Anointing, one of the sacraments of healing and penance

The sacraments of healing , represents all those who follow that work that our savior Jesus Christ did and wanted us to follow, it is through the holy spirit and the churches, where it is evident that these sacraments continue to be carried out, and that is how we realize that even after his death Jesus continues his work to help us achieve salvation and healing.

sacraments of healing

A simpler way of explaining what the sacraments of healing are about is, we begin with baptism, which is the presentation of ourselves to the church, as we grow we fulfill the sacrament of communion and confirmation, but those that are always passed or they forget and the truth is that the catholic church is always expressing it in its catechism for healing is the sacrament of reconciliation and the anointing of the sick.

When we speak of the sacraments of healing or healing we refer to how Jesus our savior becomes the doctor of our souls and why not, even of our body, he frees it and forgives it of all sins.

One way to explain this is taking as an example a paralytic who has lost movement in his body and Jesus is in charge of restoring his health, this refers to us, it is like when we lose the light and begin to sin and lose our faith, it is Jesus the commissioned to forgive all those acts of sin.

They will wonder in what way, because that is what the church is for, which works hand in hand with the Holy Spirit for these healing works, even for its own members, this is the true purpose of the two sacraments of healing.

It is that the sacrament of healing is like reconciliation that heals us from spiritual illnesses that in many cases become corporeal. It is no secret to anyone that sin makes us feel bad.

Well, the feelings of pride, hatred and lies begin to become the main enemy of man and theirs in many cases devastates us and creates in us that incessant feeling of sadness. Not to mention acts of rebels, which leads us to frustration. Only reconciling ourselves between brothers frees us and the Lord is there to forgive and who makes us feel again that we are loved by him and God.

It is already a tradition for Christians that every November 18 the celebration of Christ the King is held, but before these all Christians must take the opportunity to confess and receive the sacrament and absolution of their sins in order to continue with the feast.

This sacrament for the Catholic Church is so, so important that in order to take the wafer and receive the body of Jesus you must first be clean of heart and spirit, it is for this reason that before complying with the sacraments of communion and confirmation we must comply with the healing, to live well and according to the spirit of God.

What does the sacrament mean as a moral virtue?

This sacrament makes sense of a penance according to its origin and origin of the word, which explains its meaning and its form in its etymological sense, its definition is to have sorrow and repentance.

So we can say that as a moral virtue, it is reflected when the sinner begins to feel judgment and reasons for repentance for all the sins he has been committing, but it is not just about feeling repentance, but about having the purpose of not returning to return to these sins or to continue committing them, it is about doing something in which there is some kind of satisfaction for having discarded them.

It is that God calls us to penance for our bad deeds, it is a conversation from the heart. in Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18 he tells us about the Word of God in which he clearly explains to us the way in which we must act, is that the bible is the step by step for man:

• Giving to the needy:

In this part we are told that we must give but that the act must be done in such a pure way that no one should notice it.

6 -. Take care not to do your righteous deeds in front of people to attract attention. If you act like this, your Father in heaven will not give you any reward.

2: Therefore, when you give to the needy, do not announce it with the sound of a trumpet, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets so that people pay homage to them. I assure you that they have already received their full reward. 3: Rather, when you give to the needy, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4: so that your alms may be secret. Thus your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

• The sentence:

In this part we are shown the way in which we should pray that way in which God pleases and truly listens to us.

5: When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the squares so that people can see them. I assure you that they have already obtained their full reward. 6: But you, when you begin to pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is in secret. Thus your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

9: You should pray like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10: your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11: Give us this day our daily bread. 12: Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

14: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15: But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

• The fast:

It is in this part where we are told how we should do when we have to fast so that it is pleasing to the Lord.

16: When you fast, do not make a sad face like the hypocrites do, who change their faces to show that they are fasting. I assure you that these have already obtained their full reward. 17 : But you, when you fast, perfume your head and wash your face 18: so that it is not evident to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is in secret; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

As we have already seen, there are means by which we can adopt this virtue. but if at some point we fail this: prayer, confession of sins and attending the Eucharist, who will also help us to resume this path, there are those who wondered, the Eucharist? Yes, let us remember that the Eucharist is a source of the greatest graces and it is about the practice of voluntary sacrifice, it is by giving Jesus that sense of union with the closeness to Mary and the word of God that we will achieve it.

What are the sacraments of healing?

The habitual Disposition to do good makes us transform ourselves as a sacrament. and ask ourselves what are the sacraments of healing. Converting or transforming us is part of the seven sacraments established by Jesus Christ, it is about forgiving all the sins committed that have offended God, after being baptized.

Through it I can even achieve reconciliation with the church who, like the Lord, is offended when we sin, at the moment we fill ourselves with courage and ask the priest for forgiveness for the sins we commit, we speak of true faith.

In Cf. LG 11 it is explained to us that “between ecclesial communion and Eucharistic communion; The celebration of the Eucharist signifies by itself the fullness of the profession of faith and of ecclesial communion.”

• penance and confession

The sacrament of “transformation or conversion” is the one that responds to the calls of Christ to become a pure person of great faith, it is the sacramental father who offers us this help. Today we call penance : what is a very very personal transformation that induces people to total repentance and helps them to spiritual reparation, of course, all of these are done in the company of Christ.

Confession is also involved in this : since to perform penance the person trusts his sins before the father, which has always been an indispensable requirement for the Catholic Church so that he receives pardon and is forgiven of his sins minor and more serious as well.

In Matthew 5 he tells us about reconciliation , love and sin, how God’s love asks us to forgive the sins of our brothers and reconcile with them in the same way he tells us that we should not exercise judgment between us but see better in: Lucas. (12.57-59) Jesus and anger:

“21: You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill; and whoever kills shall be guilty in judgment. 22: But I tell you that whoever is angry with his brother will be guilty of judgment; and whoever says, Fool, to his brother, shall be guilty before the council; and anyone who says to him: Fatuous, will be exposed to hell fire.

23: Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24: leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first reconcile with your brother, and then come and present your offering.

25: Make an agreement with your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the way, lest the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the bailiff, and you are thrown into prison. 26: Truly I tell you, you will not get out of there, until you pay the last quadrant.”

• Reconciliation

For the sacrament, reconciliation and penance go hand in hand and are closely involved. To go to the Eucharist, it is necessary to go to penance and reconciliation in order to have a sincere feeling of peace and leave behind any record that causes pain in our hearts. .

Very personally, I consider that reconciliation is the basis of the sacraments of healing, because it is where the essential elements of the entire sacrament are found, that is, it is like the sensible symbol, of having been established by Jesus and because it grants the Grace.

Another one that is also part of the sacraments is what we call healing because it is about the healing of the spirit. There are those who say that at the moment that the soul becomes ill due to all the serious sins that have been committed, this sacrament is needed, which is responsible for restoring health so that it can be cured.

In Mark 2 we are told that Jesus cured the health of a paralyzed man by restoring health to his body. This is exactly what the sacrament does. We represent the paralytic man and the sacrament is Jesus curing us of our ailments.

See in Cf. Mc. 2, 1-12 Jesus heals a paralytic

“2.- A few days later, when Jesus entered Capernaum again, word spread that he was at home. 2: So many crowded that there was no room left even in front of the door while he preached the word to them. 3: Then four men came carrying him a paralytic. 4: Since they could not bring him closer to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof above where Jesus was and, after making an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic was lying.

 5: When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6: Some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking: 7: Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?.8: At that very moment Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking.—Why do they reason like this? He told them-. 9: What is easier, to say to the paralyzed man: “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say to him: “Get up, pick up your mat and walk”? 

10: So that they may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins —he then addressed the paralyzed man—: 11 I say to you, get up, pick up your mat and go home. 12: He got up, He immediately took his stretcher and walked out in full view of everyone. They were amazed and began to praise God. “We had never seen anything like it,” they said.

• Why is the church involved in the sacraments of healing?

If you wonder why the church is involved? Jesus Christ was in charge of establishing the sacraments and he himself entrusted it to the church that was constituted in his name, for this reason the church is in charge of forgiving sins, I want to make something very clear, there is no man in the world who alone forgive sins.

It takes the grace of God and the support of the sacraments and with a minister the intermediary between God and man. For this reason it is the church that has the privilege and power to forgive the sins of man, thanks to the Lord who is received in the reconciliation of man.

History says that at the beginning of Christianity, a lot of heresies took place regarding sins. In those times the variation of opinion was quite a lot, there were those who affirmed that there were sins that could not be forgiven, and there were others who only said that for any Christian who was compassionate and charitable it would be easy to forgive, these protests were one of the greatest since They directly attacked the doctrine that the church carries regarding the sacraments of healing.

This was one of the reasons why it was declared at the Council of Trent that it was Jesus Christ who informed the apostles, his genuine assignees, that there is the power to truly forgive each one of the sins see in Dz. 894 and 913.

Inspired and by the situation that was seen at that time, the church has assumed over time that doctrines should be published that clearly explain how the sacraments of Christ are constituted based on his works written by his apostles who narrate the story of his earthly life.

In works like Lucas. 5, 18-26 previously seen that mentions the paralytic and the forgiveness of sins and Luke. 7, 37-50 that speaks to us about the sinful woman, in these works it is evident how Jesus Christ forgives sins and also makes us resume the course of our lives by getting involved in the community and in the ways of God.

 “The power that Christ granted to the apostles to forgive sins implies a judicial act, since the priest acts as a judge, imposing a sentence and a punishment. Except that in this case, the sentence is always forgiveness, if the penitent has met all the requirements and has the proper dispositions. Everything that takes place there is in the name and with the authority of God.”

It is only when someone deliberately opposes God’s mercy through false repentance at that precise moment that he would be rejecting the forgiveness of his sins because he would not enter the salvation of his soul that is given through the Holy Spirit and therefore in no way. way will be forgiven. .

In frame 3-29, they tell us: “He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, rather he will be guilty of eternal sin.” As in: Cf. Catec no. 1864: This is what we call the sin against the Holy Spirit. This harsh attitude can lead us to eternal damnation.”

anointing the sick

The anointing of the sick refers to the sacrament that is offered to people who are suffering from some physical or emotional illness, and it is through the grace of God that it comforts us, gives us strength and helps us cheer up during these times. moments so hard that cross when going through any disease.

There are situations in which it is thought that these sacraments are only for members of the church and that is why we are wrong. Jesus and his apostles wrote the words so that they would be read and followed by man.

It is not only in this that we are wrong, but also in believing that this sacrament should be offered to people who are very seriously ill. The sacrament was previously known as: “extreme unction”, however that changed and is announced as: “It is a sacrament of health, of soul, spirit and body to the Christian in a state of illness”.

I am one of those who thinks that God feels sorry for the pain of the human being of the person, of all that suffering that occurs when being sick, I feel that he wanted to physically and spiritually restore those who suffer from some disease and follow him as the only God just as the word teaches us is that the Lord does not abandon us, much less in difficult circumstances.

In the New Testament there is a narrative of Jesus that refers to the healing of the sick

• Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law

“14: Jesus came to Peter’s house and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15: And she touched her hand, and her fever left her; and she arose, and she served them. 16: And when night came, they brought to him many demon-possessed; and he with the word he cast out the demons, and healed all the sick; 17: so that what was said by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, when he said: He himself took our sicknesses, and bore our diseases.

Since the beginning of the church it has taken possession of this sacrament and through the holy spirit it provides with the requirement of the hand and the anointing with the oil, just as the apostles did. It is in this way that the church participates in the power of a healing God.

In the old testament, it says that the use of oil is to strengthen, restore and heal wounds. It is often said that the anointing unites the sick person to the passion of Jesus Christ for the good of the sick person and of the church. These sacraments of healing are the ones that are responsible for strengthening the sick and following the mission that Christ did and ordered his apostles that fulfilled see in Matthew 10:

• The mission of the twelve

“5: Jesus sent these twelve, and instructed them, saying, Go not on the way of the Gentiles, and enter not into the city of the Samaritans, 6: but go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7: And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8: Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; Freely you have received, freely give. 9: Do not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or copper in your belts; 10: neither a bag for the road, nor two tunics, nor footwear, nor a staff; because the worker is worthy of his food.

11: But whatever city or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave. 12: And when you enter the house, greet it. 13: And if the house is worthy, your peace will come upon it; but if it is not worthy, your peace will return to you. 14: And if anyone does not receive you, or listen to your words, leave that house or city, and shake the dust from your feet. 15: Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city.”

Everything is connected to the word of God, the actions of the churches through this sacrament of the sick for their healing and reconciliation and the fact that each one of the spiritual sins must be forgiven to alleviate all those wounds that need peace. .

recommendations for healing

There is something very relevant that we must know, that the anointing of the sick is provided by the archbishop and the priests, who making it clear that the sick person can receive it at different times.

What is recommended is that you do not leave it for the last moment to receive said anointing that fear and fear are not those that accompany you but the eventual mind will clothe them, the recommendation is the opposite, it brings God closer and when he is moment, that is, that the disease really deserves it, let us make a call to the presbytery and that the priest strengthens, do not let time pass.

If you should be careful about something, it is with that oil that they try to sell you everywhere, the oil that is applied to the sick is the one that the bishops have been in charge of blessing precisely to heal the sick.

Regardless of whether the sick person has received Communion yes or no, has confessed yes or no, as long as he is a Christian at heart he can receive the sacraments of healing whenever he has the need to resort to them, because he is within his rights. For for the anointing of the sick it is only the grace of God that he works. Although it is the bishop or the priest who are assigned to this function of directing the sacrament to the sick so that they are cured, it will always be thanks to God that they are cured.

It is very common for Catholics that this sacrament is called the mass of healing, this is not misclassified, the mass is performed to pray for the sick, remember that as mentioned before, only God has the power to heal. The role that each one has is to pray with faith so that it is the grace of God that strengthens and heals the sick.

Whenever it is asked for a sick person and why not also for the priests so that they become aware and do not forget that the sacraments of healing exist in the church. I invite you to pray so that priests do not remain with the thought and feeling that there must be an extreme anointing.

Let us pray for the person who accompanies, helps and cares for the sick. Let us pray to our virgin and mother Mary to help care for the sick and give them the possibility of living with health and happiness to praise God and bear witness to a God who is present, alive and who never abandons those who follow them. just as it is said in your scriptures.

If we must always keep in mind it is that the anointing of the sick is the sacrament that allows us to receive the thanks of our Lord God for consolation, peace so that the spirit is restored to overcome their own difficulties, either due to a serious illness. or by diseases of old age.

All this grace comes from the Holy Spirit and of course from the work of Christ that helps us and leads us to revive trust and faith in God that strengthens our soul so that we are able to overcome the temptations of discouragement and anguish especially in that moments of despair due to some illness.

The nature of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick

Its purpose is to grant the kindness of God to all human beings but especially to Christians and much more to those who suffer from some experience of illness and old age. It is no secret to anyone that diseases lead to man’s suffering is something that sadly cannot be separated.

Of course, the fact of being sick overwhelms the person and begins to cause many problems and feel alone (that he lacks the presence of the Lord) and that is when feelings of helplessness begin to flourish in the face of that situation, it is like realizing that one is not invincible that as human beings we have limits and that we are finite just like nature. not to mention that there are diseases that are a reflection of death and man does not like to feel that it is stalking him.

Many think that at the time of suffering from an illness they will get much closer to God, sometimes it is the opposite before any illness there are people who often move away and more when before knowing about it they were very close to God or to the church, they He says that it is because of the feeling of anguish which is causing them, an incessant fear, fatigue, and not to mention the pain due to the suffering that they have and it is at that moment when they can reach despair and try to reveal themselves to the Lord, mowed down for a feeling of pain.

But this is not the situation for everyone, there are those who in the midst of illness have a sincere approach to God, it is a pure and Christian feeling.

And others who make it evident that sometimes the state of the sick makes it impossible for man to do some of the things they were used to, could mention actions such as: eating, walking and running, listening, or finally talking, these are some of the many These are the most basic, all this can be the fact of leading the person to not be able to pray to make those prayers that become necessary to stay close and united with the Lord.

If there is something that we all know, it is that the death of the body is natural, and the truth is that Christians know that this happens because of sin. In the Bible, where the work of the Lord is written, it is shown to us in Genesis 2-17: The man in the Garden of Eden

 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, From every tree of the garden you may eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.”

As in Romans 6: Servants of Justice:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

These make us understand that everyone who dies in the grace of God, and participate in the resurrection that Christ promised. In Romans 6 we are told of the dead to sin:

“6.- What, then, shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 : No way. For those of us who have died to sin, how can we still live in it? 3: Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? 4: For we are buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

5: For if we were planted together with him in the likeness of his death, so also will we be in the likeness of his resurrection; 6: Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we no longer serve sin. 7: For he who has died, he has been justified from sin. 8: And if we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; 9: knowing that Christ, having risen from the dead, dies no more; death has no more dominion over him.

10: For as soon as he died, he died to sin once for all; but as long as he lives, he lives for God. 11: So you also consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12: Do not let sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so that you obey it in its lusts;

13: Nor do you present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14: For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under law, but under grace.”

The important thing is not to forget that death is part of earthly life just like time and that is the reason why we get older until we reach our end. We must start thinking about the mission that we must fulfill before our earthly life ends, so as time passes and the time comes when we no longer count on time, we will be at peace with ourselves to see our mission carried out. life mission.

In the Old Testament we see how Christ had great compassion towards vulnerable people, in this case those who were sick. He was a doctor of body and soul, because he not only healed the sick, he also forgave sins.

The man was so beautiful that regardless of the impurity that could exist in a person, he still let them attack him and although there were contagious diseases such as leprosy, he did not care about his mission is to heal and save the sick and man, I imagine Jesus as that force that emanates healing, healing and peace. He came to the world of men to relieve him completely in body and soul.

Jesus is so great and merciful that he not only let men touch them but also made all the miseries and sins of man his own, allowing him to resume a path to God, a clean path and healing.

When he knew that it was not enough, he took on his shoulders the sins of all humanity to take them to the cross and with him all sin committed on earth would die. When Jesus decides to die for ours, he frees us from sin and sickness because they are consequences of sin. Right after that moment, suffering and illnesses will take on a new meaning and become more like him, it is as if he warned us of his passion.

As an example of the salvation and healing that Jesus performs, we can cite from the Bible the work of Mark 7

•  Jesus heals a deaf man

“31: Leaving the region of Tire again, he came through Sidon to the Sea of ​​Galilee, passing through the region of Decapolis. 32: And they brought him a deaf and stuttering man, and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33: And taking him apart from the crowd, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, touched his tongue; 34: and raising his eyes to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: Efata, that is: Be opened.

35: Immediately his ears were opened, and the tie of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke well. 36: And he commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more he commanded them, the more and more they spread it.37: And they marveled greatly, saying: he has done everything well; he makes the deaf hear, and the dumb speak.”

His affection for men has always been present, even despite the years and centuries that have passed after his earthly existence. Patients are often asked to believe in him and have faith that they will be saved because Jesus himself affirmed it and it is written in the Bible, which insistently asks us to have a lot of faith because in the sacraments Jesus continues to save and heal sick people. only now he uses the bible and the help of the holy spirit that has never abandoned us.

The celebration of the sacraments of healing

The celebration of the sacraments of healing is carried out just like the others, since all the sacraments are part of the liturgical exercise. However, over time various changes have been made in the celebration of this sacrament, some elements have been found that are essential for its celebration:

1. The main component is, the acts or acts that allow the penitent (man) who wishes to be transformed, through thanks and the management of repentance or remorse for the Holy Spirit hand in hand with the confession of sins and with faithful obedience. of penance.
2. Another element that is also relevant is the action of God through the patriarch or presbytery, since now, as we have been mentioning, it is the church that is in charge of forgiving sins in the name of Jesus Christ and it is the same that decides which one is going to do the penance that must be fulfilled, not only must the presbyteries take care of that, but they also pray with the penitent and perform the penance with him. Although it is normal for the sacrament to be carried out individually, the person must go to the confessional to say his sins and in this way they receive the pardon in a very private and individual way.