Nearly 100 people came to St. Peter’s Church in Upper Gullies on April 8th to hear a special talk by Ann Marie Hagen on the Topic: “The Healing Power of Forgiveness.”
Ann Marie was witness to the murder of her father in Kingman’s Cove on the Southern Shore, by a neighbour who was experiencing a Schizophrenic episode, in 1979. The neighbour was committed to the Waterford Hospital in St. John’s, received effective drug treatment, and was eventually released into community housing in 1996. At that time, she met and forgave him, and pledged to be an advocate for him. He passed away in 2016.
Ann Marie’s story was retold on an episode of CBC’s “Land and Sea.”
Her message is very profound, and it speaks loudly to the healing power of forgiveness: how she was able to turn hate into acceptance and forgiveness.
