Video Transcript
Edmund: One thing that comes up a lot in movies or if you have a loved one who’s seriously ill and has to go to the hospital, is this idea of the Last Rites. Now the Last Rites actually include several sacraments: Confession, Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist. But the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is one that a lot of people misunderstand. Many people get scared or misunderstand this sacrament because they feel like, you know, if you call a priest, you’re kind of giving up, or it’s, it’s scary to think about a priest coming and blessing you as you’re seriously ill or potentially in the last moments of your life. But what I wish, and what many priests wish that more people knew is that this sacrament offers grace and strength to us when we’re in the midst of illness or suffering. I got a chance to talk to some priests about the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, cuz a lot of people don’t understand the sacramental grace that’s offered to us when we’re experiencing severe illness or suffering.
Fr. Jonathan Raia: A lot of people, especially older people, like they remember Extreme Unction. And so it’s the sense that, yeah, uh, you really receive the sacrament only when you’re like at death’s door. Um, whereas yeah, what the Church says is those who are seriously weakened by illness or old age. Yeah. So I always like when, you know, we tell people in the parish when you’re in the hospital, like, if you know you’re going in for a surgery, call us. If you know you’re gonna be there a while, call us if someone is, goes into hospice, like that’s the time to call us. Not when hospice tells you they have, you know, probably 48 hours left. There are a lot of times where, especially in celebrating the Last Rites, particularly, which is Anointing of the Sick, but also they go to Confession if they can, they renew their baptismal promises. They’re sprinkled with Holy Water. There’s the Apostolic Pardon, which is this like plenary indulgence, right? For, uh, people in danger of death. Um, and, and they receive Holy Communion as Viaticum. So for those Last Rites, the more that they can be conscious and present to it, the better it is and more beautiful, but also the, you know, what they receive is gonna be greater. So I always like when people call, you know, when the person is actually in a state to be able to participate in it. Um, I mean the grace is given regardless, but their receptivity is obviously a lot greater if they’re conscious. Yeah.
Edmund: The Catechism says this in paragraph 1516, “Only priests (bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick. It is the duty of pastors to instruct the faithful on the benefits of the sacrament. The faithful should encourage the sick to call for a priest to receive this sacrament. The sick should prepare themselves to receive it with good dispositions, assisted by their pastor and the whole ecclesial community, which is invited to surround the sick in a special way through their prayers and fraternal attention.”
Fr. Fernando Ricaud: Most hospitals that I’ve been to, or that I’ve heard of, have some kind of chaplain services within the hospital. The challenge is that, uh, those chaplain services, they don’t always have Catholic chaplains, right? Uh, so in those cases, I would recommend asking the nurse to see what they know about what’s offered in that hospital. Then the next step would be, okay, there’s not a Catholic priest here, so I’m gonna, uh, call the territorial parish. Um, so whatever parish is closest to the hospital, um, either that or calling your, your parish priest, if he’s not like in a different city or something. Yeah. Uh, and very often your own parish priest can come and that means a lot to people too.
Edmund: In paragraph 1501, the Catechism explains, “Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn towards that, which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.”
Fr. Fernando Ricaud: Yeah. I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve seen such gratitude afterwards is because they see me as a priest when I anointed them. They see me as Jesus Christ came to see me, and the Church still cares about me because one, I think one of the dilemmas or the pains maybe of being at a hospital or being just gravely sick, is that you start to feel maybe worthless. You start questioning, how much do I still have to give to the world given I’m in this state, I can’t move. So to have someone representing the Church and say, “Hey, we care about you, we pray for you, we’re praying for you, and uh, and we want to help you accompany you.” Uh, that can be very, very tangible,
Edmund: Like facing illness and death can be very intimidating and challenging obviously, and it can be a temptation to turn inward on ourselves in a bad way. The Church offers us the grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The Church wants to surround us with love in the same way we want our family to be with us during these difficult times in our lives. Through the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, Jesus is present to give us grace and strength and to heal our soul. We should encourage one another to call for the Anointing of the Sick from the Church and not be afraid of the sacrament. If we’re receiving this sacrament, we should also try to receive Confession and the Eucharist, and most priests will also offer this along with the Anointing of the Sick. Through the ministry of the priest and the sacrament, the Church and Jesus are present to us when we’re suffering or experiencing severe illness. God offers us grace to strengthen us in times of illness through the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
