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In the medical profession, it’s recommend to go in for
an annual check at least once a year.
Dentists say visit them every 6 months.
In sports medicine, it seems that every little injury is analyzed and affects
the entire outcome of a game. For example,
when Manny Pacquaio injured his shoulder, the importance of healing injuries and
healing bodily hurts became a focus by sports commentators.
In the spiritual life, we too must heal any injuries and
hurts we have experienced. If we place
such a high importance on our physical health,
then we should all the more pay attention to our spiritual health.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus healed the deaf man with a
speech impediment. Jesus touched his
ears and tongue, said “Ephphatha!” which means “Be opened,” and the man was
healed. Dear brothers and sisters in
Christ, let me ask: What is there in our lives at this moment that needs to be
healed? ß Repeat (And, how can you help others be healed?)
Just as Jesus used words and actions to heal people,
so too Jesus’ Church -- we, His Bride – uses words and actions to heal people,
too. In all of the sacraments, Christ
“touches” us. In Seven Sacraments of the
Church, there are two Sacraments of Healing.
One of these is the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance, also called
Confession. And the other is the
Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. I’m
only going to focus on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
In Anointing of the Sick, there are many biblical
passages as to why we have this Sacrament, this visible sign of Christ’s grace
and love. Today’s Gospel from Mark
Chapter 7 is one example of healing. Another
example in the Gospels is from Mark Chapter 6 when Jesus sent out the Apostles
who anointed with oil and laid hands on the sick. And of course in the Letter of James, St.
James writes, “Is any among you sick?
Let them call the presbyters or the priests of the Church, and the
priests will pray over them and anoint them with oil.” Here, not only is there spiritual healing and
forgiveness of sins, but the Church also
begs the Lord that the sick person may recover physical health if it
will be conducive to their salvation and God’s glory.
And we don’t want to wait until the very last minute
to call a priest. Here’s a true story: A
friend of mine once said to me, “My grandpa went to the hospital.” I immediately said, “Did you call a priest yet?” My friend replied, somewhat well-intentioned
but misguided way, “Oh, we don’t do that….that might scare him.” I thought to myself, “Scare him?” This is the wrong reason why not to call a
priest. The opposite is actually true. I have heard times when a great peace and
courage comes upon the person receiving this sacrament, and it helps overcome
discouragements and temptations that the evil one sends during an illness. And just as in today’s Gospel, people brought
the ill man to Jesus, we too can lead the sick to encounter Jesus by asking
them if they want the comforting ritual of the Sacrament of the Sick.
Another note: The sacrament is not only for those who
are close to death. It is fitting that
anyone who is sick or with old age or has surgery or mental illness just wants
to ask God for healing receive this sacrament.
Only a priest anoints. He anoints
the forehead and hands with blessed oil and says, “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.” Through this illness, those that are anointed
are more closely united to Christ’s Passion where suffering has new meaning and
participates in the saving work of Jesus.
Finally, when the 3 sacraments of Anointing of the Sick, Confession, and
Eucharist are received together, this is called Viaticum. The word Viaticum means a journey on the road
to eternal glory and happiness.
So we’ve looked at the 2 Sacraments of Healing with a
focus on Anointing of the Sick, based on today’s Gospel on healing. There are additional healing practices, too. Here are some practical examples:
1.) First,
offering Mass for the healing of body and soul.
Having names mentioned during the Universal Prayers of the Faithful is a
good practice.
2.) Second,
there are certain individuals – both priests and lay people – that have a
charism given by God to actually physically heal. We say that these people have the gift of
healing. These gifts, of course, have to
be discerned with a spiritual director. Ask
people to pray for your healing. Or
perhaps you yourself may feel a call to ask God to give you the charism of
healing.
3.) Third,
at St. Catherine’s, we have a Healing Mass sponsored by Cancer Support Ministry
(CSM) & Other Serious Illnesses every 4th Sunday @ 2pm. Here, you can also receive Anointing of the
Sick, and people pray over you.
4.) Fourth,
another form of healing ministry is called “Deliverance Ministry”. This is different from the Ministry of
Exorcism. Whereas in the Ministry of
Exorcism a priest must be delegated by the bishop to do what is called a major
exorcism or the Solemn Rite of Exorcism, Deliverance Ministry on the other hand
involves an authorized priest with his team of people that have the charism of
deliverance. (Lay people and even
priests without authority from the bishop should not engage the demon.) In Deliverance Ministry, a person is freed
and delivered from demonic activity and healed.
In the book Resisting the Devil: A
Catholic Perspective on Deliverance, there are five main steps for
deliverance. I won’t mention all five
now, but two of those steps are forgiving hurts and then renouncing
certain sins. Sometimes, a demon can
latch on to an unforgiven hurt you or I may have. But by forgiving and renouncing, this closes
off doors that were initially open to the demonic. Let Jesus heal this.
5.) Fifth,
there a set of prayers called “Prayers for Healing and Protection.” Here’s a sample: “Heal, O Lord, all those
wounds that have been the cause of all the evil that is rooted in my life. I want to forgive all those who have offended
me. Look to those inner sores that make
me unable to forgive. You who came to
forgive the afflicted of heart, Lord, heal my own heart.”
These prayers help heal hurt and
protect our family tree, especially if there is a wound from a parent, can help
heal our property, our finances, if someone has a hard time holding a job,
school or having a relationship with others.
6.) Sixth,
as I mentioned, Deliverance Ministry is different from Exorcism. Of the 6
dioceses in Northern California, I have interacted with 4 exorcists officially appointed
by their bishop from 4 separate dioceses.
Earlier this year, I witnessed a demonic possession case. I won’t go into the details here other than
to say that 3 things were powerful: The
first was the Name of Jesus to command the evil entity, then the rosary, and the
St. Michael Prayer. Eventually, the
possessed person later met with one of the exorcists.
The point of this example isn’t to
scare. Rather, as we heard from the Word
of God in the First Reading, it is written in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, “Say
to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense he comes to save you.” And as Bishop Myron Cotta said,
there is a “great need for deliverance ministry among God’s people and
discovering the gift of ‘freedom’ found in Jesus Christ.”
In summary, we looked at 2 Sacraments of healing with
a focus on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Second, we looked at some examples of healing
and deliverance. Like the man that was
healed today, I invite you at the Offertory, as our gifts of bread and wine are
bought up, bring whatever it is that is in need of healing so that Jesus the
Divine Physician can touch it and heal it in his name. Let our hearts be open to Jesus’ healing as
he says to us, “Ephphata,” be opened. Amen.
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