General Audience: Jesus is close to us in Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick
(Vatican Radio) At his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis spoke about the Sacrament
of the Anointing of the Sick. This Sacrament, the Pope said, “allows us to ‘touch’
God’s compassion for man.”
The Holy Father said the “profound mystery” of the
Sacrament is expressed in a “biblical icon,” the parable of the Good Samaritan. “Every
time we celebrated the Sacrament, the Lord Jesus, in the person of the priest, is
close to the one who suffers and is gravely ill, or elderly.” When the good Samaritan
tends to the victim of the robbers, the oil and wine he pours on his wounds represent
the oil of the sick used in Sacrament, the love and grace of Jesus for those who are
suffering. The good Samaritan then takes the man to an inn, and asks the innkeeper
to care for him. The innkeeper, the Pope said, represents the Church, the Christian
community, to whom, every day, Christ entrusts “those who are afflicted, whether in
soul or in body, so that He can continue to bestow on them, without measure, all of
His mercy and salvation.
The Pope reminded the crowds that the Sacrament of
Anointing of the Sick was specifically repeated in the New Testament, in the Letter
of Saint James: “Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the
church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the
Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him
up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.”
But, Pope Francis said,
too often people are afraid to call for the priest, because of a certain “taboo” around
the whole topic of suffering and death. He encouraged Christians not to be afraid
to request the Sacrament, but to remember that in the Sacrament Jesus is close to
the sick and the aged.
“It is good to know that in the moment of suffering
and of sickness that we are not alone,” he said. The priest, and those present for
the Sacrament represent the whole Christian community, which embraces those who are
suffering and their families, supporting them with their prayers and their fraternal
care. But the greatest comfort comes from knowing that Jesus Himself is present in
the Sacrament, and that nothing can ever separate us from Him.