Daily Retreat 02/25/06

2006 Feb 25 Sat: Ordinary Weekday/ BVM

Jam 5:13-20/Ps 140(141)/Mk 10:13-16

From today’s readings: "Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the priests of the Church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.... I call to You, O Lord, hasten to me.... Let the children come to Me...."

The Anointing of the Sick

Many Gospel passages attest to the constant concern Jesus had to bring comfort and healing to the sick. It is not surprising, then, that from the beginning, the Lord’s Church has been committed to providing loving, prayerful care for those who are ill, not only nursing the needs of the body, but also addressing the health of the soul as well.

This is especially done through the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, which is alluded to towards the end of the letter of St. James. Through this sacrament, Jesus continues to bring the grace of His consolation, forgiveness, and strength to those who are gravely ill. When the Lord deems that physical healing would also be most beneficial for a person’s spiritual well-being, then He grants such healing as well, sometimes directly through the sacramental anointing, but generally also working through doctors, nurses, and other agents of His care for the sick.

Some wonder why, though, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick does not always bring complete physical healing - why doesn’t the Lord show the fullness of His infinite compassion by curing all who suffer greatly? We would all certainly welcome such an easy answer to the problem of suffering, and yet God, in His wisdom, evidently does not see that as the best answer for His children.

Since Jesus Himself bore our infirmities in His Passion, He teaches us to voluntarily unite all our sufferings with His redemptive suffering. This doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to seek cures for illness and relief for pain, but the fallen state of the human race means that it will always be impossible to wholly eliminate suffering from the human condition. Thus those who are sick are called to share in the Cross of Christ precisely through their physical suffering, and the rest of the Church is then inspired to continue Christ’s ministry of comforting, consoling, and healing in His Name.