Last Friday TOLP started the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, the feast of which is on Sunday, Feb. 11. It is also the World Day of the Sick. The pilgrim site Lourdes is known to be a place of healing. Many devotees go there and pray for healing. And a special apostolate to help the sick pilgrims works there all year round.
Taking care of the sick is a constitutive element of our Christian life. Jesus had special place in her heart for the sick; not only be curing them but by giving them hope and assuring them of the Father's care. The valuable ministry to the sick in the Church is reflected in the importance of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. This particular sacrament has had its own history in terms of meaning, purpose and perception. Many still do not fully understand the purpose of the sacrament, i.e. not for the dying but for those whose faith are endangered by disease and illness.
What is the grace we ask for when we celebrate the sacrament? Let us take a look at the liturgical text. The words that accompany the anointing with the holy oil says: "Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit." Everybody answers Amen. This is said while the minister anoints the sick on the forehead. Then, the minister continues, "May the Lord who frees your from sin save you and raise you up." Everybody says Amen. This is said while the minister anoints the hands.
The truth that is at the root of the Church's confidence in prayer for the sick is the mercy and love of the Lord, which is made present here and now by the power of the Holy Spirit. The minister, who is a priest and only a priest, asks for the grace of being saved and being raised up. The prayer after anointing can help us elaborate what this grace entails: Father in heaven, through this holy anointing grant [the name of the sick person] comfort in his/her suffering. when he/she is afraid, give him/her courage, when afflicted, give him/her patience, when dejected, afford him/her hope, and when alone, assure her/him of the support of your holy people.
The minister does not pray for a happy death, rather the sacrament provides the graces needed to endure with faith the present suffering of the sick: comfort, courage, patience, hope and companionship. These are the things the sick person needs to get through the illness with head held high and faith strongly united with Jesus. The Sacrament is a help for the journey of the sick. It is a spiritual aid or kit that a Christian can turn to when the dejection of physical weakness pulls down. There's no sense in waiting for the last dying hour, when everyone especially the priest had to be harassed and hurried in attending to the sick person. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is not a ticket that will open the gates of death. Rather the sacrament is like a bottle of mineral water that refreshes the tired body to ensure perseverance and energy to finish the journey strong, whether the end is here or at the other side. The sacrament is a friend that accompanies us when we are sick in order to thwart the possibility for the illness becoming an instrument of the enemy; a friend that keeps us where we ought to be - on the side of Jesus.
