I got a free ticket to go for this adrenaline-seeking attraction in Sentosa, called the ParaJump. It is supposed to be as simple as taking a plunge from 15m high platform. I was elated when I got the free ticket, with so much excitement inside of me to try it out. But once I reached the platform, my heart started pounding much faster than usual. When it was finally my turn to take the fall, my legs gave way. I was trembling, and almost asked the staff to let me go back without doing it. In the end, I needed some minutes to calm myself down & some  guidance plus a bit of “push” from the staff before “falling” successfully.

What I’ve experienced during this ParaJump game is somewhat similar with our experience with sickness and Jesus, in our own journey of life. At first, we are always excited to be alive, to live our life. At the glimpse of what sickness could do to us (perhaps by witnessing other people gotten sick) sometimes would make us worry too. When we are the one facing it, we would try thousands of ways to run away from the suffering it inflicted. And so, the Church has this one sacrament for us, to give us peace & courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness/old age, just like the “push” that the staff from the ParaJump attraction gave me.

So, where is this Sacrament coming from? From today’s spiritual reading (“Healing of a Paralytic”, Mark 2 : 1-12), we learned that Jesus comes to heal the whole of a person, body (“He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home” “, verse 11) and soul (“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven” “, verse 5). Notice that Jesus’ healing is primarily directed towards the healing of the person’s soul, as he forgave the paralytic’s sins first before enabled him to walk again. The Church today also continues Jesus’ body-n-soul healing ministry through various ways, for example by church sponsored hospice care, catholic hospitals, etc but most importantly & primarily is by the conferment of the Sacrament of Anointing of The Sick, which was described in the New Testament from James 5:13-15.

Notice the following words from St James “… 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“. This is exactly the same with what Jesus himself did to the paralytic in today’s spiritual reading. How about the physical healing that the paralytic was also granted? From the story, we know that right before Jesus physically healed the man, he was scolding the scribes present there for they were accusing  Jesus of blasphemy (because of his sins forgiving action). Jesus then healed the paralytic, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” (verse 10). It was apparent that Jesus wanted to show these scribes some lessons, perhaps hoping to increase their faith as well, by physically heal the paralytic. It is apparent that, Jesus physical healing of the paralytic is actually aimed to aid in His spiritual healing for those who had little faith in Him. 

Now, before we could understand how Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick continues Jesus’ healing ministry, let’s take a closer look on the Rites of this Sacrament. As described in James, this Sacrament could only be given by priest/bishop (“presbyters of the church”) and must be done in communion (sacrament celebrated by community/family of the sick,not only 1-to-1 between priest & the sick). If possible, it is best to be preceded by Sacrament of Penance and followed by Sacrament of Eucharist. If not possible, it would then be celebrated by liturgy of the word (preceded by act of repentance), and then followed by conferment of the sacrament to the sick with the following principal elements: the “priests of the Church” in silence – lay hands on the sick; they pray over them in the faith of the Church; they then anoint them with oil blessed by bishop, while saying “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”.

Now that we’ve known the Rites of the  Sacrament, we could see how Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick continues Jesus’ healing ministry. What are the things that Jesus, through the Church, hopes to give by this Sacrament? According to Cathecism of the Catholic Church (CCC), there are 5 hoped-for effects:

Looking at how marvelous is the hoped-for effects of this sacrament, let us starting from now on, advocate this Sacrament to be received by our sick friends & families, so that they too, could experience Jesus’ healing power, and in turn, be courageous to live their life despite their sickness.