What are the
most common
congenital
illnesses
nowadays?
Between 5 and
7.9 million
children are
born every year
with congenital
anomalies, which
accounts for
physical or
mental
malformation of
some kind or
both. According
to recent data
from the World
Health
Organisation,
276,000 newborn
babies die every
year in the
first four
months of their
lives because of
congenital
illnesses. The
most common
serious defects
are heart
problems, neural
anomalies and
Down Syndrome.
Congenital
problems can
have a genetic,
infectious or
environmental
origin. We may
inherit those
problems or
acquire them
during
pregnancy, in
the cases of
syphilis,
rubella or
congenital
toxoplasmosis,
or because of
the lack of
vitamins in the
mother. But it
is interesting
to notice that
those anomalies
do not account
for most cases
of neonatal
obits. They
account in fact
for a small
proportion. WHO
figures from
2013 show that
the cause of
death for more
than half of
newborn babies
is either
premature
delivery or
complications
during delivery.
Some illnesses
can be treated,
some can be
controlled, but
others,
especially the
genetic ones,
are
irreversible.
In the most
serious cases,
can we say that
the
complications
are caused by
debts contracted
by our faults in
previous lives?
We have learned
with André
Luiz
in the book,
Evolução
em Dois Mundos (Evolution
in Two Worlds)
that the
disposition of
the chromosomes
during cell
division is
determined
simply by the
presence of the
immortal Spirit.
The Spirit’s
magnetism
attracts of
modifies the
genes, shaping
them according
to what that
Spirit will need
in its next
planned
incarnation in
order to
progress
spiritually. It
is the Spirit,
therefore, who
imprints on the
body’s cells the
genetic code it
needs as a
result of the
choices that
Spirit has made
in the past but
also according
to the tasks and
duties it is
expected to
fulfill in the
next
incarnation. A
great humanist
and benefactor
will require
more attention
in the formation
of his or her
genetic
material. In the
book, Entre a
Terra e o Céu
(Between
Earth and
Heaven)
André
Luiz
explains that
the congenital
illnesses are
always “a
reflection of
the unhappy
position we put
ourselves in in
the past.” The
treatment
required for
them is
reincarnation.
The physical
body is like
some miracle
coal capable of
absorbing the
toxic substances
we accumulate in
our perispirit,
or spiritual
body. To
reincarnate in
an ill body is
in reality a
great blessing,
an intensive
treatment
opportunity for
all of us who
have eternity
ahead of us. But
it is also a
learning
experience for
the whole
family. I
remember that
Camilo, the
spiritual author
of Memórias
de um Suicida (Memories
of a Suicide),
cries when he
sees the old
friend, a
bohemian
intellectual but
also a murderer
and a homicide,
reincarnating
blind, deaf,
mutilated and
orphan in a
shack. He is
then reprimanded
by the spiritual
benefactor, who
points out to
him: “Why do you
see only the
ruins? Do you
forget that he
is an immortal
Spirit who is
destined to get
in tune with the
harmonious
rhythm of
universal good
and justice? You
must bear in
mind that that
reincarnation is
the convenient
treatment for
serious cases
like his, it is
a sublime
surgery that
will lead soon
to his
convalescence…”
What advice do
you have for the
parents of the
children who are
born with such
illnesses?
Nothing happens
by chance and
everything that
happens is for
the best, even
if we cannot
realize that
straight away.
God is our
Father and will
not abandon His
children. In the
most difficult
moments of our
lives, His
presence will
become even more
real. All we
need is to look
up and have
trust in Him,
because he also
has trust in us.
According to
Chico Xavier in
the book
Jesus em Nós
(Jesus in Us),
“Children with
Down Syndrome
are only trusted
to women who
have the
capacity of
loving without
limits.” Jesus
has put his
trust in you, my
brother, my
sister, because
he believes in
your capacity of
overcoming the
problems without
limits, in your
capacity of
loving, of being
an example, but
above all he
designated
angels to help
you in this task
of love.
How can
Spiritism, which
has a more
humane approach,
offer for the
spiritual growth
of those
families?
It helps
understand that
live does not
end with the
death of the
physical body,
that the
imbalances in
our bodies are a
result of a
reshuffle in the
spiritual body,
which is trying
to get
harmonized with
the Law of Love
and that there
is no
punishment, only
the Law of
Action and
Reaction. It
helps accept
illnesses
without anger.
Spiritist books,
and in
particular those
written through
the mediumship
of Chico Xavier,
provide so many
examples that
teach us and
comfort us.
Those books,
added to
prayers, healing
and fraternal
assistance in
Spiritual
Centres, can
give valuable
support to
families in
need. Everything
passes. We
should learn
with Alcíone,
the main
character in
Emmanuel’s book
Renúncia
(Renunciation) .
She passed on to
Jesus the
problems that
could not be
solved on Earth.
