Unless we die suddenly, sooner or later, we will find ourselves in a situation of serious declining efficiency. This does not necessarily mean that we are in a life-threatening situation. As we continue to develop, a number of situations can arise that threaten our well-being or our ability to function as we have been accustomed to do this. In His concern for our well-being, the Lord has provided in the Church the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
Situations such as the following warrant our requesting to receive this Sacrament of our Lord’s healing love: if and when we learn that we’ve been diagnosed as having a serious debilitating condition such as cancer, heart problems, multiple sclerosis, if the condition with which we have to live worsens, if we are in a mishap in which we are seriously injured, if and when we require what is commonly regarded as major surgery, if we become homebound for an indefinite period of time, if we are suffering from depression, are subject to seizures that have not been able to be controlled. This list is not exhaustive.
Given the basis on which we are tempted to value our own worth and that of others in our society, we need what the Lord offers us in this Sacrament more than ever. It can be powerfully tempting for any of us to value ourselves and others on the basis of what we can do, achieve or accomplish.
When we cannot function as we’ve been accustomed to do this, it’s tempting to respond in ways such as the following. We can engage in an on-going pity party for ourselves. We can become bitter or resentful. “What did I do to deserve suffering as this is happening to me?” If we consider ourselves as being useless because we cannot function as we’ve been accustomed to do this, we can withdraw from others and become recluses.
As is the case with each of the Sacraments that we celebrate, in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we are assured in a distinctive way that we have value first and foremost because we are loved by the Lord. How we function or what we do is meant to be a response of gratitude for the unmerited, unconditional love that the Lord extends to each of us.
Celebrating this Sacrament when our well-being is seriously threatened enables and empowers us to face that which is before us in a proactive manner.
In regard to the Lord Himself while He was in our midst, it is in the manner in which He related to His own sufferings and death that God worked to accomplish our eternal salvation. Perhaps in the Lord’s eyes, God would extend His redeeming work in us in a most meaningful and convincing way in and through the manner in which we relate to that which ties us down.
As persons who have been baptized, we are members of the Body of Christ. It is in each of us, the members of His Body, that Christ would extend His redeeming work in this world. As St. Paul indicates in his letter to the Colossians, we are called to complete what is lacking in the Sufferings of Christ on behalf of His Body, the Church (Colossians 1:24). As we receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we are actually empowered to extend the redeeming work of Christ in the proactive manner in which we relate to that which seriously restricts or limits us.
There is a sense in which this Sacrament is tailor-made for those who receive it in faith. In short, we are offered what we need in order to extend our Lord’s redeeming work as fully as we are able to do this in situations of declining efficiency.
I hope and pray that we will value all that the Lord would give to us and do in and through us as sooner or later we will arrive at a point in our lives in which we can really benefit from receiving this Sacrament of our Lord’s healing love.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Nelson Beaver – Pastor