Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sacrament of Healing

Lex grendendi, Lex orandi. Tonight our instructor began by reminding us that to really understand what we are called to believe, we must listen to the prayers of the church. What we pray articulates what the church holds to be true, and we began the class with a prayer in the form of Lexio Devina; repeating it slowly so as to absorb all it had to say to us.

It’s important to pay more attention to the official prayers of the church; really listen and consider what the prayer is saying to us, because at the end we all say “Amen”, which means “So be it". Each of us should be trying to live the values of Jesus Christ as passed down to us by the disciples. His compassion is very evident toward the sick, and His miracles were efficacious signs that God was visiting His people.

In the garden, Jesus was asking for healing that all would be one just as God and Jesus are one. The early church continued His ministry of healing, and in time it became the central action of the church. The churches ministry of caring for the sick is sharing in the healing effort of Jesus. It is our faith that we share in this ministry.

Our instructor, who is a priest, demonstrated an anointing for the sick using one of the students in the class who broke her leg, and is scheduled for more surgery. He asked us to pay special attention to what was said and done during the process. It began with a prayer that referenced baptism, and it continued with a reference to reconciliation.

There are many prayers available to match the specific individuals need. Originally the anointing with oil included all of the senses, including the loins. In the west we’ve adopted a less intrusive form the right, and use the hands to represent all the senses. Nevertheless, eyes, ears, hands, etc. are still commonly blessed depending on the situation. I especially liked the phrase “Under the burden of age" as one of the specific needs that might qualify for an anointing.

The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is celebrated by a priest, and because it includes absolution of sin, a deacon is not permitted to perform this right. Reconciliation is given by God, and it is important to understand that this ministry is celebrated by the people in the church, not just by the priest. Liturgy is the source and summit of all the churches activity, and in the Eucharist we see the continued ministry of Jesus Christ, as when we say “And you my brothers and sisters".

The definition of a sacrament is “an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit”. If the outward sign of God is Jesus then the primary Sacrament of God is Jesus Christ, and the Church is the Sacrament of Christ. Christ is the center and focus of every sacrament and he must be the center of our lives. Sacraments are not magic; Jesus is the one who gives the sacraments their effectiveness.

Sacraments are for the living, but "if in doubt, anoint", is the rule. Even if the person is not healed of their physical affliction, it does not mean that the anointing was ineffective. Sometimes the miracle of anointing is death. One of the students wanted to know if the anointing was performed on one who is unbaptized, asking, “Is it efficacious” meaning is it effective. The answer was, “Yes”. The prisoner on the cross next to Jesus asked, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom”. God’s Grace will provide even if the person is unbaptized.

The subject of reconciliation is sin, and the object of reconciliation is healing. Likewise, the subject of anointing the sick is evil, and the object of anointing is healing. Another student immediately jumped on this “Old Testament” idea that evil is responsible for sickness, and that in turn developed into another interesting discussion.

What we decided, obviously, is that sickness in itself is not good or bad. Sickness may be a sign of a broader evil in the world, but people who are sick are not evil, it’s the sickness that is evil. I appreciated the idea that “guns are not bad any more than bandages are good, it's what people do with them that determines their value”. In the end we agreed that the subject of anointing the sick is suffering, not evil (although it was argued that suffering is a sign of evil in the world which is the result of original sin). The object of the anointing is still healing. The matter of anointing of the sick is oil, blessed by the Bishop, and used by the priest.

Baptism is the sacrament for the forgiveness of sin, and at one point people were not celebrating baptism until near death. Anointing was only used in extremis; and Extreme Unction as it came to be known was no longer the sacrament of healing. To counter human frailty, the Sacrament of Reconciliation became the opportunity to become one with Christ. Baptism is unrepeatable, and at the time it was thought that anointing was unrepeatable. Extreme Unction, or last rights, was combined with penance and viaticum.

Sacraments are signs that do what they say, even if we do not read that sign as affective. They are an outward sign of an inward grace ordained by Jesus Christ by which food is given to the soul. Grace is our share of the loving relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. You can be thought of as a container being part full or part empty of Grace; “Hail Mary full of grace”. Grace is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, saying to us, “I love you so much” that this powerful offer from God cannot be refused. If we are not living an intentional Christian life then we are failing.

In the Sacrament of Healing the Holy Spirit strengthens us and gives us hope in the face of suffering. It can be celebrated more than once, not just at the end of life, but if we don't qualify (because we’re not sick) we shouldn't abuse the sacrament of anointing; instead we should use the blessing for the sick.

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