The Holy Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

The sacrament of anointing, like all the sacraments, mediates God’s grace and mercy to particular people in specific situations of human life. Anointing proclaims Christ’s presence and the Spirit’s power for and among the sick within a relational and ecclesial context. The theology supporting the current form of the sacrament reflects a broader understanding than in the past about what it means to be sick. It also unambiguously affirms human sickness and suffering undergone by Christians as participation in Christ’s dying and rising—within a perspective encompassing not only eternity but also the present experiences of broken people in this vulnerable world.

Through this holy anointing the sick people receive spiritual strength from the church’s prayer of faith and oil hallowed by God’s blessing to meet their illness as people who share now in Christ’s suffering and hope to share eventually in the joy of his resurrection.

Anointing is also advisable for people suffering from degenerative or chronic diseases that cause serious suffering even if they are not immediately life-threatening—such as Alma, who has Alzheimer’s disease, or Arnold, who struggles daily with crippling arthritis. Anointing is also accessible to people with serious illnesses that remain more hidden because they affect the mind before they ravage the body—people such as Darnell, distressed by major depression. ( …to be continued)

With Prayers,

Father Raju Macherla