Day 205: Christ the Physician (1499-1505)

• It’s Day 205!!

• ARTICLE 5: THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

• There are some words to know

• ANOINTING OF THE SICK

• EXTREME UNCTION

• VIATICUM

• Anointing of the Sick used to be called extreme unction

• That term can still be used

• It is not prohibited, it just changed

• It was changed because the Church said that there are those final rites of passing from this world to the next world where you have the last Holy Communion, viaticum, and where you have the last Anointing of the Sick, extreme unction

• This is the sacrament of healing that doesn’t always end in death

• It sometimes actually grants life

• ITS FOUNDATIONS IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

• ILLNESS IN HUMAN LIFE

• THE SICK PERSON BEFORE GOD

• What is that sickness?

• What does that suffering do to us?

• CHRIST THE PHYSICIAN

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you, because you have sent your Son to heal us, not only to physically heal us. You sent your Holy Spirit to heal us, not only to physically heal us. You have sent your Holy Spirit. You have sent your Son to give us a deeper healing. A healing that no one else can give. You have sent your Son to give us a spiritual healing. You sent your Holy Spirit to reconcile us with you. You sent your Holy Spirit to kill the spiritual illness in the depths of our hearts and the depths of our souls. We ask you God, this day, give us patience in suffering. Give us understanding. Help our hearts become softer, not more brittle, in the midst of sickness. Help our wills and our minds become more open to you and more inclined to you in the midst of our own pain and the pains of others. Help us all to grow in maturity and in trust in you in the midst of our suffering, not in despair and not in resentment in the midst of our suffering or the suffering of others. But please, like you always do, meet us in our suffering. Be with us at this moment, at our best moments, at our worst moments, and at every moment. We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• OK LORD, TEACH ME!!

• Our posture HAS TO BE DOCILITY

• True docility is being open to being taught

• We all come before God with our experiences

• We all have experienced loss, pain, illness, and suffering

• Not only on our own but also the people around us

• Sometimes it is even harder to experience and witness the pain and illness of others rather than our own

• AND YET…

• The Lord is teaching us through the Church what our posture should be

• It is a challenge

• We can show up today and be bitter talking about illness and suffering 

• We can find resentment

• AND YET…

• The Lord invites us, through the Church, to LET GO and LET DOWN OUR GUARD

• What is really happening in these moments?

• Paragraph 1499 says, “‘By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.’”

• There is the SACRED ANOINTING

• There is the PRAYER OF THE PRIESTS

• This comes from James Ch 5 which we will talk more about as the days go on

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• James 5:14-15, “Is there any sick among you? Let the priest pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person. If they’ve committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven and the Lord will raise them up.”

• This is the CORE of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick

• Not only is Anointing of the Sick a sacrament of healing and forgiveness, it is also a commendation for those people who are experiencing that suffering, illness, and maybe even death, to freely UNITE THEMSELVES TO THE SUFFERING, DEATH, AND PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST

• Jesus has given a NEW MEANING TO SUFFERING through His Passion and death on the Cross

• He has not removed suffering

• He has REDEEMED suffering

• He has not taken suffering away

• He has TRANSFORMED it

• BUT…

• Paragraph 1500 says, “Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death.”

• St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the Summa Theologica, this summary of the faith

• He asks the hardest questions and answers them

• He gives the best answers he could at the time, and he is a GENIUS

• “If God is all good and if God is all powerful then why is there evil in the world?”

• New term to learn: THEODICY

• It is the problem of evil in the world

• It’s been among the gravest problems confronting human life

• Think about the fact that you can be the most powerful person in the world

• President

• King

• Queen

• Billionaire

• AND YET…

• A germ could take you out

• A cold

• Pneumonia

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s story…

• King Herod did horrible things in his life like slaughtering the innocents

• A little cold took him out

• Maybe that’s accurate, maybe not

• BUT…

• The truth is that every king, every queen, every millionaire, every billionaire, every dictator…

• EVERYONE…

• The greatest athletes in the world 

• EVERY ONE OF US EXPERIENCE POWERLESSNESS IN ILLNESS

• We experience our limitations in illness

• Every illness can make us glimpse death

• Have you ever thought about the fact that when you don’t have a sore throat, you never think about not having a sore throat?

• BUT…

• When you have a sore throat, everytime you swallow it’s all you can think about

• OR…

• When you don’t have a stuffy nose, you never think about not having a stuffy nose

• You just breathe

• BUT…

• When you have a stuffy nose, all of a sudden everything has to stop

• EVERY ILLNESS CAN MAKE US GLIMPSE DEATH

• It makes us realize our limitations

• It is not abstract

• It is very concrete

• This is the only body I have

• This is the only life I have

• I am so so fragile

• Have you ever broken a bone or torn a muscle?

• We are not indestructible

• It makes us realize the shortness of our lives

• Paragraph 1501 says, “Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.”

• It is so remarkable when you find people who, in THEIR illness, are asking how YOU are

• Illness does not have to lead us to despair or revolt against God

• Some people are bitter in their illness

• Others are better in their illness

• Life is not about me

• They turn to love the people around them

• They are more patient

• They turn to the Lord

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s next story…

• In his friend’s old age and limitation and illness something happened

• Something moved and he had this incredible conversion back to the Lord

• It wasn’t that he felt bad because he was coming to the end of his life

• He realized he was driving his life by his strength, his genius, his own will

• He realized he himself was not enough and it provoked a search for God and HE RETURNED TO GOD

• He has prayed more in the last 2 years and his life is more full of joy even though he can hardly walk

• Yes, illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, despair, and revolt against God

• OR…

• It can lead us to TRUSTING IN GOD MORE

• In the Old Testament there are so many stories where in some mysterious way sickness is tied to sin

• It doesn’t necessarily have to be tied to my own sin

• Think about The Book of Job

• It’s not necessarily a 1:1 ratio where if you’ve done something wrong now you’re proportionately sick 

• That’s not how it works

• Because of sin, the world is now broken

• Because of sin, our relationships are broken

• Because the world is out of order, there is illness

• Because the world is out of order, there is suffering

• Every illness is connected to sin in some way, but it is not a 1:1 ratio

• My personal sin does not lead to my personal illness

• AND YET…

• We stand before the Lord in need

• We come before God and He is our Healer

• Ultimately, Jesus is the Healer

• It is SO IMPORTANT that we recognize that Jesus has come and heals

• Think about all the signs and wonders that Jesus does

• Paragraph 1503 says, “Christ’s compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that ‘God has visited his people’ and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins; he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of. His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: ‘I was sick and you visited me.’ His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them.”

• Paragraph 1505 says, “...But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover.”

• THAT IS THE REALITY!!

• Don’t fear those who can kill the body

• BUT…
  Fear those who, after killing the body, can also take the soul

• FEAR THAT ONE!!

• There are graver evils than physical suffering

• There are graver evils than even death

• Sin is the worst thing in the world 

• Jesus came to deal with the worst thing in the world

• How did He do it?

• On the Cross, He took upon Himself the whole weight of evil and took away the sin of the world

• Illness is a consequence of that

• Illness is horrible but it is just a consequence of sin

• Jesus does not remove sickness and suffering

• Jesus REDEEMS IT

• Jesus does not take it away

• Jesus TRANSFORMS IT

• That Jesus has given illness a new power and that power is that we can UNITE THAT ILLNESS AND SUFFERING TO HIS SUFFERING

• What did His suffering do?

• His suffering had the power TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD

• Jesus said YES to this on the Cross

• Jesus said YES to His suffering

• Not that He WANTED IT

• BUT…

• Jesus submitted His will to the Father’s will

• Jesus said YES to that moment on the Cross

• In doing so, IT TRANSFORMED THE WORLD!!

• IT REDEEMED THE WORLD!!

• IT SAVED US!!

• When we are willing to unite OUR suffering and sickness whether it’s massive sickness like cancer or the small stuff like sore throats or a hangnail…

• It can be any aspect of life

• It can be loneliness

• It can be confusion

• EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE CAN BE UNITED TO CHRIST’S SUFFERING ON THE CROSS!!

• In doing that, every aspect of life that we live can be part of the REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD 🤯 🤯 🤯

• This is not a new problem

• This is an old problem

• It’s something that wakes us up and it could make us bitter

• OR…

• It could make us BETTER

• It’s the kind of thing that could drive us AWAY from the Lord

• OR…

• It’s the kind of thing that can spur us on to learn how to TRUST IN HIM MORE AND MORE

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!