The Wet Suitcase: A couple of weeks ago, one of my sisters was headed to California to visit our Aunt and Uncle in Sacramento. The plan was for her to leave her car at the Parish Center and I would drive her to the airport. When she arrived at the Parish Center she started to gather her belongings and put them in my car. When I went to pick up her suitcase, I noticed it was wet. “Okay,” I thought to myself, “this doesn’t sound like a good story but I’ll ask anyway.” “Jackie, did you know your suitcase was wet?” She proceeded to tell me that after she locked her condo door and started to walk toward her car that very early morning, the sprinklers came on getting her and her suitcase. Her condo is among a series of condos with a long walkway to the parking area. When the sprinklers came on she was halfway between her condo and car and there was no easy way to escape the water. The whole story sounded like a scene from “I Love Lucy.” As she got into my car and closed the door, I could hear her say, “And people think we make this stuff up!”
“Oh no, I hope you’re not coming to visit us!” Such is the greeting I sometimes get while walking through the halls of a hospital. “Oh God, did he die?” And I’ll think to myself, “No, his Son did though.” Even though Pope Paul VI instituted the current format and structure of the Anointing of the Sick in 1972 (yes, 38 years ago) as a result of discussions at the Second Vatican Council, many people still connect the Anointing of the Sick with “Last Rites” or “Extreme Unction” as it was once called. While I might expect people more advanced in age to equate the two, I am surprised how many young people still see the Sacrament of the Sick as a sign that “death is near.” I’ve been in situations where a family has opposed the idea of me anointing a family member because they feared it would jinx them somehow. They certainly wanted me to pray with their loved one, but my oil stock was to stay far away!
The Sacrament of the Sick: In mid-September we will celebrate our annual Mass of Anointing. In anticipation of that liturgy, I thought I would start a new brief series on the anointing of the sick. As I have learned over the years there tends to be confusion about the anointing of the sick and how often a person may be anointed. So, we will look at the rite’s history, its current structure and offer some practical guidelines regarding when to receive the sacrament. Most of my material will come from the ritual itself and from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Constitution Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick (Sacram unctionem infirmorum) states, “The Catholic Church professes and teaches that the anointing of the sick is one of the seven sacraments of the New Testament, that it was instituted by Christ our Lord, ‘intimated in Mark (6:13) and through James, the apostle and brother of the Lord, recommended to the faithful and made known: ‘Is there anyone sick among you? Let him send for the presbyters of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, they will be forgiven him’ (James 5:14-15).’”
Pope Paul VI goes on to say there is evidence that the anointing of the sick has been a part of the Church’s liturgical tradition from ancient times. The Church’s actual teaching on the anointing of the sick can be seen primarily in the ecumenical councils of Florence (1438-1445), Trent (1545-1563) and especially Vatican II (1962-1965). The Council of Florence described the essential elements of the sacrament while the Council of Trent declared it was of divine institution and offered a thorough teaching on the scriptural reference from the letter of St. James. The same Council, according to Pope Paul VI, “also declared that these words of the apostle state with sufficient clarity that ‘this anointing is to be given to the sick, especially those who are in such serious condition as to appear to have reached the end of their life. For this reason it is also called the sacrament of the dying.’” Hence we have the foundation for the sacrament of the anointing of the sick also being known as the “last rites” or “extreme unction.”
Vatican II, in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctus Concilium, (no. 73-75), indicated that “anointing of the sick” is the more proper name for this sacrament. It further indicated that the sacrament is not only for those who are at the point of death. The Council called for the number of anointings to be adapted to the occasion and that the prayers which belong to the rite of anointing were to be revised. Pope Paul VI established that the following was to be observed in the Roman Rite: “The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill by anointing them on the forehead and hands with duly blessed oil – pressed from olives or from other plants – saying, only once: ‘Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.’”
The Catechism of the Catholic Churchoffers some great insights into the sacrament’s foundation in the economy of salvation. It states that illness and suffering have always been one of the great problems which confront human life. In our illness and sufferings we experience powerlessness, limitation and our finitude. Illness can lead to anguish, despair and sometimes anger toward God. Amazingly though, an illness can provoke a search for God (as one tries to figure out why God would bring about an illness) and ultimately a return to him (as one turns to him for strength and consolation in the midst of the illness). In the Old Testament we find that illness often becomes a way to conversion. The Old Testament person often laments the illness before God but also turns to God for healing. The prophet Isaiah suggests (and this becomes important for the New Testament’s understanding of illness) that suffering can have a redemptive value. The redemptive value of illness and suffering is something I will reflect on later in this series.
Next week: Christ’s compassion toward the sick and his many healings!
Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers.
In Christ,
gmb
gmb@sjascs.org
