THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALINGTHE SACRAMENTS

WHY DO WE NEED HEALING?

BROKENNESS HURT INJURY SUFFERING REJECTION LONELINESS ILLNESS ADDICTION POVERTY

SIN

THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

CCC, 1420-1421

▸ We are still in our "earthly tent," subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.

▸ The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

THE NATURE OF SIN

CCC, 1849, 1854-1855▸Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is

failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.”

▸Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in Scripture, became part of the tradition of the Church. It is corroborated by human experience. Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.

GRAVE SIN MORTAL SIN

VENIAL SIN

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

CCC, 1446

▸Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

THE REASON FOR ‘CONFESSION’

▸ Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins. (CCC 1422)

▸ THE COMMUNAL NATURE OF SIN

▸ THE NATURE OF SACRAMENTAL RECONCILIATION

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

THE FORM OF ‘CONFESSION’▸ Examination of conscience

▸ Acknowledgement of sins

▸ Receive counsel and penance

▸ Make Act of Contrition

▸ Receive absolution

▸ Perform penance

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

REQUIREMENTS FOR A VALID CONFESSION

▸ Honest and thorough examination of conscience

▸ No withholding of mortal sins

▸ Repentance and contrition

▸ Firm purpose of amendment

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

THE EFFECTS OF CONFESSION (CCC, 1468)

▸ The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship. Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation. Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true "spiritual resurrection," restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

ORIGINS OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

▸ Jesus’ own healing ministry narrated in the Gospels.

▸ Jesus’ sending out of his own disciples to heal.

▸ The Apostolic Church accounts:“Is any one of you sick? He should summon the presbyter 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, his sins will be forgiven.(James 5:14)

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

PURPOSE OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK, CCC 1499, 1511

▸ By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.

▸ The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness, the Anointing of the Sick.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

WHO MAY SEEK THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

▸ Baptised Catholics who are…

▸ …seriously ill

▸ …elderly and infirm

▸ …about to undergo surgery

▸ …in danger of death.

▸ The sacrament may be administered more than once in a person’s lifetime.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

THE FORM OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

▸ Administered by a priest

▸ Using the Oil of the Sick (blessed each year by the bishop)

▸ Laying on of hands and liturgical prayer for special grace

▸ Anointing of the forehead and hands

▸ Can be celebrated after the Sacrament of Penance

▸ Can be celebrated before the Sacrament of the Eucharist administered as Viaticum

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

THE EFFECTS OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK, CCC 1532

▸ The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects: • the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church; • the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age; • the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance; • the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; • the preparation for passing over to eternal life.