Transcript

The sacrament of the anointing of the sick is inherently bound to the mystery of suffering.

Though not exclusively meant for the hour of death, it cannot help but remind us of life's fragility.

People sometimes avoid this sacrament, preferring not to be reminded of the hard facts of human mortality.

But it is precisely when we experience the limits of the human condition and feel the vulnerability of our flesh that the omnipotent, immortal God draws closest to us.

In this sacrament, Christ, the good physician, bestows spiritual healing on those who receive it in faith.

God in Christ did not distance himself from the harsh reality of suffering and death, but entered into these facts of human existence directly, seeking out those who suffer and offering healing, consolation, and hope.

We come now to the second of the great sacraments of healing.

So again, sacraments of initiation; baptism, confirmation, Eucharist.

And now we have penance and the anointing of the sick are the great healing sacraments.

Remember, part of the come and the go, this is all part of the, Come to me.

Be incorporated.

Be initiated.

And now be healed, all in preparation for being sent.

And those are the last two sacraments of vocation.

So, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.

I managed to get through roughly the first 55 years of my life without being seriously sick.

Um, as a priest, I was in hospitals a lot, you know?

And I was around sick people a lot.

But I'd never spent a night in the hospital before then, myself.

And I'll spare you all the gory details, but I had this appendicitis attack.

I had to go in the hospital and have that, you know, relatively simple surgery.

But then there was a complication afterwards.

There was bleeding and various problems, and they had to go in a second time.

I'll never forget this.

Uh, I was coming around from that second surgery, and in the room came my family doctor, whom I'd known for years and years.

Just go to, you know, for a physical, and I'd see him for a little, you know, flu or something.

There he was hovering over me and he said, uh, Well, Father, we, uh, we almost lost you.

What?

That's why it was, it was that serious of a bleeding or whatever it was.

Again, I'll, I'll, I won't bore you with the details.

But it was a, it was a kind of a shocking moment.

The theologians talk about a limit experience, that when you suddenly come up against a limit.

You know, you're used to being kind of in-control.

Yeah, I'm healthy and happy, able to do what I want.

And there I was, my own doctor saying, Well, we almost lost you.

And then I spent about eight days in the hospital.

I was 10 minutes from my home at the seminary, but it was like I had entered a new country.

I wrote a little article called Hospital Land about it, because A- and those who You know what I'm talking about, is not only, you know, you don't even know what time of day it is.

Is it nighttime?

They, they come in anytime to, to wake you up and, and poke you and probe you, and you leave your modesty completely at the front door when you enter the hospital.

Uh, you live in this kind of weird Twilight, uh, zone, you know?

And you're up against the limit of your capacities.

What I felt during that, that difficult time And by the way, it was right before I came out here.

I was named a bishop about two months after that, I came out here to LA.

Um, but what I felt above all was out of control.

The loss of control over my own life.

The great French theologian, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, wrote an essay in which he talked about the divinization of our activities and the divinization of our passivities.

By the first, he meant all the ways that we turn what's active and healthy and, and energetic in our lives over to God.

So I, I hope, you know, today is a bit of divinization of activity.

I'm doing something active.

I'm kind of in control of it.

And I'm saying, I hope, Lord, I give this to your honor and glory.

Great, says Teilhard de Chardin.

Terrific.

That's terrific.

However, far more important spiritually, he said, is the divinization of our passivities.

When we can say, Lord, I'm out of control.

Lord, I'm at the limit of what I can do or accomplish.

And I turn that over to you, Lord, so that you might accomplish something in and through me that I could never accomplish on my own.

That divinization, Teilhard said, is far greater than any divinization of our activities.

The church, it seems to me, has always had a deep instinct for this truth.And so, it goes precisely to limits w- with its sacramental presence and power.

Think of, you know, uh, reconciliation at- at the limit of my own sense of- of, you know, virtue and integrity.

When I'm up against my own sin, the Church comes there sacramentally.

And here, when we're sick, we're at the limits of our activity, when we're out of control, the Church comes with its sacramental presence and power.

And that, it seems to me, is the, uh, the importance of this sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

Now, Biblically, we know one of the- the most important things Jesus did, one of the most consistent and powerful things He did was He healed.

He was a teacher, to be sure.

But He was also a healer, a miracle worker, reaching out to those who were blind, those who were unable to speak, unable to hear, those who couldn't walk.

It's as though the- the Kingdom of God, God's- God's rescue of His creation was breaking through in Jesus.

That He heals is one of the most basic things we know about Him.

And notice, please, how He healed, very often using physical signs.

Think of, you know, he puts the mud paste on the eyes of the man born blind.

Remember the man who couldn't hear and couldn't speak, and it says Jesus put His fingers in the man's ear, and then spitting, touched his tongue.

I mean, what that was, I'm not entirely sure, but it was a physical gesture that accompanies healing.

Talitha koumi, when He reached out to that little girl and touched her, there was a physical element.

Something like matter and form was involved.

Jesus, as it were, sacramentally healing.

And then, He bequeaths this to the Church.

Read the Acts of the Apostles.

I mean, it's very in- very instructive.

Read the Acts of the Apostles and, with a pen, and check every time you see a reference to healing.

You'll be surprised how consistently the Church continues this work of Jesus.

And so, in its sacramental life, the Church heals.

Up and down the centuries, it heals.

To the present day, it offers healing, going to the limit of our capacities.

Because there, in that place, we often confront God.

Now, who receives this sacrament, and who administers this sacrament?

First, a word about those who receive it.

Maybe some in the room are old enough to remember when this sacrament was called Extreme Unction, or Extremunction, which means the final anointing.

Uh, that it- it was almost always administered only to those who were at their, at their, in the last minutes, on their death bed.

And, um, I can testify in my 33 years as a priest, often when you come in the room with the Roman collar and the oils, people get a little nervous, you know?

Like, This must be, this must be the end.

Well, the Church has emphasized, certainly since Vatican II, that it's given not just to those in extremis, but really to anyone who finds him or sel- him or herself in a state of serious illness, or a state of extreme, uh, frailty, maybe due to old age, or maybe someone on the eve of a major surgery.

Now, obviously, you know, you don't come to the priest saying, I've, I've got a bad cold.

I wonder, could you anoint me?

You know, I've got a hangnail.

I just can't deal with it.

No, i- it's for serious illness of some kind.

Now, but having said that, it is true, I think, that very often, the Church addresses with this sacrament those who find themselves in the last, uh, moments of the journey through this life.

It is true, it's often at that moment.

A- and I find, everybody, this is so important.

Our culture Remember the book from years ago called The Denial of Death?

Uh, our culture is brilliant at the denial of death.

This sort of cult of- of youth, this holding at bay in every way we can the fact of death.

Well, the Church Catholic has no interest in that.

In fact, it sees death as a key moment in the spiritual journey.

It goes precisely to that limit, not- not in fear and denial, but it goes there with its sacramental power.

I think of, you know, my years when I was doing full time, uh, pastor work.

Some of the most powerful experiences I had were in connection precisely with this sacrament.

I remember, uh, one time I was in the rectory.

It was early in the morning, and I was called.

Father, could you come out here and bring your oils?

A woman has fainted.

There was a lady, I knew her.

She was a daily mass person.

Not very old, maybe in her 50s, and there she was.

She was, when I got out there, she was sitting up, and she said, Oh, Father, this is ridiculous.

You know, I- I don't know what happened.

I- I just, I fainted on my way out of church.

And I said, Well, you know, I'm here.

I- I got the oils.

Why don't I, I'll- I'll anoint you and we'll pray for the, you know, Lord's intervention and Oh, Father, I- I don't think that's necessary.

I said, No, you know, I'll- I'll pray for you.

So, I anointed her .

and remember the ambulance came, and we, we helped her into the ambulance.

I later heard that she died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

It's one of those moments when But you realize, and I know that's, that's our natural reaction and mine too, was like, How, how tragic.

But I thought how wonderful really, how wonderful that at that moment And she wasn't entirely clear though, This is my last moment.

But there was the church with the instruments of, of healing and the Lord's presence.

I can't tell you how many times this happened.

And talk to any priest, they'll tell you about this, that when you come to someone in the hospital or nursing home, and a family member will say, Father, she's just been waiting for you, you know, that she's been hanging on, but she's been waiting for you to come.

Or one time, I went to a home and, um, there was a woman there who was quite sick, and with her sister.

I came in and the lady was in her, in her room, and the sister greeted me, and the lady greeted me.

Knew who I was, she recognized me.

And we began the a- anointing of the sick.

And she responded to the prayers, you know?

I reached the point where I anointed her, and then there's a few closing prayers, which I did, including the Our Father, and then a blessing.

And I remember I finished and I was putting the top back on the oils, you know?

And I looked across the, the bed and there was her sister, and she said, Uh, Father, I, I, I think she's gone.

And we looked down, and indeed she had died during the anointing of the sick.

Um, talk to priests.

It happens all the time.

Um, beautiful.

That's how many years ago?

That's 30 some years ago, and it stays vividly in my mind.

That's the power of the church coming with its healing and sacramental presence, precisely to these limit moments.

That's the power of this great sacrament.

You know, I've recited the, um, the words of absolution graven in my mind.

You know other ones graven in my mind?

Here they are.

Through this holy anointing, may the Lord in His love and His mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.

I don't know how many times I've said that over these 33 years, but I think it was Archbishop Blistec, he made me memorize them a long time ago.

And I've got them because you never know when you might need them.

Uh, maybe not as often as when you hear confession, kind of, you know, on the road or in the airport, but you'd be surprised the times when y- you're called as a priest to anoint someone.

And those beautiful words, even as I say them to you now, I find them very moving.

Uh, that's the church at its sacramental best.

You know, and again, priests will confirm this, I think, uh, you get to the hospital, and often the doctors and nurses are around, right?

And some of them are difficult.

Uh, I mean, some of the doctors looks at you like, Oh, I guess the h- the witch doctor just arrived, you know?

But, but I see, but the vast majority in my experience entirely get the power of it.

They're trying to effect a physical healing, but they understand there's more to us than the body, and there's a healing that takes place.

It, it might not have any bodily ramifications.

Frequently, it does not.

Sometimes it does, but frequently not.

But it certainly addresses this deeper place in us that we call the heart or the soul.

And the doctors and nurses, the b- the best of them, and that's the most of them, they totally understand the role this plays in, in healing.

Let me just say a word about the effects of this sacrament as the church understands it.

This is from the catechism.

The church teaches the first and most important effect of the sacrament is the grace of comfort, peace, and courage that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Great.

I mean, all the sacraments involve the inrushing of the Holy Spirit.

Confirmation to give you strength to defend the faith and spread it, baptism to draw you into the Trinitarian life.

But listen here now, perhaps at the end of life, at these limit moments, the grace of comfort, peace and courage that comes from the Holy Spirit.

And I've seen it.

I know you have too.

You've been by the bedside of people who've been anointed.

You can see it.

I had the privilege just, oh, about two weeks ago to anoint a lovely, uh, uh, lady, the former Abbess of the Poor Clare Monastery out in Santa Barbara.

Mother Clare, I think she was 93.

What a privilege for me to be there to anoint her.

But the, the grace of the comfort of the Holy Spirit, that's the effect of the sacrament.

Here's the second great effect, and I wanna spend just a little bit of time with this.

The second great effect of the sacrament is a union with the passion of Christ.

And we're treading here everybody in, in actually a, a very deep mystery.

The passion of Jesus, the suffering of the innocent Christ, the sinless Christ, accepted as the will of His Father, unleashed into the world saving power.

Right?

It's a basic truth of our faith.

The suffering of Jesus, the innocent Christ, sinless Christ, but accepted in acquiescence to the Father's will, unleashed into the world-saving power.

Somehow And, and you know, I've been a theologian for a long time, written books of theology, tried to understand these great mysteries, but in a way I, I can't explain this.But yet, that principle continues to obtain.

Somehow, in the mystical body of Christ, suffering of ours that's accepted as an expression of the Father's will, manages to unleash saving power into the world.

Well, how, how does that happen?

What, what's the physics of that?

I, I can't entirely explain it to you.

Uh, Charles Williams, who was a colleague of C.S.

Lewis and Tolkien, those people, he spoke of co-inherence.

It's a lovely idea.

What he meant was in the mystical body, we inhere in each other.

Does that make sense?

We, we are implicated in each other.

Therefore, William said, and this is the principle, therefore, I can say in my prayer, Lord, take the suffering I'm going through now and apply it to the benefit of somebody else.

Father, use in your providence the suffering that I'm accepting in faith so that somebody else is, is alleviated in their suffering.

Again, I'm not sure precisely how to explain how this works, but it does work.

Listen again now as we look at the second great effect of a sacrament, is a union with the passion of Christ.

You know, read John Paul II's wonderful letter on, on suffering.

John Paul says he always told suffering people, Don't, don't miss the opportunity.

Now, don't see this as some kind of weird masochism.

It's not that.

It's a 'Don't miss the spiritual opportunity that's come to you precisely in your suffering.' If we accept it in the spirit of Christ on the cross, somehow it unleashes saving power into the world.

When I was doing full-time parish work, I'd often talk to, um, the older folks who'd feel, yeah, maybe they're homebound, maybe they, they couldn't get around anymore, and they'd say, Father, you know, I, I wish I could do more.

I wish I could contribute more.

I'd say, Well, you know, first of all, pray.

And I'd give them particular people.

Pray, here, I got a whole slew of people I want you to pray for.

But then I would tell them, In light of this principle, let your suffering itself be your gift to the parish.

Your suffering accepted in faith and acquiescence to the Father's will can itself be the gift you give to this parish.

That's the second great effect of the sacrament.

Listen now to this from the Catechism, summing up the point I'm making.

In celebrating this sacrament, the church, in the communion of saints, intercedes for the good of the sick person and the sick person for his part by the grace of the sacrament contributes to the sanctification of the church.

That's it, everybody.

That's a deep mystery.

I can't entirely explain it, but it's true.

That, that this suffering, this very suffering can be for the sanctification of a church.

Getting that, giving that is an effect of the sacrament.

Here's a last step remark.

So just as baptism, confirmation, Eucharist are rightly seen as a kind of initiation triplet, right?

The three sacraments of initiation.

In a way, penance, the anointing of the sick, and the Eucharist, think of Viaticum.

How often at, at the sick bed of someone we there's a confession of sins, there's the giving of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, and there's Viaticum.

Those three in a way are the sacraments of transition into the next world.

You see how Jesus has us surrounded?

That the sacraments at the beginning, the sacraments at the end, all of life in its activities, at the height of its power, but also life at its limits, in its passivities.

All of it can and should be sanctified by the sacraments.