Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the second Sunday of Ordinary Time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are seven (7) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which can help us to appreciate the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The following is a reflection on CCC 1529.
“Each time that a Christian falls greatly sick, he can receive the Holy Anointing, even when, after having received it, if the sickness becomes more grave.”
The Catechism is at pains here to remind us that just because someone has already received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick before, this does not preclude further reception(s) of the same sacrament. Imagine someone saying, I have already received Holy Communion so I won’t receive it any more or again… This is not to say that we should necessarily receive the holy anointing every day. While the Lord’s Prayer does teach us about receiving “our daily bread” there is no such doctrine concerning a daily anointing. It is not a disparaging of the Eucharist or Anointing that these sacraments are repeated, unlike Baptism, Confirmation and Orders which leave a permanent mark on the soul of the recipient as Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP (+1274) points out (cf. ST Sup. Q. 33, A. 1).
There are two things to consider here:
If you or a loved one is greatly sick or ill seek out the Anointing of the Sick. Aquinas further reminds us that this sacrament should not be given to every sick person without any consideration of the degree or stage of illness (cf. ST Sup. Q. 32, A.2).
If you or your loved one have been anointed and the sickness or illness becomes worse, you may be anointed again for the strengthening of your body and soul. While physical healing may not always result from the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, all of the sacraments confer grace, and grace effects the fogginess of sins for spiritual healing (cf. ST Sup. Q. 30, A. 1–2). The Apostles even before the redemption worked miracles of healing through God’s power and anointing (cf. Mark 6:13). Nevertheless, bodily health is not the principal effect of the Anointing of the Sick. Now after the redemption the Divine power and grace of the sacrament is not less effective. While the Sacrament of Penance is the specific sacrament for the remission of the post-baptismal sins we sadly commit, especially for those who have become unconscious, the grace conferred by the holy anointing is not negligible.
I know of one person in our Parish who has been anointed by me at least seven times, during trips to the hospital, during communal celebrations of the sacrament, before surgery and the like. After my priestly ordination I anointed my grandmother Gertrude Genevieve MacVeany (Vovo) every time I saw her. Her advanced age, she was already 90 years old, was a proximate cause of death and reason enough for anointing. By God’s grace she lived 102.10 years on the good Earth.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr