Anointing of the Sick
Everybody’s pain is different. We thought over and over why does God allow suffering? God allows suffering because He always brings some greater good out of it. Always.
The Bible is full of stories of good coming out of difficult or hopeless situations.
King Hezekiah said of such an experience: “Lord... Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.” (Isaiah 38:16-17). And King David said, “It was good for me to be afflicted... You are good, O Lord, and what You do is good.” (Psalm 119:68,71).
Now here’s a famous true story that illustrates this very well. See if you can identify these characters before I tell their names. There was once a teenager who was a total brat. His mother, who was trying to raise him alone, couldn’t control him at all. She wanted to raise him to be a good Christian, but he was just a hellion. Whenever she asked him to do something, he did the opposite. They fought all the time. One time she even paid for a boat trip to Italy for both of them since she thought that a nice pleasant vacation would be a bonding experience. But when they disembarked in Italy, the young man told his mother, “Wait here, I’ll be right back” and then unbeknownst to her he got right back on the boat and sailed home, leaving her alone in Italy. She was deeply hurt, but she didn’t stop loving her son. He even went so far as to shack up with his girlfriend and have a child without getting married, which greatly upset the young man’s mother, but instead of disowning him, she invited him to move into her house, with his girlfriend and their child! You see, she realized that her anguish had a purpose. Most ordinary people would never have known, but she was no ordinary person. She was a saint. Matter of fact, today is her feast day: Saint Monica, the famous mother of that famous wayward son who later converted and changed his ways and became another famous saint: Saint Augustine.
The bad times did not deter Saint Monica from doing what she knew ought to be done Why do bad times happen? Because God loves us.: tirelessly striving to bring her son to know God. Remember St Paul’s words: “Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord, nor lose heart when he reproves you. For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.” short fable entitled, ‘Feeding the Beast. one fine morning the residents of a small village woke to find a very big but not unfriendly beast well settled in the centre of their small town and ordinary lives. Being by nature trusting and kind, the people repressed fear and welcomed the beast. In spite of its enormous height and girth, and the mass of its settled flesh, the beast posed no threats. All he did, in the most matter-of-fact way, was say, “Feed me.” The villagers complied. Upon devouring what he had been fed, he simply repeated his demand, without inflection, “Feed me.” Eventually, without vote or complaint, feeding the beast came to be what the village was about.
King Hezekiah was going to die. Notice the imagery Isaiah paints of this man at this moment:
"Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah, and facing the wall, prayed to God."
- in humility, he faces his God and prays.
And what is his prayer:
- he begs of his God for more time.
- he reminds his God of how he has lived
"faithful in your presence and lived out of a heart that was totally yours."
‘A heart that was totally yours’ - Philip reminded us on our first day that our heart cannot be totally God’s if the space in our heart has become filled with all sorts of other things and people, leaving little or no room for God.
Would we, in our prayers, be able to say to God that we have lived out of a heart that was totally God’s?
And then Isaiah tells us that the king wept as he prayed - he wept painful tears. And we have heard some pain, and possibly felt the pain of these past two weeks.
If these past two weeks have been lived as an intellectual exercise, we haven’t touched the heart of being brother yet!
And God heard Hezekiah’s prayer: "Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll add 15 years to your life." 15 years! Not life forever for your kingdom, just 15 years. But God was giving him a new beginning.
We have been given a window of opportunity like Hezekiah - to move forward in North America. Today’s Gospel tells us that the law - our restructuring process and our declaration of intent that we have committed ourselves to - was made for us. We are not subject to things written in stone. We have the freedom. We are the ones who will create a new and common future for mission that transforms our hearts and minds - if we want to. There is a quote from TS Eliot that expresses the challenge for us. "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
Hezekiah’s story continues in today’s response, also from Isaiah 38:
"this body I inhabit is taken down and packed away like a camper’s tent. Like a weaver, I’ve rolled up the carpet of my life as God cuts me free of the loom."
But there is still hope, there is hope of new life, of resurrection.
"Yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive - fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life."
A fresh infusion of life! Something that we can hope for.
Dear brothers and sisters never give up our hope. Our trust in Jesus. Our God had raised Lazarus after four days after his death. He our loving God who cares about us. Never give up. Hold on to him.
Isaiah 49:15, 16 asking us “can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See upon my palms of my hands I have written your name.”
What more we can ask from God my dear brothers and sisters, He is promising that He will be always there for us. In Isaiah 41:10 we read “Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice.”
In Psalm 147:3 HEA SAYS THAT “He heals the brokenhearted, binds up their wounds.”

"He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two.... They anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them" (see Mark 6:7-13). Our mission as Church is to do what Jesus did. And on nearly every page of the Gospels we read of Jesus' concern for the sick. Healing was essential to the mission of the disciples. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Church continued to be a sacrament of healing: "Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven" (James 5: 14-15).
If I asked you to close your eyes and picture the Sacrament of Anointing, what image would come to your mind? I think many Catholics would picture a priest standing at a hospital bedside. The Anointing of the Sick is the sacrament by which Christ comforts and strengthens those who are dangerously ill due to sickness, injury, or old age. (1499, 1511, 1520)
Don’t think of "sickness" exclusively in terms of bodily illness. There might be serious illnesses whose principal causes or manifestations were not physical. We should realize the holistic unity of body, soul and spirit. Today we are all aware that tensions, fear and anxiety about the future affect not only our mind but our body as well. These illnesses can be serious. They can move us to ask for the healing touch of Christ in the Sacrament of Anointing.
Sacraments are acts of faith; they grace the whole person—body, soul and spirit. The blessing over the oil for anointing asks God to "send the power of your Holy Spirit, the Consoler, into this precious oil. Make this oil a remedy for all who are anointed with it; heal them in body, in soul and in spirit, and deliver them from every affliction" (Pastoral Care of the Sick, #123).
Does it work? And I always answer by saying yes. In my experience with this sacrament as a priest, healing always takes place. That healing, of course, is not restricted to mere physical healing.
When our attention is directed toward physical illness, it is natural to think of the effects of the sacrament in terms of physical healing. Sacraments, however, are celebrations of faith, expressions of who we are before God. This understanding of sacrament, together with the realization that we are more than our physical body, has led us to look again at the effects of the Sacrament of Anointing.
The Second Vatican Council has reminded us: "The purpose of the sacraments is to make people holy, to build up the Body of Christ and finally to give worship to God" (Liturgy, #59). The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick accomplishes this by helping us gain insight into the religious meaning of human suffering.
As the Catechism says, "Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn. By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick" (#1506).
What does this new outlook involve? It helps us understand what St. Paul meant when he said: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church..." (Col 1:24).
It also sheds light on what St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians: " '[P]ower is made perfect in weakness.' I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me" (12:9). In the sacrament, the sick come to see that "Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing" (Catechism, #1506).
In the sacrament we pray that the sick be healed in body, in soul and in spirit. God alone knows what kind of healing the sick need most: that a wound be healed; that a fear turn to confidence; that loneliness be embraced by the support of a praying community; that confusion in the face of all the whys—why me, why suffering, why now—turn to insight.
The Sacrament of Anointing does not remove the mystery of human suffering. Yet its celebration gives us a window into the mystery of a loving God. Our loving God raises up the crucified Son to display his victorious wounds, sitting triumphant at the Father's right hand.
Introductory Rite
Minister:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
R. Amen.
Sprinkling with Holy Water
Minister:
The Lord is our shepherd and leads us to streams of living water.
Instruction
My dear friends, we are gathered here in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who is present among us. As the gospels relate, the sick came to him for healing; moreover, he loves us so much that he died for our sake. Through the apostle James, he commanded us: "Are there any who are sick among you? Let them send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick persons, and the Lord will raise them up; and if they have committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven them."Let us therefore commend our sick brothers/sisters to the grace and power of Christ, that he may save them and raise them up.
Penitential Rite
My brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves for this holy anointing, let us call to mind our sins.
After a brief period of silence, the penitential rite continues, using one of the following:
Lord Jesus, you healed the sick:
Lord have mercy.
R. Lord have mercy
Lord Jesus, you forgave sinners:
Christ have mercy.
R. Christ have mercy
Lord Jesus, you give us yourself to heal us and bring us strength:
Lord have mercy.
R. Lord have mercy
Liturgy of the Word
Mark 2:1-12
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
Reflection:- Man’s deepest need is not for fairness, but for forgiveness. Forgiveness is the power to liberate from past sin and restore to an individual a sense of self-worth. Forgiveness is the power to deal with justifiable guilt, not by ignoring it, but by eliminating it. Forgiveness is a cool drink of water to a dry and parched tongue. It is the medicine which heals us at the deepest level of our being. We all need forgiveness.
While we have the power to forgive others, we need to be forgiven ourselves. And we need to be forgiven by one who has the authority to forgive. Good friends who mean well may say, "Don’t worry about it," but our sin is not against them. The Bible teaches that sin is against God. When David had sinned by taking Bathsheba and having her husband killed, he cried out, in Psalm 51, "Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned." (v. 4a) Though we may sin against people, sin ultimately is against God. And while we need the forgiveness of people, we ultimately need the forgiveness of God. Only God has the authority to forgive sins.
Many say that they love the Lord. But if we have a commitment to Christ, it would show by what we do visibly. Many folks write their own rules about commitment. They say they love the Lord. They say in their heart they love Jesus. Yet, they are not faithful to His Church, but they still claim to love Him. They hold ill feelings in their heart towards people, but they say they love Him. They don’t tithe, but they say they really love the Lord and everything they have is His. I don’t believe it – not for one minute. It’s just simply a lie. You’re deceiving yourself. If you really love Jesus, you will be faithful to His Church. If you really love Jesus, you will forgive your brother and sister. If you really love Jesus, you’ll tithe. If you love Jesus, you’ll do right. If you love Jesus, you’ll live by His Word. It’s high time we spoke the truth to one another. The world looks at the Church and sees so-called Christians professing to love the Lord, yet not living for Him. And they call that kind of person a hypocrite. Do you know they are right? It’s time we told the truth. If we say we love God and don’t follow Him, we are hypocrites. If we love Jesus, it will show in the way we live our lives. True discipleship is our love being manifested in the visible commitments we have to Christ.
Liturgy of Anointing
Litany
My brothers and sisters, in our prayer of faith let us appeal to God for all of us.
Come and strengthen him/her through this holy anointing: Lord, have mercy.
R. Lord, have mercy
Free him/her from all harm: Lord, have mercy
R. Lord, have mercy
Free him/her from sin and all temptation: Lord, have mercy.
R. Lord, have mercy
Relieve the sufferings of all sick [here present]: Lord, have mercy.
R. Lord, have mercy
Assist all those dedicated to the care of the sick: Lord, have mercy.
R. Lord, have mercy
Give life and health to our brothers/sisters on whom we lay our hands in your name: Lord, have mercy.
R. Lord, have mercy
Laying on of Hands
In silence, the priest lays hands on the head of the sick person
Prayer over the Oils
Praise to you, God, the almighty Father.
You sent your Son to live among us
and to bring us salvation.
R. Blessed be God who heals us in Christ.
Praise to you, God, the only-begotten Son. You humbled yourself to share in our humanity and you heal our infirmities.
R. Blessed be God who heals us in Christ.
Praise to you, God, the Holy Spirit, the Consoler.
Your unfailing power give us strength in our body weakness.
R. Blessed be God who heals us in Christ.
God of mercy,
ease the sufferings and comfort the weakness of your servant N.,
whom the Church anoints with this holy oil.
We ask this through Christ our Lord
R. Amen
Anointing
First he anoints the forehead saying:
Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. R. Amen
Then he anoints the hands, saying:
May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.
R. Amen
The Lord's Prayer
Now let us pray to God as our Lord Jesus Christ taught us:
All: Our Father ...
Prayer after Anointing
Father in heaven. through this holy anointing grant them comfort in their suffering When they is afraid, give them courage, when afflicted, give them patience, when dejected, afford them hope, and when alone, assure them of the support of your holy people. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
Benediction