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ANOINTING OF THE SICK
NATURE AND EFFECTS OF
SACRAMENT
The anointing of the sick is
the sacrament, by which the
anointing and the prayer of
the priest brings healing to
the faithful who are ill.
Anointing of the sick is not a
sacrament reserved for those
who are at the point of death.
Rather it is to be
administered to anyone of the
faithful who appears to be in
danger of death due to illness
or old age (Con. on Liturgy,
art. 73.)
This Sacrament consecrates and
sanctifies the state of
illness. It enables the sick
to unite themselves
spiritually with Christ's
paschal mystery, thus
completing in their own flesh
what is lacking in Christ's
suffering (Col. 1, 24). It
gives them the spiritual and
physical strength they need to
bear their ordeal in a manner
befitting their Christian
faith. Besides through this
sacrament the Church prays
that the sick be healed and be
restored to health, if it be
God's will, and that his sins
be forgiven. In short, this
sacrament effects healing both
physical-restoration of health
and spiritual forgiveness of
sins-and sacramental grace
which incorporates him into
the suffering Christ.
When a Christian is brought to
the point of death by sickness
or otherwise, the Church
sustains him on his journey
into eternity by three
sacraments which recall the
sacraments of Christian
initiation: Reconciliation
which acts as another baptism;
the anointing of the sick
which confirms and strengthens
the ailing soul; and above all
the Eucharist as Viaticum.
Thus, conforted and upheld and
united with his Lord, the
Christian comes to his last
passover. Like Christ, he will
pass over through suffering
and death to his Father's
kingdom where he will live for
ever in the company of Christ.
INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENT
We are not told exactly when
Jesus instituted the sacrament
of the anointing of the sick.
But the Church teaches us that
He did in fact institute it,
just as He did the other
sacraments. This teaching is
justified in the light of the
specially benevolent care and
concern Jesus showed in
ministering to the sick. Every
page of the gospel tells us of
the touching kindness and
compassion of Jews towards the
sick. Wherever He went, the
sick and the afflicted crowded
around Him with the request:
“Lord, if you will, you can
make me clean” (Mk. 1, 40).
And Jesus healed them all,
bestowing His grace by words
and gestures (Mt.
4,23-24;15,29-31. Lk.
6,17-19). In fact the ministry
of healing was considered a
distinguishing sign of the
Messianic times (Is. 11, 2; Lk.
4, 18; Mt. 11, 2-5; Lk. 7,
18-22).
Moreover we see Jesus
transmitting the power and
authority of healing to his
disciples (Mt. 10, 1: 7-9) and
training them in that ministry
(Mt. 6, 12-13; Lk. 9,6). All
this can reasonably be taken
as a for shadowing as it were,
of our Lord‘s intention to
institute the Sacrament of the
Anointing of the Sick.
PRACTICE IN THE CHURCH
Faithful to Jesus instructions
and training. the apostles
continued the healing ministry
in the Church as is evident
from the Acts of the Apostles
(Acts. 3,2-9; 5, 15-16; 13,
8-10). The best evidence we
have for the sacramental rite
of anointing and prayer which
was widely practised in the
early church is Letter of St.
James (James 5, 14-15). Here
St-James describes the
physical as well as the
spiritual effects of the
Sacrament.
Later the Church determined
the essentials of the
sacramental rite. viz the
anointing of specific members
of the body with the holy oil
and the formula to be used a t
the anointing of each member.
The minister of the sacrament
is the priest who acts in the
name of the Lord and of the
Church. The recipient must
have reached the age of reason
and must be in the state of
grace. If he is unable to
confess his sins the priest
can still administer to him
the sacrament. In that case
this sacrament will forgive
his sins on condition that he
repents of his sins.
SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
Sickness and suffering seem to
contradict all that is worthy,
all that is desired by man.
And yet no disease, no injury,
no infirmity can ever deprive
the sick of their dignity as
children of God, as brothers
and sisters of Jesus. Those
who are sick live the passion
of Christ and strengthen the
Church by the witness of their
faith. They proclaim by their
patience, their endurance and
their joy the mystery of
Christ’s redeeming power. They
will find the crucified Lord
in the midst of their sickness
and suffering.
By His dying on the cross,
Christ shows us how to make
sense of our suffering. In His
passion we find the
inspiration and strength to
turn away from any temptation
to resentment and grow through
pain into new and everlasting
life.
The human society has the
grave obligation to be
seriously concerned about its
sick members. We must not
neglect our sick and the
elderly. We must not turn away
from the handicapped and the
dying. We must not push them
to the margins of the society.
For, if we do, we will fail to
understand that they represent
an important truth. The sick,
the elderly, the handicapped
and the dying teach us that
weakness is a creative part of
human living, and that
suffering can be embraced with
no loss of dignity.
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