Anointing of the Sick: Send for Me

The experience of illness is that of a privation (lack) of a good that ought to be present but is not, viz., wellness, integrity of body and soul. In particular areas, or even in general, we know that ”something’s not right!” Every illness is a prelude to death, the total and final dissolution of the body (CCC 1500).

What happens in the body has its inevitable effects on the soul, and vice versa. An unusually high level of attention to bodily ailments can translate into self-absorption, despair, or revolt against God, or it can promote a more mature appreciation of life’s essentials (1501). Suffering can make us bitter, or better! 

At any point on life’s journey, while we still have our faculties, we can decide in what we call “redemptive suffering” to unite our physical, emotional, and spiritual hardships with Christ’s own—which included ours and everyone else’s anyhow. It is good to make a point of connecting those hardships repeatedly and prayerfully, even when tears and shouts accompany our prayers. We can pray that someone, somewhere, somehow might be assisted by our offering, though we may never get to learn of it on earth.

One of the most noteworthy developments since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) occurred in the practice of the Anointing of the Sick. No longer is this sacrament intended solely for the deathbed: when a person is beset by serious illness or the frailty of old age, the time is ripe for anointing. It is also generally indicated before any serious surgery that requires general anesthesia.

Everyone used to call the Sacrament “Last Rites,” and many still do. The pedant in me sometimes gently corrects the misnomer, because I think of opportunities for instruction like a drunk drinks: never pass one up. I often hear talk of having people’s Last Rites “read to” them, as if we were police officers reading Miranda Rights to someone we’ve just arrested. It’s a curious confusion. Since the Sacrament can be repeated when illness returns or intensifies, I say it’s their “Last” Rites only when it’s the actual last time they’ve received it.

But then there’s CCC 1525, which makes a poignant comparison:

Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called “the sacraments of Christian initiation,” so too it can be said that Penance, the Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist as viaticum constitute at the end of Christian life “the sacraments that prepare for our heavenly homeland” or the sacraments that complete the earthly pilgrimage.

Since the Church’s coup de grace (literally, “blow of mercy,” used here in that gentle sense) is said here with convincing pedigree to include Anointing, the precedent for retaining the term “Last Rites” is not bad after all.

In the case of the terminally and gravely ill, Anointing of the Sick ideally takes place alongside Confession and Viaticum (the final reception of Holy Communion). The unfortunate trend has been to wait until the patient/family member is “actively dying,” at which point he or she is often unable to make even a general Confession or ingest the Eucharistic species. While I say the sooner, the better, there is no better time than the present.

I do very much appreciate that families, especially those personally opposed or indifferent to religion, respect the religious and spiritual practices of their elders enough to request Anointing for their loved ones. It’s a spiritual work of justice, and who knows what good it will effect.

As for the Anointing of the Actively Dying, we proceed with the faith that the God Who knows and loves us better than we ever could know or love ourselves can sort out their interior state. The Communion of Saints is on high alert whenever someone “sends for the priests of the Church” (Anointing ritual; cf. James 5:14); it’s like the airing of the bat symbol that moves the Caped Crusader to a dude or damsel in distress. Yes, even at 2:17 AM.

Although the topic of death can be difficult to broach with anyone, let alone a gravely ill person, it can lead to valuable self-reflection (presuming that hasn’t been going on already) and, when necessary, interpersonal healing and reconciliation. Don’t allow fear to unduly delay this graceful activity.

“Their sins will be forgiven” (James 5:15): Anointing of the Sick does forgive venial sins when the recipient is properly disposed to that forgiveness (i.e., sorry). In this life, the forgiveness of mortal sins is reserved to the Sacrament of Penance; amid the need of that forgiveness, Confession is an appropriate complement to Anointing. Be not afraid to do the work of self-examination and to be open to the grace of repentance that Confession requires!

Our Stewardship of Suffering and Love

It sometimes occurs as a point of meditation that the saints are human just like us, but at the same time we are called to the same holiness as they. We do a great job, don’t we, of putting different folks on a pedestal, whether it be the saints, or various political or religious leaders or inspirational people in our lives. We know we’ve put them on a pedestal when they inevitably give us reason not to keep them there, and as a result we become outraged; perhaps, in a quieter moment, we might become embarrassed at the thought that we invested the person with such esteem and paid so much attention to what they said—never mind that their words may have been true and valuable, but suddenly their own imperfection or hypocrisy prompts us to call everything into question. Please God, with a little perspective we learn to sift through everything to retain what is of value.

Anyhow, Saint Paul reminds us today of the exalted dignity that all the baptized share. He calls it a “stewardship” (οîκονομία), which refers to a plan for attending to the concerns of an individual or a household. It's where we get the word "economy": the aggregate of transactions (usually financial, but not exclusively so) by which a community of persons keeps going. Paul’s “stewardship” was the mission entrusted to him by God for the communities he’d founded (we’d call them parishes or dioceses). We might find the term more relevant if we considered our family, workplace, and even our own bodies and souls as a stewardship. Paul’s mission was to proclaim the Word of God in Jesus Christ through doctrinal and moral instruction, in order to form active, growing believers. Our responsibility as disciples isn’t really that different: by example and by words we want to show people who Jesus is and what He means for the world. We do this not as “lone rangers,” but as persons baptized into the visible Body of Christ on earth, found most fully in the Catholic Church that the Lord Jesus founded and has sustained for nearly 2,000 years with believers and leaders such as us.

As a result, we want to cultivate our relationship with the Lord in and through the Church, so that people are drawn not merely to us with our personal gifts and drawbacks, but to the Lord living and acting in the Church. We may need to brush up on our appreciation of our great Catholic heritage so as to become the best possible witness.

Now most of us don't have a pulpit from which to proclaim any sort of message, nor do we have any kind of script. In the absence of laborious research and skillful oratory, there is one element in most lives that can provide a compelling witness, and that is our suffering. Strange to hear, perhaps, but God’s honest truth. St. Paul said to the Colossians, “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.” We’d be foolish to suppose that, because Jesus suffered for us, we shouldn’t have to suffer, we shouldn’t have to experience pain, inconvenience, humiliation, and all the rest. Jesus experienced upon the cross the suffering experienced by every person in every place and time, so that as we come to experience that suffering in our own time, it doesn't have to be purposeless: we are able to make it something of infinite value by offering it in union with the Lord for those in need of repentance and healing. Thus we can create a space in our lives for the "inconveniences" that visit us, like those three men who visited Abraham and Sarah, and they can become a channel of unexpected blessing.

And when we don’t necessarily have any suffering on our plate, the other legacy in which we always share is the Eucharist that unites us to the saints of every time and place. The very Body of Christ that suffered upon the Cross is sacramentally made present here and now and everywhere the ministerial priesthood is found. In our worthy reception of Holy Communion we share in the sufferings and joys of the whole Church across time and space. Why, therefore, waste an opportunity to suffer well? Why waste an opportunity to love well? Why waste a chance to learn from the Master where He is most concretely found—in the Host and in our neighbor?

We Are Not Alone

When Jesus sent seventy-two of his disciples out to share their stories of living in His story, He sent them out in pairs, like the "buddy system" we experienced as children. It is always good to have a little reinforcement, some extra encouragement, or challenge, when you need it. This describes the "Communion of Saints," the Church in heaven and the Church awaiting heaven, our brothers and sisters throughout the world and throughout the ages. In addition, the angels who eternally attend to the throne of God also show His providential care--especially our guardians who protect and intercede for us.

One concrete way to remember that we are never alone is the fact that Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer in the first person plural: God is our Father, who gives us daily bread, forgives our trespasses as we forgive, leads us not into temptation, and delivers us from evil.

It is important to know that we are not alone because the Evil One is not alone. Satan is the enemy of God’s plan, the enemy of man’s salvation. In league with that enemy are a host of other angels—beings of superior intelligence and freedom, just like the holy angels, but with the difference that they decided to invest that superior intelligence and freedom in a manner contrary to the desire of God. While they cannot best God, they seem to have a way with us human beings.

They do that by capitalizing upon our weak spots, which are our memory and our imagination: the ways we reflect on the past and the future. Remember in Genesis 3 how Satan injected doubt into the minds of the first man and woman, leading them to question whether (in the past) God really said we would die if we ate the forbidden fruit. Satan further polished that fruit to make it look more attractive, leading his customers to wonder how great they’d become (in the future) with all the power, pleasure, wealth, and prestige they could eat. No matter that they would be contravening the will of God in the process, that we would keep turning against one another by using violence and sex as tools for our advantage, meanwhile exponentially increasing our sense of loneliness.

Here’s the Good News: The offspring of the woman—Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary—has crushed the head of the ancient serpent. He has delivered us from the eternal hold that sin, suffering, and death threaten to have over us. Our weaknesses need no longer define us. In the Genesis story, mercy showed itself in the fact that our first parents didn’t die as soon as they ate the fruit. That gave them, as it gives us whenever we sin, the chance to repent, to seek appropriate reconciliation, and to live again.

By God’s grace we can again appreciate what is beautiful, learn what is true, and choose what is good. That kind of activity contributes to the betterment of our world and the splendor of our God. People on the fence of faith can look at us when we’re striving to live that way and say, “This Jesus, this Catholic Church, is worth something. It might even be worth my life.”

Calling Out

I particularly enjoyed the second reading from today's Office of Readings (divineoffice.org), from a catechetical instruction by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. He spoke about the catholicity, or universality that the Church exemplifies in several ways: Teach all the doctrines! Subject all the peoples! Forgive all the sins! Possess all the virtues!

The word church in Greek is ἐκκλησία (ekklesía), from the verb kalein, "to call" and the preposition ek, "out of." In the most basic sense, the Church is an assembly (Latin ad, "to, near" + simul, "together") Those who are called forth, come together. Saint Cyril notes a connection with Deuteronomy 4:10--"Assemble the people before me, and let them hear my words." Also with Psalm 22: "I will offer praise in the great assembly; my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him."

The assembly, then, is the place for hearing God's Word and for offering Him promised praise.

If I hear one more person say, "God is everywhere. Why should I have to go to church, to any building, to pray to Him?" I will be able to restore all the pipe organs.

As the "pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Tim 3:15), the Church is charged to call people out from the hinterlands of deception and denial, into Reality.

Sure, we can and should pray wherever we are; but God calls us from the security of our inner room, our echo chamber, into His sacred assembly. He calls us out of our self-constructed prisons into "the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Rom 8:21).

At heart the Church is a reconciled and reconciling communion of believers. At times I may fail to act as a member of that communion, so I need to be called out for those failures to act. When I'm by myself, I don't get that kind of caring accountability. Chances are, I don't really want it.

On the Nature, Mission, and Operation of the Church

         Everything we have heard today concerns the nature, mission, and practices of Holy Church.  That is to say, it concerns the Trinity, and you, and me, and how we conduct ourselves.  The Church is the “sacrament of salvation”: when people want to know what salvation looks like and where it comes from, look to the Church—and see the Trinity, and you, and me, and how we conduct ourselves.  The Church is the “Mystical Body of Christ”—Jesus the Head and we the Members—fully alive with His Most Precious Blood pulsing through our veins, fully alive because we are united by the Holy Spirit of Wisdom, Power, and Love.

Hear the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council: “All men are called to this catholic unity which prefigures and promotes universal peace.  And in different ways belong to it, or are related: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation” (Lumen Gentium, 13).  That statement was made less than fifty years ago, but the roots of it are found in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, where we see the Church’s borders being opened to Gentiles (non-Jews).  This manifestation of divine mercy points to the fulfillment of Jesus’ desire for unity under the care and direction of one Shepherd.

Complete unity is, as we well know, a work in progress.  We see this in the same first reading, where the Apostles have decided (in the first Church council, held in Jerusalem) whether the Gentile converts should be forced to enter the Church through the rituals of Judaism.  In an example of genuine compromise, both sides listen to each other, consider the truth in each other’s views, be willing to hold their own views with some levity, and be willing to give up something for the sake of Christ’s peace: in this example, the Gentile converts will observe certain Jewish dietary and marriage laws, while the Jewish converts no longer are to demand circumcision.

The heavenly Jerusalem described in the second reading is the consummate model of Christ’s peace, for it comes from heaven and joins the blessed with all who await the blessing of everlasting life.  It joins Testaments Old and New.  It joins together every human division.  Our present endeavor is to assist in the bridging of every gap with openness, honesty, and willingness.  This includes the gaps between peoples, and most important, the gaps between the truth and us.  Here the Church’s magisterium, or teaching authority, leads the way—not as Truth’s master, but rather as its servant.

When it comes to the issues that are so divisive in society, it is important to remember the Church’s role of fostering peace through truth and charity.  There is the ever-present tendency to caricature people and issues, to make personal attacks and so forth—somewhat understandable because religion and politics are so important to the survival of the human community.  The Church engages in politics because politics has to do with people and the way they treat each other.  She cannot back down from the Truth of the Gospel and the Church’s teachings for the sake of human respect.  She doesn’t intend to drive people away, nor will she retain them under a false sense of unity.  We know how the Cross continues to be revealed in the many forms of human suffering, especially of the innocent; but we can’t forget the suffering that the whole Church experiences as people fall short of, and even reject, the full and splendid truth about themselves.

For this reason we ceaselessly invoke the Holy Spirit who first descended upon Mary and the Apostles, begging for a new outpouring of divine life upon the People of God—that, whatever “side” we may be on with respect to a given matter, we may attain unity and peace to be the best possible example to the world, even if our greatest success lies in demonstrating our utter dependence on God’s mercy.

^BGT  1 Corinthians 9:25 πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἵνα φθαρτὸν στέφανον λάβωσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄφθαρτον.

1 Corinthians 9:25 Omnis autem, qui in agone contendit, ab omnibus se abstinet; et illi quidem, ut corruptibilem coronam accipiant, nos autem incorruptam.  (1Co 9:25 NOV)

(I copied these verses as a personal reminder for my marathon preparations, which begin in earnest this week (with an initial reduction in weekly mileage).  The verse reads:

Everyone who competes, denies himself everything; and these do so in order to receive a perishable crown, while we receive an imperishable one.

A Day In the Life

First, a word of thanks to the reader who recommended me to Catholic superblogger Mark Shea ("Catholic and Loving It").  His posting has garnered some more "followers" for SH.  Cheers, Mark!  Keep up the good work!

I heard the Confessions of our grade school students today.  Last night was the opening night of our public schoolers' Religious Education program.  Several times a week I am encountering brand-new or recently registered parishioners, someone who would like to sponsor a person for Baptism or Confirmation, a family who would like their child baptized, a parishioner in the hospital whom I might otherwise not see.

Are these shipwracks or harvests?

Lord, help me to manifest Your charity and truth to every person and in every situation.  Uproot from me the cynicism that hinders conversion (the other person's, and my own).  Help me to see and to show plentiful opportunities for growth.  Thank you for making me a new creation, and for enabling me to play a part in Your saving work.

Off to the hospital, then back for the sacramental preparation of a young adult.

This is the Life.

The Litany of Sinners

Our local daily ran the story of the concealment of child sexual abuse at the direction of several  members of Penn State's leadership.  Former FBI director Louis J. Freeh was tapped to lead an investigation into reports that dated back to 1998.  Freeh concluded that the university president, vice president, athletic director, and head football coach "failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children" that had been victimized by a popular and influential assistant football coach.

Sound familiar?

And the subsequent series of questions: How could such a widely respected institution place the reputation of its football program and its coaches above the welfare of children?  How could leaders sleep at night, knowing that other victims lay ahead?  How could people--even the victims and parents themselves--allow this to continue for so long?  How could this (or any) institution consider itself impervious to scrutiny, criticism, and reform?

Disturbingly familiar.

There is no solace to be found in protesting, "See?  The Catholic Church isn't the only institution that has failed in this regard!  How many years have people been ignoring what goes on in untold numbers of families, schools, orphanages, and religious bodies?"  I suspect that even the most vehement watchdogs and opponents would concede these points without considerable arm-twisting.

Penn State University has begun to experience what the Catholic Church has been walking through for at least two decades.  Whenever it should happen to any institution, it's about time.  Apparently exposure must happen for repentance and reform to become standard operating procedure.

The Church all around the world is beginning to address these realities squarely.  Thanks to Mr. Freeh's recommendations, PSU will do likewise.  Whether on a corporate or personal level, primary attention must be paid to those who hurt, and not just to shut them up or quell our own guilt.  See, it's not about "us" and "how 'they' feel and what 'they' think about us."  When reputation becomes more important than character, there's trouble.

The protection of children involves education, vigilance, and most of all, sound formation in virtue.  No matter how much we think we know, we often need to be reminded how to be human beings made in the image of a wise and loving God.

There is no room for self-pity in the Church or in any network of persons where abuse has occurred.  There is copious room for compassion, contrition, and gratitude: compassion for victims; contrition for all sins of commission and omission; gratitude for our children and for the formative role that we still have and hold with profound reverence.

Some years ago our parish must have conducted a prayer service for victims of child sexual abuse.  I discovered a "Litany for Healing" in one of the drawers in the vesting case.  It is included below (with some modifications).

Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.

Protect all children, Lord, with your enduring love.
Grant us the grace, Lord, to guard and nourish the innocent.
Preserve our nation, Lord, to be chaste and pure in love.

For children wounded and tearful, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children confused or alone, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children afraid or abandoned, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children beaten, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children who sleep in fear, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children afraid to go home, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children afraid of their abusers, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children assaulted, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For children whose innocence has been stolen, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For those who cannot trust, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For those who cannot love, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!
For those whose hearts are filled with fear, save, heal, and protect them, O Lord!

For the Church, called to be the light of the world, banish all darkness from her children, O Lord!
For Bishops, called to be Good Shepherds, make them vigilant defenders of the weak, O Lord!
For Priests, conformed to the person of Christ, grant them purity and Christ-like love, O Lord!
For all ministers of the Church, called to live the Gospel, grant them a love of Christian virtues, O Lord!
For clergy and religious who have abused children, grant them repentance, O Lord!
For parents or relatives who have abused children, grant them repentance, O Lord!
For teachers or coaches who have abused children, grant them repentance, O Lord!
For all who have abused children, grant them repentance, O Lord!

To doctors and therapists, Lord, grant compassion and skill.
To houses of healing and renewal, Lord, grant concern and dedication.
To men and women of the media, Lord, grant a love for truth alone.
To lawyers and judges, Lord, grant wisdom and conviction.
To those imprisoned for abuse, Lord, grant repentance and healing.
To silent victims and witnesses of abuse, Lord, grant honesty and courage.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, pray for us!
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us!
Saint Maria Goretti, pray for us!

Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.