The Rite of the Sacraments of Healing and of the Sick

Oral Exam:  Sacrament of Healing
1
The biblical basis for the sacrament of penance is: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained (John 20:22-23).
The theological basis for the sacrament of penance is that it is a means of regaining grace and justice for those who had defiled their souls through mortal sin. Prior to the coming of Christ the Lord, penance was not a sacrament, nor is it a sacrament for the unbaptized. However, after rising from the dead, Christ breathed on the Apostles and sent them the Holy Ghost and gave them the power to forgive sins in the name of Jesus with the direct purpose of reconciling those among the faithful who had fallen into a state of sin since their Baptism. Such has been the teaching of the Church since the Council of Trent in 1551.
The liturgical development of Penance has not evolved greatly over the history of the Church: public penance has always been recommended, particularly during Lent, but the sacrament of Penance has always been restricted to private confession—except for certain persons like St. Augustine who wish to publicly confess their sins out of a sense of repentance for having lived as a public sinner.
Only since the Second Vatican Council has it become more common for the idea of penance to be approached as something done in common with others, but this is a rather novel departure from Church tradition and forgiveness of the laity unless in times of extreme emergency is forbidden and individuals must make use of the sacrament of penance through confession to a priest in order to return to grace if in a state of mortal sin.
The biblical basis for the Anointing of the Sick is James 5:14-15: \"Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man. And the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.\" However, there are numerous other verses that serve as justification for the sacrament’s institution, including Matthew 10:8 and Luke 10:8-9.
The theological basis for the sacrament of the Sick is the same as that of penance—it is an opportunity for grace to renew the person’s soul. In the tradition of the Church, the purpose of the sacrament is to give spiritual assistance to the seriously sick or dying individual. The primary aim is for the remission of sins and the restoration of spiritual health and grace to the soul if it has been absent through mortal sin; and the conditional benefit can be the restoration of bodily health. The rite includes using oil blessed by the bishop of the diocese, which is touched to the eyes, ears, lips, hands, and nose of the sick person. The priest says, “Through this holy unction and His own most tender mercy may the Lord pardon thee whatever sins or faults thou hast committed by sight, by hearing, smell, taste, touch, walking, carnal delectation.”[footnoteRef:2] The sacrament of Extreme Unction gives the dying person the opportunity to confess sins and prepare for judgment with a clear conscience and an infusion of grace into the soul. The individual does not have to be conscious for the sacrament to be administered but does need to conscious to make a last confession. [2: P. J. Toner,\"Extreme Unction.\" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1909.]
2
Conversion is not a simple matter like throwing a light switch for most people, though it does happen for some. Typically, conversion is instigated by the gift of faith and then that gift is applied to one’s life as one “works out” his salvation over the course of his life. The reason St. Paul urges his audience to run the race for the eternal crown is that he knows otherwise the members of the Church will hang back and not apply themselves to becoming holy. Fallen human nature is what it is, and sloth is one of the vices that one must overcome. Conversion is thus a matter that can take a lifetime.
However, the Church has the recipe for helping people along: it has the seven sacraments, starting with Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance and Extreme Unction aka the Sacrament of the Sick. These last two especially can assist the Catholic in reconciling himself to God’s will, which is really what conversion is all about in the first place. Still, other sacraments such as Confirmation can help a good deal in getting that person to a higher state of grace wherein conversion becomes more possible.
Sacramentalizing the experience through the various rites of reconciliation is important because it lets the Church know that the mystery of redemption is not something to be taken for granted: every Catholic should be made to feel that his redemption has been purchased by a mighty price—the highest price that ever could possibly be paid for anything. This should inherently reveal to every Catholic his worth in the eyes of God, since God ransomed Himself to redeem mankind. Thus, if every Catholic would only realize that he is worth the value of God Himself, that God Himself saw fit to ransom Himself for the redemption of sinful man, every Catholic would immediately cease to treat himself so shabbily or to allow himself to live in sin: for his value is infinite, greater than the stars and moon in the sky. What a thought to keep before one’s eyes whenever one is thinking about reconciling with God.
3
People do not like to go to confession for a number of reasons: sometimes they are embarrassed to confess their sins to a priest; sometimes they lack the necessary conditions for making a valid confession, such as contrition and a firm purpose of amendment. With the Anointing of the Sick, embarrassment or pride can again enter into the personal reasons people have for not wanting to pursue that sacrament. Or they do not want to inconvenience the priest. However, every sinner should realize that he personally is more valuable to God than all the pearls in the world, all the oceans and seas, all the stars in heaven, and all the kingdoms of the earth. He is the most valuable thing to God, which is why God hung Himself on a cross to redeem him. Every sinner was like a captive item in a pawn broker’s shop, where the price for redemption had been set so high that no one could ever pay it. The pawn broker of course could lower the price if he chose—but he knew what he had and he understood how great its value was. Every sinner should think of that—of his value to God—not his own sinfulness or his own shame or his own habits or his own reluctance to have contrition and a firm purpose of amendment. He should think of his own value—his value to God, who took nails in His hands and His feet to pay the price set by the pawn broker; who hung on a cross till dead after being whipped and crowned with thorns and forced to carry his own death instrument to Calvary. What value man has to God, and yet man seems to be completely incomprehensible to this fact. People are too hung up on seeing themselves through their own eyes instead of through the eyes of God—yet if people would just see themselves through the eyes of God and attempt to live up to the value that God has placed upon them, they would make more frequent use of the sacrament of Penance and make use of the Sacrament of the Sick when needed.
4
The Southwest US was the first part of America to have schools, run by the Jesuits, meant for the catechesis and conversion of the native Americans. The Church has loved this part of the country and has sent so many missionaries here, and they have left the mark of Christ all over the Southwest, from San Antonio to San Diego—the lives of the saints are everywhere calling to us in the present day to remind us not to forget them and what they have done to bring the faith to this part of the world.
To catechize in the Southwest it is in important to understand the role that culture plays here, the importance of the Spanish Catholic influence, and the foundation of the community, which is the family rooted in Christ, where children flourish and are raised in the faith. What is more important? A child’s birthday or his baptismal day? Every Catholic should answer his baptismal day because that is the day Christ comes to his soul. This is the type of understanding and faith that is needed now more than ever and we must take special care to teach, plan and celebrate the rites in a clear, correct and spiritually substantial way—and that starts with preaching on the importance of penance and of our value to God, of teaching the faithful that if they have a brand new car they will take care of it and keep it clean and if it gets dirty they will clean it immediately—but they take no such care with their soul. The people need to hear these words so that their faith can be strengthened and their desire to come to good with full awareness of their value in His eyes.
Bibliography
Toner, Patrick. \"Extreme Unction.\" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909.