Dear Parishioners,
Last weekend, we made an announcement about the need to make a direct personal request for a visit by a priest if you or a loved one is seriously sick, injured, or homebound. I am troubled when I hear that someone who wanted the Sacraments in their time of need and did not get them. What is worse, though, is someone who finds themselves in need of the Sacraments at a time of serious illness or injury, but does not realize that they are available. That is, they simply don’t know or don’t think the Sacraments are available to someone in their state of health. So, I would like to explain the Church’s Sacramental ministry to the sick.
First and foremost is the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, once called “Extreme Unction” and which many people still think of as “Last Rites.” The Anointing of the Sick is meant to offer any seriously ill or injured person God’s comfort and the support of the Church in their time of weakness. It is not only for the actively dying! Indeed, it is best to request Anointing of the Sick before being hospitalized. If you are preparing for surgery, awaiting a crucial diagnosis, or suffering a change in a chronic condition, you can ask a priest to anoint you after Mass, or when he is available.
Other Sacraments we offer to the sick are Reconciliation and Holy Communion. When we are sick or injured, we are more keenly aware of our frailty and the shortness of life. Confession can be a great comfort, as well as preparing our soul should the worst happen; Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ can give us strength in our time of weakness.
For those just entering Hospice care to the person in their final moments, the Church has three more gifts to give. First, a priest is empowered to give the Apostolic Pardon to a dying person, an indulgence in proportion to how perfectly one has put their sins behind them (i.e. less or even no Purgatory). Next, the Church gives Viaticum to the dying (Latin for “bread for the journey”): Holy Communion and a special prayer to strengthen the dying for their last journey; it is the most important of these rites by far. Finally, the priest prays the Final Commendation, a prayer that the dying person may have the peace and trust in God to “let go” and put himself in the Lord’s hands. Notice that all these rites presume the dying person is participating, able to make a Confession, and able to receive the Eucharist. While it is possible to give some of these rites and Sacraments to a comatose person, it is far better to request that a priest come to bring these gifts of the Church before a dying person is unable to speak and unable to receive Communion.
The sick know they are sick and the dying may know that they are dying. Requesting a priest’s visit should not be understood as end of hope for the person, but a supreme act of trust in God. Confession, Anointing of the Sick and Holy Communion are in truth acts of uniting ourselves to Jesus Christ who has robbed death and pain from any lasting power. Please contact a priest when you first become aware of a serious illness or injury. It is one of the greatest parts of the life of a priest to be able to minister to the sick, to hear one’s confession and to give the Anointing of the Sick. You have a right to the care of the Church and this type of pastoral visit is not a burden, it is a type of grace that builds up the priest, the family and the ill or dying person.
Happy Easter Season,
Father Brian Thompson