THE WHAT AND THE WHY
It is said that “actions speak louder than words.” When we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life before He was arrested, we find that his actions have a big place in the text. There are many accounts of him healing the sick, even two or three occasions when He raised someone from the dead. There can be no doubt that Jesus had that power and that he used it generously.
Do we need to ask why? Jesus is God, and God is love. When He saw people suffering, He suffered with them. We were not created so that we should suffer, after all, but so that we could be happy on earth and fully, overwhelmingly happy with Him in Heaven after death.
And sometimes His suffering led to tears. We read in the Gospel of John that Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus when Martha and Mary took him there. We read in chapter 19 of Luke’s gospel that he wept when He saw the city of Jerusalem from a distance and realized how sinful it had become and how much misery was in its future. St Paul says, although it is not written in the Gospels, that He also wept at Gethsemane. He did not display a distant, “manly” hard heart, but one that feels deeply when in the presence of suffering.
Some of His healing acts were in response to being asked for them. Others just simply came from His soft heart, what we now often call His Sacred Heart. He could not just pass by and do nothing. And so people had confidence in him and approached him with such confidence.
Are we to suppose that He has changed since then? In John 14:12-13 Jesus tells us: “I solemnly assure you, the man who has faith in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these. .. Whatever you ask in my name I will do.” And we know from the Acts of the Apostles that not only Peter and Paul but also others among the early Christians were going about healing the sick in Jesus’ name. In the letter of James, chapter 5, he writes: “Is there anyone sick among you? He should ask for the presbyters of the church. They in turn are to pray over him (or her), anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. This prayer, uttered in faith, will reclaim the one who is ill, and the Lord will restore him to health.”
In our day the presbyters have come to be called priests. And the anointing has been recognized as a Sacrament. So, any priest can administer this sacrament, in which he represents Jesus suffering with the person being anointed, and acting to strengthen or even heal that person. Especially if that person is baptized, Jesus considers him or her as a member of His own Mystical Body, and, like in the gospel accounts, immediately turns to come and help.
Jesus always responds to need, to weakness. But: He told us in the gospel that God hides Himself from those who believe they know all the answers (the “wise of this world”) but reveals Himself to the simple and childlike. Those asking for a miraculous healing must ask in faith, James wrote. And in humility, not demanding it. Jesus always ignored demands for a sign, for example. It is up to God to decide, and He will surely make the best, most loving choice, because He is God and God is love.
One thing for sure: if we ask in faith and humility, the result will be what is best for the one who is suffering. And God does not get tired of our asking. These days we are encouraged to ask for this sacrament as soon as we are aware of the sickness, rather than to wait until the situation looks desperate. We must not think of it as a sure sign of death! It is a humble summoning of Jesus to the sick person to do whatever His heart tells Him to do, knowing that He is always loving and merciful.
It is said that “actions speak louder than words.” When we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life before He was arrested, we find that his actions have a big place in the text. There are many accounts of him healing the sick, even two or three occasions when He raised someone from the dead. There can be no doubt that Jesus had that power and that he used it generously.
Do we need to ask why? Jesus is God, and God is love. When He saw people suffering, He suffered with them. We were not created so that we should suffer, after all, but so that we could be happy on earth and fully, overwhelmingly happy with Him in Heaven after death.
And sometimes His suffering led to tears. We read in the Gospel of John that Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus when Martha and Mary took him there. We read in chapter 19 of Luke’s gospel that he wept when He saw the city of Jerusalem from a distance and realized how sinful it had become and how much misery was in its future. St Paul says, although it is not written in the Gospels, that He also wept at Gethsemane. He did not display a distant, “manly” hard heart, but one that feels deeply when in the presence of suffering.
Some of His healing acts were in response to being asked for them. Others just simply came from His soft heart, what we now often call His Sacred Heart. He could not just pass by and do nothing. And so people had confidence in him and approached him with such confidence.
Are we to suppose that He has changed since then? In John 14:12-13 Jesus tells us: “I solemnly assure you, the man who has faith in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these. .. Whatever you ask in my name I will do.” And we know from the Acts of the Apostles that not only Peter and Paul but also others among the early Christians were going about healing the sick in Jesus’ name. In the letter of James, chapter 5, he writes: “Is there anyone sick among you? He should ask for the presbyters of the church. They in turn are to pray over him (or her), anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. This prayer, uttered in faith, will reclaim the one who is ill, and the Lord will restore him to health.”
In our day the presbyters have come to be called priests. And the anointing has been recognized as a Sacrament. So, any priest can administer this sacrament, in which he represents Jesus suffering with the person being anointed, and acting to strengthen or even heal that person. Especially if that person is baptized, Jesus considers him or her as a member of His own Mystical Body, and, like in the gospel accounts, immediately turns to come and help.
Jesus always responds to need, to weakness. But: He told us in the gospel that God hides Himself from those who believe they know all the answers (the “wise of this world”) but reveals Himself to the simple and childlike. Those asking for a miraculous healing must ask in faith, James wrote. And in humility, not demanding it. Jesus always ignored demands for a sign, for example. It is up to God to decide, and He will surely make the best, most loving choice, because He is God and God is love.
One thing for sure: if we ask in faith and humility, the result will be what is best for the one who is suffering. And God does not get tired of our asking. These days we are encouraged to ask for this sacrament as soon as we are aware of the sickness, rather than to wait until the situation looks desperate. We must not think of it as a sure sign of death! It is a humble summoning of Jesus to the sick person to do whatever His heart tells Him to do, knowing that He is always loving and merciful.
