MASS OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK
Fr. Leo Thomas was a Dominican priest who had a gift of healing the sick. In a book he writes of how he ministered to a fellow Dominican, called only “Fr. Anthony,” who had cancer. When Fr. Anthony eventually died, his superior asked Fr. Leo if he wanted to preach at the funeral mass. Fr. Leo writes that he had the distinct impression that the superior was asking Fr. Leo to bury one of his “failures” because he had prayed for Fr. Anthony’s healing for six months. No, Fr. Leo concluded, he hadn’t failed. During the time of ministry, Fr. Anthony experienced a transformation. He went from having an intellectual idea of God’s love to a feeling of God’s compassion and an experiential knowledge of God’s care. He became ready for, indeed he had a glimpse of, eternal life. This kind of transformation is what the Sacrament of Anointing proposes.
The principal purpose of the Sacrament of the Sick is to take away sins. For this reason it is grouped with the Sacrament of Reconciliation as the “sacraments of healing.” This does not mean, of course, that sickness is caused by personal sin as was commonly thought in Biblical times and is sometimes held today. Disease is a manifestation of evil in the world which God sent His son Jesus Christ to overcome. We remember Jesus telling his disciples when he is about to cure the man born blind, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him” (Jn 9:3).
The second benefit of the Sacrament of the Sick is that it strengthens the soul’s conviction that God can and will save us. With increased confidence in God’s mercy, the sick person can “more easily bear the trials and hardships of his sickness and resist the temptations of the devil.” “What temptations?” we may ask. The truth is the sick and aged may commit many kinds of sins. Burdened by sickness, they might curse God! This serious sin is exactly what tempted Job, but didn’t succeed in bringing him down. More typically the sick can become cranky and inconsiderate of those around them and even forget to thank God for their lives.
We should not expect physical recovery with sacramental anointing, but we should not exclude the possibility either. We certainly can hope that it takes place and we have all heard stories of it doing precisely that. But like Fr. Thomas, we do not have to think that the sacrament has failed if after its administration there is no physical change or if the patient’s physical condition becomes worse. The primary purpose of the sacrament is to strengthen our faith, not our body.
So let’s come forward – any who are seriously sick or weakened with age – to receive the Sacrament of the Sick. Believe that Jesus is bringing you salvation. Perhaps you will not be healed of the infirmity but your faith shall increase in Jesus. He will deliver you from death. He will give an eternal home. Be at peace.
Homilette for Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Wednesday, II Lent, March 7, 2007
The great virtuoso violinist Ishak Perlman tells the story of a woman asking him to listen to her son play the violin. When Perlman rather reluctantly agreed, the mother took out a tape recorder and played a cassette. Perlman marveled at the beautiful music. “He sounds just like Ya Ya Haifitz,” Perlman said. “That is Ya Ya Haifitz,” the mother replied, “and my son plays just like that.”
Parents are apt to exaggerate their children’s talents. Children may allow them to do so if they see some gain for themselves. Evidently James and John do not mind their mother soliciting Jesus for seats ahead of Peter and the rest of the disciples in the Kingdom of God. But the brothers’ exalted images of themselves in the Kingdom do not impress Jesus. He is interested in whether they are willing to suffer for the sake of that kingdom.
Lent is the season for us to get a grip on our pride. Most of us generally think too much of ourselves. Rather than compare ourselves downwards to see how much better we are in some things than other people, we should compare ourselves with the saints. Then we will see how we fail to trust God with our worries and how we fail to love our enemies with our prayers.
The great virtuoso violinist Ishak Perlman tells the story of a woman asking him to listen to her son play the violin. When Perlman rather reluctantly agreed, the mother took out a tape recorder and played a cassette. Perlman marveled at the beautiful music. “He sounds just like Ya Ya Haifitz,” Perlman said. “That is Ya Ya Haifitz,” the mother replied, “and my son plays just like that.”
Parents are apt to exaggerate their children’s talents. Children may allow them to do so if they see some gain for themselves. Evidently James and John do not mind their mother soliciting Jesus for seats ahead of Peter and the rest of the disciples in the Kingdom of God. But the brothers’ exalted images of themselves in the Kingdom do not impress Jesus. He is interested in whether they are willing to suffer for the sake of that kingdom.
Lent is the season for us to get a grip on our pride. Most of us generally think too much of ourselves. Rather than compare ourselves downwards to see how much better we are in some things than other people, we should compare ourselves with the saints. Then we will see how we fail to trust God with our worries and how we fail to love our enemies with our prayers.
Homilett for Tuesday, March 6, `972
Tuesday, Week II
(Matthew 23)
The gospel today should hit church-goers between the eyes. Jesus is criticizing the Pharisees, the religious zealots who give religion a bad name. They are pompous about practicing religion, but are hardly charitable toward other people. The passage implicitly asks us if we may not be women and men of the Pharisees. Do we like to be seen in church but afterwards gossip about people? Do we pray at home but then express intolerance for other races and religions? If so, we would be among the biggest of sinners in Jesus’ book.
Of course, not all people who come to church are Pharisees – far from it. But at times someone calls the rectory demanding an apology for something as small as a mass intention that he had requested not being announced publicly. Certainly priests can be among the greatest of the Pharisees. The scandal over sexual abuse of children and adolescents testifies amply to that. When we find Pharisaical tendencies in our behavior, we must seek God’s assistance in prayer. We should also keep in mind Jesus’ constant teaching about humility. The ones who exalt themselves God will humble while those who act humbly, God will exalt.
(Matthew 23)
The gospel today should hit church-goers between the eyes. Jesus is criticizing the Pharisees, the religious zealots who give religion a bad name. They are pompous about practicing religion, but are hardly charitable toward other people. The passage implicitly asks us if we may not be women and men of the Pharisees. Do we like to be seen in church but afterwards gossip about people? Do we pray at home but then express intolerance for other races and religions? If so, we would be among the biggest of sinners in Jesus’ book.
Of course, not all people who come to church are Pharisees – far from it. But at times someone calls the rectory demanding an apology for something as small as a mass intention that he had requested not being announced publicly. Certainly priests can be among the greatest of the Pharisees. The scandal over sexual abuse of children and adolescents testifies amply to that. When we find Pharisaical tendencies in our behavior, we must seek God’s assistance in prayer. We should also keep in mind Jesus’ constant teaching about humility. The ones who exalt themselves God will humble while those who act humbly, God will exalt.
Homilette for Monday, March 5, 2007
Monday, Lent Week 2
(Luke 6)
Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in 1998. Shepard’s killers assaulted him because he was a homosexual. After the guilty verdict Shepard’s parents agreed with the state not to seek the death penalty. Shepard’s father told one of the killers, “I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney, but now is the time to heal.” Although this may sound like half-hearted forgiveness, it probably took real courage to utter.
In the gospel today Jesus calls us to be merciful. It has been pointed out that where in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus calls his disciples to be perfect, Luke shows him emphasizing mercy as if mercy is the perfection of God. When we are called upon to forgive a really serious offense, it certainly seems like a superhuman task. As one poet put it, “To err is human; to forgive divine.”
What’s critical is that we don’t dwell on how we feel in such situations. Naturally we are upset. Many times anger will remain as a residue in us like the smoke marks around a fire place. We should imitate Matthew Shepard’s father and not let what we would like to see rule over what we think. No, as Jesus’ disciples, we must decide to forgive those who offend us.
(Luke 6)
Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in 1998. Shepard’s killers assaulted him because he was a homosexual. After the guilty verdict Shepard’s parents agreed with the state not to seek the death penalty. Shepard’s father told one of the killers, “I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney, but now is the time to heal.” Although this may sound like half-hearted forgiveness, it probably took real courage to utter.
In the gospel today Jesus calls us to be merciful. It has been pointed out that where in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus calls his disciples to be perfect, Luke shows him emphasizing mercy as if mercy is the perfection of God. When we are called upon to forgive a really serious offense, it certainly seems like a superhuman task. As one poet put it, “To err is human; to forgive divine.”
What’s critical is that we don’t dwell on how we feel in such situations. Naturally we are upset. Many times anger will remain as a residue in us like the smoke marks around a fire place. We should imitate Matthew Shepard’s father and not let what we would like to see rule over what we think. No, as Jesus’ disciples, we must decide to forgive those who offend us.
Homily for Sunday, March 4, 2007
II Sunday of Lent
(Luke 9)
Context is critical. If we yell “fire” in a theatre where there is no fire, we might be convicted of manslaughter. But if, in fact, a fire has broken out, we might be rewarded as heroes. There is a significant context to Jesus’ going up the mountain to pray. He has just made the realization that he will suffer and be killed on behalf of the people. He shares this prediction with his disciples. And he tells them that they will have to take up their crosses behind him.
Mountains are places of visions. The night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his famous “mountaintop” speech. He said that he had received a letter from a little girl after he had been stabbed in the chest. The knife blade had lodged itself a fraction of an inch from his heart so that if he had sneezed it would have killed him. The girl wrote that she was glad he hadn’t sneezed. Dr. King admitted that he too was glad he hadn’t sneezed. He said that if he had, he could not have been to the mountaintop. From the mountaintop he saw African-Americans in Selma, Alabama, and Albany, Georgia, standing up for their rights. From the mountaintop he saw hundreds of thousands of people – black and white – endorse his dream of equality in Washington, D.C. That was is a great vision of liberation, but there is a vision of even greater liberation on the mountaintop with Jesus.
Jesus is being “changed in appearance” with his clothing becoming “dazzling white.” No doubt, this transfiguration consoles him after becoming aware that he will be crucified. Now he is assured that his death will end in glory. We can appreciate Jesus’ new confidence. As we saw in the gospel about the temptations last week, Jesus is human like us. No one wants to suffer. But if we can be guaranteed that our pain has purpose, we might bear it. So marathon runners undergo grueling conditioning in order to compete at Boston or New York. So teachers forsake large salaries in order to assist children learn. So parents sacrifice meals and rest in order to care of a sick infant.
The conversation with Moses and Elijah is also encouraging. The two prophets inform Jesus that his “exodus” or death in Jerusalem is not incidental. Rather, he will die there to fulfill what God his Father has planned for His people from the beginning. Moses led the original exodus freeing the Israelites from slavery and bringing them to the Promised Land. Elijah waged the winless battle of keeping Israel faithful to God’s law. Now Christ will bring the work of freedom and faithfulness to completion. Liberation will begin in Jerusalem and go out to the whole world. Jesus will free us from our sins and send his Spirit to keep us faithful to his new law of love.
With the disciples we should be waking from our sleep. That is, we should become aware of how we have been held captive. Slave masters do not bind us. But distorted values of our contemporaries do. There is a saying, “In America one cannot be either too rich or too thin.” America esteems money and sex, the drive behind its obsession with thinness. Even people who come to church talk of wealth as if it were their greatest hope. Many hold sexual pleasure as a natural right like voting or education. All the attention given to Anne Nicole Smith’s demise last month illustrates this reality.
From the cloud God claims Jesus as His son. He urges the disciples, “...listen to him.” The ordeal he will undergo will unbind them. His teachings will point them in the direction of heaven, their true goal. Jesus teaches us not to despise money but to help the poor with it so that our treasure may accrue in heaven. He tells us that sex is to be treated with utmost regard. We are not to lust after one another but to love everyone as a brother or sister. This coming week in the mission we will listen to more of Jesus’ teaching. I think that you will find it interesting and hope that you can attend.
The movie “Flags of Our Fathers” shows what we might call the liberation of Iwo Jima. Japanese soldiers are dug into the rocks like ants. U.S. marines must fight them hand-to-hand in cases. For awhile it’s a winless battle. But at last there’s the vision of the American flag raised on the mountaintop. We can think of Jesus liberating us from the distorted contemporary values of money and sex with even greater effort. He has to suffer and be killed. But he makes the sacrifice out of love for us, his brothers and sisters. He loves us.
(Luke 9)
Context is critical. If we yell “fire” in a theatre where there is no fire, we might be convicted of manslaughter. But if, in fact, a fire has broken out, we might be rewarded as heroes. There is a significant context to Jesus’ going up the mountain to pray. He has just made the realization that he will suffer and be killed on behalf of the people. He shares this prediction with his disciples. And he tells them that they will have to take up their crosses behind him.
Mountains are places of visions. The night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his famous “mountaintop” speech. He said that he had received a letter from a little girl after he had been stabbed in the chest. The knife blade had lodged itself a fraction of an inch from his heart so that if he had sneezed it would have killed him. The girl wrote that she was glad he hadn’t sneezed. Dr. King admitted that he too was glad he hadn’t sneezed. He said that if he had, he could not have been to the mountaintop. From the mountaintop he saw African-Americans in Selma, Alabama, and Albany, Georgia, standing up for their rights. From the mountaintop he saw hundreds of thousands of people – black and white – endorse his dream of equality in Washington, D.C. That was is a great vision of liberation, but there is a vision of even greater liberation on the mountaintop with Jesus.
Jesus is being “changed in appearance” with his clothing becoming “dazzling white.” No doubt, this transfiguration consoles him after becoming aware that he will be crucified. Now he is assured that his death will end in glory. We can appreciate Jesus’ new confidence. As we saw in the gospel about the temptations last week, Jesus is human like us. No one wants to suffer. But if we can be guaranteed that our pain has purpose, we might bear it. So marathon runners undergo grueling conditioning in order to compete at Boston or New York. So teachers forsake large salaries in order to assist children learn. So parents sacrifice meals and rest in order to care of a sick infant.
The conversation with Moses and Elijah is also encouraging. The two prophets inform Jesus that his “exodus” or death in Jerusalem is not incidental. Rather, he will die there to fulfill what God his Father has planned for His people from the beginning. Moses led the original exodus freeing the Israelites from slavery and bringing them to the Promised Land. Elijah waged the winless battle of keeping Israel faithful to God’s law. Now Christ will bring the work of freedom and faithfulness to completion. Liberation will begin in Jerusalem and go out to the whole world. Jesus will free us from our sins and send his Spirit to keep us faithful to his new law of love.
With the disciples we should be waking from our sleep. That is, we should become aware of how we have been held captive. Slave masters do not bind us. But distorted values of our contemporaries do. There is a saying, “In America one cannot be either too rich or too thin.” America esteems money and sex, the drive behind its obsession with thinness. Even people who come to church talk of wealth as if it were their greatest hope. Many hold sexual pleasure as a natural right like voting or education. All the attention given to Anne Nicole Smith’s demise last month illustrates this reality.
From the cloud God claims Jesus as His son. He urges the disciples, “...listen to him.” The ordeal he will undergo will unbind them. His teachings will point them in the direction of heaven, their true goal. Jesus teaches us not to despise money but to help the poor with it so that our treasure may accrue in heaven. He tells us that sex is to be treated with utmost regard. We are not to lust after one another but to love everyone as a brother or sister. This coming week in the mission we will listen to more of Jesus’ teaching. I think that you will find it interesting and hope that you can attend.
The movie “Flags of Our Fathers” shows what we might call the liberation of Iwo Jima. Japanese soldiers are dug into the rocks like ants. U.S. marines must fight them hand-to-hand in cases. For awhile it’s a winless battle. But at last there’s the vision of the American flag raised on the mountaintop. We can think of Jesus liberating us from the distorted contemporary values of money and sex with even greater effort. He has to suffer and be killed. But he makes the sacrifice out of love for us, his brothers and sisters. He loves us.
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