20180526
THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING
26 MAY, 2018, Saturday, 7th Week,
Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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James 5:13-20 ©
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A good man's heartfelt prayer has great power
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If any one of you is in trouble, he should pray; if anyone is
feeling happy, he should sing a psalm. If one of you is ill, he should send for
the elders of the church, and they must anoint him with oil in the name of the
Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord
will raise him up again; and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, and this will
cure you; the heartfelt prayer of a good man works very powerfully. Elijah was
a human being like ourselves – he prayed hard for it not to rain, and no
rain fell for three-and-a-half years; then he prayed again and the sky gave
rain and the earth gave crops.
My brothers,
if one of you strays away from the truth, and another brings him back to it, he
may be sure that anyone who can bring back a sinner from the wrong way that he
has taken will be saving a soul from death and covering up a great number of
sins.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 140(141):1-3,8 ©
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Let my prayer come before you like incense, O
Lord.
I have called to you, Lord; hasten to help me!
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer arise before you like incense,
the raising of my hands like an evening oblation.
Let my prayer come before you like incense, O
Lord.
Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth;
keep watch, O Lord, at the door of my lips!
To you, Lord God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge; spare my soul!
Let my prayer come before you like incense, O
Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn15:9,5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Remain in my love, says the Lord;
whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 10:13-16 ©
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It is to such as these little children that the kingdom of God
belongs
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People were bringing little children to Jesus, for him to touch
them. The disciples turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant
and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it
is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly,
anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never
enter it.’ Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave
them his blessing.
THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JAMES 5:13-20; MARK 10:13-16
]
We all need
healing, be it physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual. The Lord continues
to heal as He had always done during His earthly ministry. But He has not
stopped healing us because He commanded His disciples to continue His work of
healing and exorcism. Indeed, we read that the primitive Church
continued the ministry of healing through the apostles. Over the
years, the healing ministry took on a more sacramental and structured
form. By the time of St James, we see the sacrament of healing in the
form of the anointing of the sick and the confession of sins to one
another. It is from this basis that the sacraments of healing as
celebrated in our Church today are founded. Today, the Church continues
to heal through the sacraments of the sick and reconciliation.
It is a pity
that many Catholics lack appreciation of these two sacraments of
healing when Christ comes to heal us sacramentally, that is, in a
tangible way, through the use of holy oil in the sacrament of the sick and
through the absolution given by the priest in the sacrament of
reconciliation. Why does the Lord heal us in this way if not for the fact
that we are Incarnational beings? Even children need to be touched.
We read that Jesus “put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave
them his blessing.” Of course, we must not receive the sacraments of the
sick and forgiveness of sins in a superstitious manner. Rather, Jesus
knows that as human beings we need to be touched to feel the power of
God. He knows too that we need to hear the words of forgiveness and so He
spoke to the paralytic, “your sins are forgiven.” And at Pentecost, Jesus
specifically gave the power to His apostles to forgive, saying, “Receive the
Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if
you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn 20:23)
And also to Peter, He gave him the authority to pardon sins when He said, “I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.” (Mt 16:19)
So what
is preventing us from making full use of these two sacraments? There
are two reasons, ignorance and sin, especially the foundational sin of
pride. Firstly, many Catholics have been misled into
thinking that these two sacraments are inventions of the Church to control the
laity. Far from the truth, because all of us, regardless whether we are
the pope, bishop or priest, need to avail ourselves of these two
sacraments. Even the Pope needs to look for a priest to have his
sins absolved and a priest to anoint him when he is sick. In fact the Pope,
bishops and priests frequent the sacrament of reconciliation more often than
the lay faithful because we know the healing power of this sacrament and
because we are aware of our sinfulness. Without regular celebration of
the sacrament of reconciliation our hearts will become numb to our sins.
Just as no one can baptize himself, so no one can forgive himself. Jesus
wants us to come to Him through the established channels of grace in the
sacraments of the sick and reconciliation.
In truth, it
is our pride that prevents us from going for the sacrament of reconciliation;
we do not want to expose our wretchedness and sinfulness to another human
being. In human relationships, we need to hear the words of forgiveness
when we have hurt someone we love. Why should it be different when it comes to
hurting God? We too would like to hear God’s pronouncement of
forgiveness; and what is more tangible than to hear it from the minister that
He has chosen to act on His behalf. So no matter what reasons we give to
justify our not celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation, it all boils down
to our pride and ego. We do not want to humble ourselves and admit that
we are sinners before God and before man.
Secondly, many
fail to see the relationship between healing and forgiveness. We
cannot speak of healing without forgiveness, received and given. Healing
is always of the mind and the body which are closely interconnected. The
human person is one composite whole. He is an embodied spirit. So
although spirit and body are distinct, they are not separable. Both act
in tandem with each other. The body can affect the spirit and vice
versa. If the soul or the mind is sick the body will eventually lose its
immune resistance. And if the person is emotionally wounded, he will
eventually fall into depression and then become physically ill. The
illness of a person could begin from physical sickness, which then affects the
human spirit. Thus, the sacrament of confession together with the
sacrament of the sick are intended to bring healing to the mind, spirit and
body. The first step to healing is always the forgiveness of sins and the
capacity to forgive. Once a person is liberated from his or her sins, he
or she is able to see others’ compassion and set those who have hurt them free.
Thirdly, many
see their sins as a personal sin against God. All our sins,
regardless how private or personal they are, are always sins against God,
Christ and His mystical body. If Christ is hurt by our sins, so is His
body the Church. Any member of the Body of Christ who has sinned against
the community, weakens the holiness of the Church and makes the Church less
credible. Because one sins against the community, forgiveness must be sought
from the community, of which the Bishop, as the head of the Christian
community, forgives his or her sins through his deputy, his priests. At
any rate, it is the whole Christ, head and body that wants to forgive us, not
just the head without the body. As in the early Church, it is not
confessing to just anyone, but to the elder of the Church. For this
reason, St James exhorted his community to call for the elder. He wrote,
“If any one of you is in trouble, he should pray; if anyone is feeling happy,
he should sing a psalm. If one of you is ill, he should send for the elders of
the church, and they must anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray
over him.”
Of course, the sacraments
of reconciliation and the sick are more than just the forgiveness of sins but
restoration of a person’s general health. Forgiveness of sins, which
is the fundamental healing that takes place, is followed by the healing of the
body as well. And of course when such a prayer is made by a man of faith,
the prayer is more efficacious, for as St James taught, “The prayer of faith
will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up again; and if he has
committed any sins, he will be forgiven. So confess your sins to one another,
and pray for one another, and this will cure you; the heartfelt prayer of a
good man works very powerfully. Elijah was a human being like ourselves – he
prayed hard for it not to rain, and no rain fell for three-and-a-half years;
then he prayed again and the sky gave rain and the earth gave crops.”
Let us pray
for the gift of humility and faith. This is what the gospel is inviting us to do. Jesus
said, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such
as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does
not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
To be like little children means to surrender our lives to God in faith for
forgiveness and healing. It calls for humility, like a child asking for
forgiveness, and recognition of our need for healing. Without the
humility of a child and faith, we cannot receive the sacraments of the sick and
reconciliation. But when we humble ourselves before the Lord, like Naaman
the leper, we will be healed and be set free from our fears, anger and
unhappiness.
We must also
encourage those who have not availed themselves of these sacraments by removing their
ignorance and fears. St James tells us, “My brothers, if one of you
strays away from the truth, and another brings him back to it, he may be sure
that anyone who can bring back a sinner from the wrong way that he has taken
will be saving a soul from death and covering up a great number of sins.”
Let us help those who are broken to be reconciled with God and their
fellowmen. By bringing them to Christ, we save his soul.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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