Fr Nate's Letter - July 14, 2024

I remember as children we would often receive a periodical from one of the various missionary endeavors that my family supported. At the top of every newsletter there was a saying attributed to St. Therese that I haven’t forgotten, because it was on every newsletter. She says in regards to the work in the missions, “some give by going to the missions, and some go by giving to the missions, but without both there are no missions.” 

The Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph who were with us last weekend, told me in person, and also during a call from the airport, how grateful they were for your kindness and generosity in supporting them in their work. Every year when we come to this point in the summer and the missionaries come to ask our help, I have found that as the years go by, I’ve really come to appreciate their visit. So often these visits give us a fuller picture of the Church at large, the beauty of being the Church universal, and also the sacrifices being made in our own day to share that faith in Christ. Even as we hear in the Gospel this weekend that as Jesus sent out his disciples, we can tell from the instructions he gave that they must have relied on the generosity of so many others to carry out the work the Lord had given them. And so we continue to follow the Lord’s instructions, by giving to those who are going to the missions. So a great big thank you from the Sisters! 

When Jesus sent out the disciples, he also instructed them to anoint the sick with oil which, as you and I know, is the basis of one of the seven sacraments. Sadly though, from my experience, I’ve learned that sometimes this sacrament seems to be either ignored altogether, or understood only as Last Rites. Once I was called to administer the sacrament to a man by the man’s own daughter, and when he heard what I was there for, he threw me out of the room thinking that this meant he was on his way out. We laughed about it afterwards, and eventually he received the sacrament, being that he really was on his way out. 

As Catholics, the anointing is certainly something we would hope to receive prior to taking our leave of this world, as we ask for both grace and the forgiveness of sins. But the anointing is only part of the Last Rites. The Last Rites consist of confession, Holy Communion, (depending on your age, you might remember it as Viaticum), the Anointing of the Sick, and the Apostolic Pardon. Unfortunately, the Anointing of the Sick came to be associated only as the Last Rites by the time of Charlemagne in the 8th century. At the time, priests had become lax in their obligation to anoint the sick, and so Charlemagne decreed at Aachen that all priests needed to be diligent in administering the sacrament prior to someone’s departure, otherwise they would endure certain penalties. It seems then that over time, Anointing of the Sick gradually became associated as the sacrament of the dying. 

As we know, one of the effects of this great sacrament is spiritual healing, but also as so many of the prayers tell us as the sacrament is administered, if it be God’s will, that physical healing be granted as well, be it partial or total. So certainly if one is dying, one can and should receive this sacrament. But also, if one is advanced in age, suffering from a serious illness or undergoing surgery, as St. James says, “if there is anyone who is sick among you, let them send for the priests of Church and let the priests pray over them anointing them with oil.” So as we hear of the apostles anointing the sick, it’s a beautiful reminder that even in the midst of sickness, or as we make that final journey, the Lord wants to accompany us.

Wishing you all God’s blessings this week!

Keeping you in prayer! And say one for me!