Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque = Plagiarist

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 17, 2019

      So, here is the conclusion for the moment, though all I wrote is not all I know about stress: Indeed people who live hectic, and productive life can actually be subjected to less stress than those who feels trapped in a limited position with no hope for release, or a sense of accomplishment.
      Diseases most often associated  with a stressful environment are coronary,  and artery disease;  heart attacks, hypertension (high blood pressure), and cancer.
      Studies of laboratory animals have demonstrated  a connection between isolated, and specific stimuli such as electric shock, and separation from mates, and the development of heart disease in such animals.
      However, stressful variables in human environment are nevertheless, much more complex: needless to say stressful human environment can cause heart disease If a person is subjected to life’s stressors;’ confession (accepting) they are stressed out, and pray about it will resolve the problem, and no priest can help them. Psychiatrist…

      • Straight Shooter
        May 19, 2019

        Mr. Telemaque, I can tell by your multiple “War and Peace” type postings and responses that you earned a P.H.D. in Parrotology (excessive talking in layman’s terms).

        Congratulations Bro!!! Your many hours of Wikipedia and Web MD research have served you well.

        • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
          May 19, 2019

          Whoever you are, be informed I do not have a Ph.D. in anything, I never studied to earn any such title, I did not buy any such title.
          I do not wish buy any such nor any honorary Ph. D’s  if I ever need a Ph. D; I will return to medical school.

          I majored in Electronic & Electronic Engineering: I earned an AS in Electronics Engineering; and a BS in Electrical Engineering. 

          Followed by an BS in the field of Electrical Engineering.I also earned an AA in the Liberal Arts.

          I  majored in Health Science, that is what people do to study medicine when they wish to become a medical doctor okay!

          For your information, my academics derived out of both college and university.

          My education did not come via Google and a smart phone; I’m all intellectual you see!

          …………..

          • Psudado Alano-Sdod Maletek
            May 20, 2019

            That proves some schools will give anyone a pass regardless of their ability to read and comprehend, yet u unhappy they gave your boy Skero one. :lol:
            We can tell by the way you express thoughts that you must’av slept thru class, the field of Engineering is way above your level my fren.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Zab
      May 18, 2019

      Yes Francisco you “will return with more information on psychological stress” after you plagiarize them. Mr. Copy and paste.

      • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
        May 19, 2019

        If you had a name and something I could levy, and take it away from you when you cannot pay what the court would award for damages I would sue you for libel!
        No name no warrant, but that’s the traits of people who are scums of the earth!

        Dominica will always be a place where people are getting sued to pay for their tongue! 

  12. Word to the Wise
    May 16, 2019

    Mr. John, I am no longer a believer, practitioner or subscriber of any religion. Thanks to the unmerited favor and grace of the Most High, I was rescued from the cloak of darkness and am committed to walking out my Father’s laws, commandments and statutes in spirit and in truth. Like all fallible humans, I continue to fall short and miss the mark.

    Though qualified counselors can play a pivotal role in helping one to navigate through this challenging life and sin-filled world, we thankfully have open door access to commune with the Father.

    No intermediary is required for what should be a one-on-one, personal relationship with Our Father who was gracious to teach us how to pray in Matthew 6:6-13.

  13. J.John-Charles
    May 16, 2019

    To get rid of our faults and wrong doings,we confess.To me, this is a blank statement.Confess to whom? to what? a graven image? a priest, or to God.?
    The apostle Peter wrote to those who were already saved, and asked them to cast all their anxiety upon the Lord for He cares for them. 1 Peter 5:7 And it was the Savior Himself who gave this invitation.
    “Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden,and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28.
    Yes,if you have problems,and you are not at peace with your self and others,the Prince of peace is ready and willing to take care of you.Not confession,confession is only for those who are already saved…But if you come to Christ as a lost sinner and say,Lord here I am,a good for nothing please I need to be saved.He will surely take you in …Amen

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 17, 2019

      John boy you got it right you nailed it.
      God never told anybody to go into a box and confess to man; although he told us to confess our sins to one another.
      That is if I offend you in anyway, when I acknowledge I offend you or transgress against you if I am a Christian, I should come to you and acknowledge my wrong, and ask your forgiveness.
      Now sins is nothing more than “breaking of the law, be it the law of man (governmental and State law) or God Laws!
      Matthew 10:32
      Philippians 2:11
      Leviticus 26:40
      1K1 8:33
      Romans 10: 9 
      Romans 14:11
      In every case where we read about confess, or confession, it is about God and his name; not about confessing to no man in religion: Should I go and confess my sins to a homosexual, and one who may have sexually assaulted children; we see that on Television everyday, old priest getting arrested, and sent to jail in America!

  14. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    May 16, 2019

    All baloney that man is talking; if you want your congregation to come and kneel and bow to you a sinful man and give you the history of their life; so be it; but that will not cause stress to vanish, and let say  in the word of God he never told anybody to confess to any roman catholic priest; in order to refute that theory; I will have to write more than one comment.

    There are many kinds of physical stress; however, they can be divided into two principal types, to which the human body reacts in different ways!

    There is  emergency  stress when one finds themselves in a situation that pose any immediate threat: in the case of a near accident in an automobile, a wound or any kind of injury.

    There is also continuing stress, caused by changes in the body during puberty, pregnancy, menopause, acute, and chronic diseases; continuing exposure  to excessive noise, vibration, fumes, chemicals, and or other agents.

    To be continued:

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 17, 2019

      Continue:

      The reaction of the body to continuing stress is even more complex: Again the principal organs are the adrenal glands; nonetheless, after the first phase of alarm, the glands continue to produce a steady supply of hormones that apparently increase the body resistance.

      This is in addition to specific defenses such as the production of antibodies to fight infection.

      If the stress is overwhelming, as in the case of an extensive third-degree burn or any uncontrollable infectious disease, the third phase, exhaustion of the adrenal glands, set in; sometimes with fatal results.

      So, when a man with no medical talks nonsense to sick person about confession and praying to treat street,that man should be looked up

      They are the ones with their stupid religious ideology for years keep Dominica in bondage and poverty, they are play with peoples health.

      Be advise people to confess simple means to admit to something; praying to God for healing is something else!

      God…

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      May 17, 2019

      Psychologic Stress: the emergency response of the body comes into play when a person merely foresees or imagines danger, as well in real emergency situations.
      The  thought of danger, or the vicarious experience of danger in a thrilling story, such as in a dramatic play , or film, may be enough to cause the muscles to tense, and start the heart pounding.
      Psychologic situations can have the same effect; one of the best known examples of such is what is known as stage fright; often characterized by tensed muscles, and an increased heart rate.
      At times the person may not even be aware of the unconscious thought that produces the dramatic reaction. In recent years there have been numerous attempts to find a direct correlation between certain diseases and a stressful environment, or a personality type that respond to the environment in certain way.
      Nevertheless;  while inappropriate activity, and an hectic lifestyle can cause illnesses in some  persons, a workaholic, and productive…

      • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
        May 17, 2019

        The conclusion should follow the above: So, here is the conclusion for the moment, though all I wrote is not all I know about stress: Indeed people who live hectic, and productive life can actually be subjected to less stress than those who feels trapped in a limited position with no hope for release, or a sense of accomplishment. Diseases most often associated  with a stressful environment are coronary,  and artery disease;  heart attacks, hypertension (high blood pressure), and cancer.
        Studies of laboratory animals have demonstrated  a connection between isolated, and specific stimuli such as electric shock, and separation from mates, and the development of heart disease in such animals. However, stressful variables in human environment are nevertheless, much more complex: needless to say stressful human environment can cause heart disease If a person is subjected to life’s stressors’ confession (accepting) they are stressed out, and pray about it will not resolve the problem.

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