The Sacrament of Anointing the Sick

The Connection Between Illness and Sin

Illness can be devastating in the family. For this reason, a large amount of so-called cures for illness exist. Why is illness so frightening? Because every morsel of illness or infirmity is a taste of death itself; a reminder of not only our frailty but our very mortality. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it: "Avery illness can make us glimpse death." (CCC 1500). Sickness and death are abvious obstacles to every-day life. They are stumbling blocks in all of our lives. And they are enemies of our natural happiness.

Disease and death are not sinful in themselves (e.g. it is not evil for one to be sick), but they are results of evil; or, more specifically, the very first, orginal sin committed by Adam and Eve. This goes to show that sin has such a disruptive influence in the world that indeed, its consequence is more than just Spiritual- it is also physical. Sickness and death are both results and consequences of sin. Paul realized this, as he proclaims in Romans 5:12 that "sin came into the world through one man and death through sin." It is evident that throughout the Old Testament, "it is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil." (CCC 1502). David writes, in Psalm 6:2-3, "Do not reprove me in your anger, Lord, nor punish me in your wrath. Have pity on me Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling." And again, in Psalm 38:4, "My flesh is afflicted because of your anger; my frame aches because of my sin." On the end of the spectrum, we see that God's forgiveness of sin initiates healing (see Mark 2:5-12, Luke 1:20). I think it proper and graceful for the Catechism to state, "It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of Life and Death, that he implores healing. Illness becomes a way to conversion; God's forgiveness initiates the healing." (CCC 1502).  

The physical evils of sickness and death offend human consciousness because we deeply feel that these things are not supposed to occur-- that they unnaturally invade upon our natural life. Moreover, we feel offended because it is often not our own sin that causes our suffering. When God created the Earth and humanity, His original plan included neither sickness nor death. This is perhaps the reason of our offense to the unnaturality of sickness and disease. While some claim that death is natural and should be embraced with anticipation, this claim fails to satisfy the only one of God's creatures to long for the supernatural.

In an attempt to gain back what was lost; to return to our natural and original state, humanity is prompted to seek freedom from disease and death. And in this way, we naturally long to seek salvation from sin. This urge is the very root of the Messianic longing of the people of Israel. Faith in the God of the partiarchs and prophets who has the power to heal (cf. Exodus 15:26) led Israel to hope for the Messianic era when "no inhabitant will say, 'I am sick'" and "the people who dwell will be forgiven their iniquities." (Isaiah 33:24). Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, aimed at fulfilling these Old Testament prophecies, and announces the Kingdom of God with frequent healings (cf. Is 29:18-19, 35:5-6, 61:1; Matthew 11:5-6, Lk 7:16, 20-23).

Jesus Christ the Physician

In Divine fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and expectations, Christ's announcement of the Kingdom of God included, as one of its main themes, healing. Matthew 11:3-6 reads: " 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?' Jesus said to them in reply, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at Me.' " And so where Adam brought into the world sin and sickness, Christ, the second Adam, brought to the World forgiveness and eternal life.

Christ frequently healed people, in person, of their sicknesses. The statement Christ made in Matthew 11:3-6 was more than fulfilled in His ministry. He gave sight to the blind (Mark 8:22-29), He made the lame walk (Mark 2:1-5, 11), he cleansed lepers (Mark 1:40-45), He made the deaf hear (Mark 7:31-35), He rose the dead (John 11:38-44), and He proclaimed the Good News (John 3:16). Christ not only satisifed His announcement of the Kingdom of God, but He also took the time to perform many other healings. He went so far as to cure a mere fever (Mark 1:31). He expelled a huge amount of demons (Mark 1:23-28, Mark 1:32-34, Mark 1:39, Mark 3:11, Mark 3:20-30, Mark 5:1-20, Mark 7:24-30, Mark 9:25, Matthew 4:24, Matthew 9:32-34, Luke 8:2, Luke 13:32). He cured a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6). He healed a woman with a hemorrhage (Mark 5:25-34). And for the party's sake, He turned some water into sine (John 2:1-12).

It needs to be noted, however, that Christ's ministry did not stop the healings. His newly established Church, conisisting at first of His disciples and followers, continued in Christ's footsteps. Peter healed many (Acts 3:1-20; 5:15), as did Paul (Acts 14:8-10; 19:12). Peter even raised Dorcus from the dead (Acts 9:36-42), where Paul raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:7-12). And so the early Church continued healing in Christ's name, not of only sin, but of sin's physical consequences.

The Sacramentality of Extreme Unction

As Christ's Church, the modern Church attempts to follow all of His commandments, and continue in His footsteps, with Him ever present in the Church (Matthew 28:20, cf. 1 Timothy 3:15). Therefore, just as Christ healed, and just as the Early Church continued to heal, so the modern Church deems it necessary for itself to heal. The question is not, "Should we heal?" (that is an obvious 'yes'). The question is how we are to heal. In examining the Scriptures, one would expect to find a guideline for healing in the Church. James 5:14-15 satisfies that expectation:

Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

In the above text, we see a clear commandment from James (who is under the influence of the Holy Spirit) for elders of the Church to anoint the sick with oil and pray over them, that they might be healed and raised up by the Lord. We also see the vital character of sin working into the process with God's forgiveness of this sin during the restoration of the person's health.

While Anointing of the Sick is an obvious commandment from James, it is not a Sacrament unless it can be proven that Christ Himself instituted it while He was on Earth. Searching the New Testament, we find that in no place can it be said that Christ explicitly instituted Extreme Unction as a Sacrament. Why then, does James give us such specific guidelines? The answer, as you may have hypothesized, is that while not directly instituted by Christ, the sacrament of Extreme Unction is implicitly commanded by Him. Mark 6:13:

                They expelled many demons, anointed the sick with oil, and worked many cures.     

"They" in the above text refers to the apostles. We can rest fairly assured that the apostles, as ambassadors for Christ, did things in His name and under His command. Furthermore, it would seem from the context (which is Christ's sermon to the apostles), that Christ had said something to the apostles, resulting in their going out and "anointing the sick with oil." What can be said with little doubt is that the Bible at least exalts anointing of the sick to the level of the "expulsion of demons" and "working cures." Moreover, we have the fact that Extreme Unction is to be administered "in the name of the Lord," which implies that it should be done under the command of God, and consequentially, as a result od Christ's commandment.

The Patristic and Ecclesiastical Evidence for Extreme Unction

The Patristic Evidence for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is minimal. Origen, quoting James 5:14, speaks of the forgiveness of sins, but does not clearly and distinctly distinguish it from the forgiveness of sins by the sacrament of Penance. (In Lev, hom. 2,4). The Church ritual of St. Hippolytus of Rome contains a short prayer for the consecration of the oil, in which prayers are offered for the "strengthening of all who require it, and health on all who use it." It is obvious from the effects of the oil that it was used, although not necessarily exclusively, for anointing of the sick. The Euchologian of Serapion of Thmuis (c. 360) contains a detailed prayer of consecration in which liberation from bodily illness and debility, expulsion of evil spirits, and communication of grace and forgiveness of sins are mentioned as effects of anointing of the sick. Pope Innocent I (401-417), in a letter to Decentius of Eugubium (d 99), attests that the passage James 5:14f is to be taken as referring to the faithful who are sick, that the oil of the sick must be prepared, that is, consecrated by the bishop, that either a priest or a bishop can anoint the sick, and that Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament.

The Catechism defends the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in this way:

[1506-1510] Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn.. By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. [Mark 6:12-13]". The risen Lord renews this mission ("In my name . . . they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. [Mark 16:17-18]") and confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking his name (cf. Acts 9:34; 14:3). These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly "God who saves." (cf. Mat 1:21) The Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing (cf. 1 Cor 12:9, 28, 30) so as to make manifest the power of the grace of the risen Lord. But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all illnesses. Thus St. Paul must learn from the Lord that "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," and that the sufferings to be endured can mean that "in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church." "Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies. This presence is particularly active through the sacraments, and in an altogether special way through the Eucharist, the bread that gives eternal life and that St. Paul suggests is connected with bodily health. However, the apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters] of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven sacraments.

The Effects of Extreme Unction: Why Doesn't God Always Heal?

God does not always heal the physical infirmities that afflict us. Paul preached to the Galatians while he was afflicted by a "bodily ailment" (Gal 4:13-14). He also mentions that he had to leave his companion Trophimus in the town of Miletus because he was too sick to travel (2 Tim. 4:20). In his first letter to Timothy, Paul urges his young protégé to "no longer drink only water, but to use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" (1 Tim. 5:23).

The last passage is especially informative. Not only does it reveal that not all illnesses were always healed in the apostolic age, but it also shows an apostle's practical advice to a fellow Christian on how to deal with an illness. Notice that Paul does not tell Timothy to pray harder and have more faith that God will heal him from his stomach ailment. Rather, he tells him how to manage the illness through medicinal means.

Some argue that healings were always instantaneous and were only for those living during the apostolic age, but that afterward this gift disappeared. The problem with that theory is that the Bible tells us otherwise. For example, when Jesus healed the blind man at Bethsaida, he had to lay his hands upon him twice before the man was fully healed (Mark 8:22-26).

If God can heal us, why doesn't he? Why isn't it always his will to do so? Doesn't he want his children to be healed? Scripture answers this question with a question: "Have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?--'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives' [Pr. 3:11-12]. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

"If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Heb. 12:5-11).