Westminster Record March 2017 by RCWestminster

Westminster Record | March 2017

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick by Fr Peter Harries OP

On Saturday 11th February Westminster Cathedral was packed for the celebration of Mass in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes. We sang the praises of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, and asked for her help in our lives. Many people present were infirm or had various life-limiting conditions. The sick were at the heart of the prayers of people gathered from all over the diocese, just as they are the focus of so many pilgrimages to Lourdes itself. During the ceremony many people, those who were visibly frail and as well as those with

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unseen ailments, received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The Cardinal with Bishop Paul McAleenan and several priests, including some who are chaplains to the hospitals in this diocese, moved among the crowds, laying hands on them and anointing them with oil. Later during the Mass together we received Holy Communion, the greatest medicine for immortality (Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting St Ignatius of Antioch). Some people think that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is only for those who

are dying, as part of ‘last rites’. This is not the understanding of the Church. The Church invites any of the faithful (except babies and infants) who begin to be seriously ill or face a life-limiting condition to receive God’s grace through this sacrament. This lifelimiting condition might be a psychiatric condition. We can receive the sacrament several times in our life, particularly in the course of a prolonged illness, or following a sudden deterioration, but not frequently. If we are frail we might profitably receive the

sacrament a couple of times a year, perhaps in a communal parish celebration. We should approach this sacrament before any major operation, or any stay in hospital which goes beyond a couple of days. We don’t usually receive the sacrament for minor ailments, such as colds or sprained wrists, despite the pain and short-term inconvenience of such occurrences. The Gospels frequently recount stories of Jesus loving sick people by visiting them and healing them. For Christians today the care of the sick continues to be a priority. It is one of the great corporal works of mercy. Over the centuries the Church has built, staffed and funded many hospitals, hospices, and homes for the elderly or disabled. Today in England the state has taken over much of this responsibility, but the care of the sick remains an essential Christian priority. In addition to the care of their bodies, the care of the whole person is vital, which is why we pray for the sick often. Many parishes pray each Sunday during the bidding prayers for sick parishioners. Sickness always troubles people and God’s faithful are no exception to this anxiety. However, Christian faith enables us to grasp something of the redemptive meaning of suffering and so face pain with courage. Our sufferings are united to the sufferings of Jesus Christ. This is not only for our own salvation, but also for the redemption of the world. Our sufferings are not then pointless, but redemptive. It can be difficult to affirm this truth of faith when the character of a loved one is stripped from them by dementia. We have to hope in the resurrection of the body and the fullness of everlasting life. James in his epistle, part of the New Testament, wrote, ‘Are there any among you who are sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will

raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.’ (Js 5.14-15) In obedience to our Lord’s will, priests (and bishops) continue to lay hands on the sick and to anoint them with oil. The priest uses a special oil, blessed by the bishop in the cathedral during Holy Week. Some parishes during the annual Maundy Thursday liturgies, publically receive this and the other blessed oils. The care of the sick, physical and spiritual, should be a constant theme of Christian life and worship. The only members of Christ’s faithful whom we don’t anoint are babies and infants. They are baptized and we understand that they preserve their baptismal innocence, and that they have not committed sins which need forgiveness. If baptized babies are sick, we pray for them, but don’t anoint them. But what are ‘last rites’? Last rites are the receiving of Holy Communion for the last time as viaticum. Beforehand we should make our confession and receive absolution. We should also be anointed and so enabled to die in peace, reconciled to the Lord and to the Church, God’s holy people. If someone is unconscious then they cannot receive Holy Communion obviously, but they may receive the other sacraments and we may pray the Commendation for the Dying. Last rites, including the anointing of the sick, are not for those who have died, as they can no longer benefit from receiving the sacraments. We can and should continue to pray for them, commending their souls to Almighty God. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is an opportunity to receive God’s grace when we are sick. It is not something to be feared, rather something to be welcomed. Christ our Lord loves us, wants to accompany us, his brothers and sisters on our journey through life, and never more so, than when we are sick or in pain.

Westminster Record | March 2017

Pastoral Letter: A Practical Expression of God’s Mercy As part of the launch of ‘Called to Serve the Sick’, Cardinal Vincent issued a pastoral letter that was read in parishes on Sunday 26th February. In it, he explains the purpose of the season, asking ‘all to focus on one particular corporal work of mercy: caring for the sick’. The following is an excerpt: ‘Caring for the sick is a daily, practical expression of the mercy we have first received from God. This means that our caring for the sick arises from our faith in God and is most fully completed when it takes its shape from that faith. The care we offer, then, is shot through with a loving trust that this sickness, these special needs, which a person is carrying, are capable of bringing that person closer to God, and of helping others through their own pain. This is what we mean by “redemptive power of suffering”. ‘My mother had a special way of approaching the presence of illness and suffering in her life. She often remarked that the traditional saying “God never gives a cross without the back to bear it” was wrong. She insisted that it ought to say “God never gives a cross without the backs to bear it” for it is only by standing shoulder to shoulder that can we carry the crosses which come our way from the

Lord. Indeed, quite often it is the shoulders of the sick persons themselves who help us to carry the cross together. Often it is the sick who bless us with their courage, tenacious faith and enduring hope. ‘This season of “Called to Serve the Sick” can start by our looking again at how we care for those who are going through a time of illness, or indeed whose lives are coming to an end. It asks us to see beyond all the necessary practical help and medical care to the very soul of the person, seeing them as a precious daughter or son of our Heavenly Father, making their way to him, coming closer, step-by-step, with Christ himself. As Cardinal Hume said: “The journey to heaven always goes over the hill of Calvary.” We can make that journey together. ‘Please do make a renewed effort to remember the sick and the dying in your prayers. Please do not turn your back on them, simply handing them over to professional care, important though that care is. The mystery of the gift of life in each one of us becomes more precious at such times. Let us treasure and serve that mystery, for it is the mystery of God himself.’

Inside the Hospice: The Good Samaritan and the Royal Family Fr Peter-Michael Scott Being ignored can be horrible. Recently someone I had been taught to respect overlooked me, and I was left feeling somewhat secondary and unimportant, almost as if I was left by the roadside, in the gutter. Hospice is a place where everyone is important; it is part of its ethos. Everyone should have a feeling of being a minor celebrity or a distant royal. Being royal has the implication of being anointed, acknowledged, admired and fixed with a crown. When I visit those patients who are dying, I often spend time talking to them about their lives. Inevitably we talk about their regrets, but we also

begin to unearth and bring to light their successes, and the things in their life that they are proud of. At the end of these conversations, and often after reconciliation, I will introduce the Sacrament of Anointing, in the past called the ‘last rites’. This sacrament is beautiful, because it has so many dimensions. It is about healing, about giving strength and courage, but it is also about God marking us out as special. Kings and queens are regarded as special because they are anointed, and so in God’s eyes are the sick. In this sacrament, God reaches out, through the priest, and reminds the sick that they are important, that they are loved and cherished.

Like the Good Samaritan, God does not want to ignore anyone particularly those who might be feeling useless and unattractive as they come to the end of their lives. By anointing, he marks them out as exceptional, original and distinct and part of his royal family. His royal family are not just in hospice or in hospital, but they live in care homes or are those unable to leave their front doors. They are served by a myriad of Good Samaritans, who share in God’s eyesight and see them as special and important. Please pray for the patients, staff and volunteers of St Joseph’s Hospice.

The full text is available at www.rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/homilies

Fr Peter Harries OP is chaplain to University College Hospital Follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/RCWestminster

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