The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick

As we’ve described the sacraments, sisters, and brothers, we’ve talked about outward signs instituted by Christ to bring grace. We’ve talked about the invisible God drawing close to us. One of the most vulnerable moments in our human lives is the moment when we’re sick when we’re ill. Whether that illness is a grave mental illness, whether it’s a serious physical illness.

In fact, sometimes, we’re most closed in ourselves or when pain calls us and brings us into ourselves instead of outwards towards others.

The Church recognizes Jesus's ministry was not only that of teaching, but also a ministry of healing, and continues that ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit. The sacrament of healing for us is the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Now, when I was a young child growing up the name of this sacrament was Extreme Unction. It was the extreme anointing.

It was the anointing before death. 

We want to be very clear. The Church teaching on this sacrament is not about the moment of death, it’s about life. And so often in our lives, we’re threatened with death, and we need the strength of God and the grace of God to help us deal with the fear of death in order to live well, in order to be healed in order to continue to live, and in some cases, in order to complete our earthly journey. So the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick isn’t just about dying, it's also about living and healing.

In fact, its name is the Anointing of the Sick. And its purpose is indeed healing. We pray in this sacrament for twofold healing: the healing of our souls and the healing of our bodies, the healing of our whole person.

The reality we know in life is sometimes people do experience healing of their bodies, of their physical sickness going away, their cancer disappearing, breathing difficulty removed. Brain injury healed. These things do, in fact, happen. And they happen in our world today. We pray for those. We don’t always control God's answer for those. 

What we do know is this sacrament promises the healing of the soul of the sick person. And in that manner, it is about helping us to be made whole to be able to deal with the sickness before us.

Oftentimes, the reality of an impending death, a loss of a limb, or the loss of an ability that comes with sickness to deal with diminishment and to deal with the work of being restored. If you think about the long pathway back from sickness to health for many people.

So the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is really about our whole person, but it focuses on our spiritual strength that we need in order to live, have the grace of Christ. The promise is God does indeed heal us. 

A part of the sacrament for those who have the opportunity and can speak and interact, there is the inclusion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the Anointing of the Sick. But the proper elements of the Anointing of the Sick are the anointing with oil, the oil of healing, where the three oils in the Church the oil of catechumens, the Sacred Chrism and the oil of healing, the oil of the sick. That oil is administered on the hands of those who are sick as a healing solve that represents Christ’s healing power, along with the words of the priest. Only priests are able to give the Anointing of the Sick because it does include this element of sacramental forgiveness.

We should not fear the Anointing of the Sick like every sacrament, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, every sacrament, indeed, in the end, is a sacrament of joy. It’s a sacrament by which we deepen our relationship with Christ and know evermore deeply of God's tender love for us. We should know in every reception in our lives when there’s a grave illness, welcoming the Anointing of the Sick is indeed an opportunity for healing and renewal.

Reflection Questions:

1. How does the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick provide both spiritual and physical healing?

2. In what ways can this sacrament help individuals face illness with Faith and courage?

3. How does understanding this sacrament change the way we perceive suffering and God’s grace?