The Sacrament of Anointing
One
Suffering and the Sacrament of Anointing
Suffering is one of the most difficult things in life. However, in the Beatitudes Jesus said, “Happy are those who suffer for the sake of Righteousness.”
How could suffering make us happy? Here are two good reasons:
Firstly, suffering can be good for us because it can empty us of our pride, our self-reliance, and our disordered loves, making room in our soul to be filled by God. Suffering can increase our Faith, Hope, and Love which increases our capacity to receive even more of God.
Secondly, our Suffering can help others. Jesus is inviting us to help him save souls by our suffering. All we need to do is accept what you did not choose, do not like and cannot change and offer it up to Jesus.
Jesus didn’t come to take away suffering. He entered into human suffering to transform it, giving suffering a purpose and a mission.
Don’t waste your suffering. Your soul and the souls of others are depending on you.
Two
What does it mean to offer it up?
In Colossians 1:24 St. Paul wrote, “It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.”
If the suffering of Christ is sufficient to save the world – why would Paul say he wants to make up all that still has to be undergone by Christ? Because God invites us to participate in his being and activity.
God invites us to share in His being through Baptism by which we receive a share in God’s divine life and really become sons and daughters of God.
Because we share in His divine life we can take part in His activity. The most important activity of God is saving souls.
Jesus invites us to help Him save souls by doing what he did – accepting our crosses and offering them up in love.
This idea of participation is where we get the phrase “offer it up” and it is why Jesus says we cannot be his disciples unless we take up our own cross and follow him every day.
Three
Even though Jesus has given suffering meaning and purpose, still, suffering is really hard. At times it seems impossible to bear.
That is why Jesus gives us a special sacrament to strengthen those being tried by illness, suffering and death. This sacrament is called the anointing of the sick.
CCC 1532 teaches us the special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:
the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
the uniting of the sick person to the suffering of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
the preparation for passing over to eternal life.
Four
1527 The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has as its purpose the conferral of a special grace on the Christian experiencing the difficulties that go with grave illness injury or old age.
When can we receive the sacrament of anointing? The Catechism says: Each time a Christian falls seriously ill, he may receive the Anointing of the Sick, and also when, after he has received it, the illness worsens. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. And the time for receiving this holy anointing has certainly arrived when the believer begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old age.
If we try to overcome our suffering by dint of sheer willpower, gritting our teeth and bearing it – suffering will get the better of us and we will be defeated.
Jesus does not want us to go it alone.
He meets us in a special way in the sacrament of anointing to strengthen us with His own divine life.
Go to Him there. Don’t go it alone.
Five
When we are suffering we feel that we are weak and useless. But it is when we are suffering that we are the most spiritually powerful if we unite our sufferings to Christ to save souls.
This is why we don’t want to waste our sufferings by not accepting them and offering them up.
The closing scene in Schindler’s List is haunting. A Jewish man hands him a ring with an inscription from the Talmud: Whoever saves one life saves the entire world. At this, Schindler breaks down weeping. “I could have got more out. I threw away so much money. I could have used it to save more people. You have no idea of what I have wasted…I didn’t do enough. I could have sold this car, this gold pin…it would have given me one more person and I didn’t do it.”
I don’t want to be Schindler at the end. Let us make the resolution to accept and offer up whatever we don’t like with a smile. Let’s build the habit with little things so that when the opportunity comes, we can do the big things to love Jesus and save souls.
And finally, don’t go it alone. When you are suffering, immediately go to Jesus in prayer and if it is a serious suffering, go to Jesus in the Sacrament of Anointing.
He gave us this sacrament to strengthen us to derive all the benefit of suffering for our own soul and the salvation of others.