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tseleehw
Guest
No one is saying that you need to be dying to receive the sacrament (in fact, the regulations are explicit that one does NOT need to be dying to receive the sacrament) but rather that there is SOME kind of minimum qualification that needs to be met in order to receive the sacrament. An otherwise perfectly healthy 22-year-old having a headache or a cold is not enough to receive the sacrament, for example.Nah. I’m not buying into this.
Christ came to heal.
I doubt He would turn anyone away. “come back when you’re dying”. ???
I’m out.
No one is judging an individual’s particular circumstances and whether or not they should have received the sacrament. But in the OP’s story where everyone and anyone approaches the priest for anointing, this is clearly an abuse of the sacrament that seems to be fairly common today. I know following the rules is not a popular trend in today’s Church, but the OP asked a question, and he received an answer based on the guidelines of the Church.
And just so no one thinks that I am just making all of this up, here is an article written by a priest on this issue:
hprweb.com/2012/06/revisiting-the-anointing-of-the-sick-some-problems-today/
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oldgraymare2
Guest
I’m commenting on your post, as I agree with you.Nah. I’m not buying into this.
Christ came to heal.
I doubt He would turn anyone away. “come back when you’re dying”. ???
I’m out.
I personally think that if anyone is ill in any way and has any questions about being anointed, that they should ask their pastor about it. That’s what I think would be the best thing to do.
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
In light of canon 1002…
Can. 1002 The communal celebration of the anointing of the sick for many of the sick at once, who have been suitably prepared and are properly disposed, can be performed according to the prescripts of the diocesan bishop.
…the decisions of the diocesan bishop are dispositive and definitive and all are to submit to his decisions and to comply with them.
Beyond that, it is for the parish priest appointed by the diocesan bishop, or in his absence the priest who is actually anointing, to see that those who seek anointing are “suitably prepared” and “properly disposed.” But it is not for other people to attempt to insert themselves into matters that belong to the hierarchy…in this case the diocesan bishop at one level and the priest at the other level.
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exnihilo
Guest
Just being alive makes us in danger of death. I think you are stretching the idea of when the sacrament is called for. I do agree you can’t know simply by looking at a person what condition they may be in that warrants the sacrament.
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Bookcat
Guest
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Tarpeian_Rock
Guest
Concerning #73: Is there a standard by which the Church defines “old age” itself as a proximate risk of death? 70? 75? 80?
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ringil
Guest
Hello Father,
I am interested in the issue of mental illness and how this relates to anointing. I can personally see that anointing would be called for for someone living with a serious mental illness- though I see some folks here questioning that.
Is the presence of a serious mental illness sufficient to call for the sacrament. I have worked in an in-patient psychiatric unit and have seen priests annoying patients- for example.
I really appreciate the insight and experience you to these forums.
God Bless
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FrDavid96
Guest
On this side of the Atlantic, the context is markedly different.
There is quite a large (and often vocal) number of Catholic priests who celebrate what they call “Healing Masses” or communal celebrations of Anointing where there is absolutely no discernment with regard to who is being anointed. When I say none, I mean “none.”
Quite literally, the only condition for being anointed is “show up.”
I am not saying that’s the case for every communal service, by no means. What I am saying though is that there is a very considerable number of priests over here who do it that way.
Frankly, when it comes to those priests (and yes, even some bishops) we cannot trust their discernment as to who is eligible for the anointing, because no such discernment occurs. They anoint anyone and everyone, and that’s not an exaggeration.
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Roseeurekacross
Guest
What I was trying to say , with consideration to tact , is that serious mental illness would surely be a case for annointing, (having close friends and family working on CAT teams and in acute units). It is here.
65 is the common age given here also , as old age and able to attend and be annointed.
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FrDavid96
Guest
Here is an excellent article on the subject
hprweb.com/2012/06/revisiting-the-anointing-of-the-sick-some-problems-today/
Written by a very experienced priest.
hprweb.com/2012/06/revisiting-the-anointing-of-the-sick-some-problems-today/
Written by a very experienced priest.
po18guy
Well-known member
I post the following in the hope that it will encourage those who are sick. In the past 8 years, I have received the Sacrament numerous times, both at specific healing masses, as well as by appointment. This is due to being in constant cancer treatment during those 8 years. I have amassed a medical resume that, although voluminous, is certainly not enviable. Regarding the efficacy of the Sacrament, I have had three cancers, been stage IV twice, had 90-100 tumors in my lymphatic system, as well as in my small intestine and bone marrow, have received 18 chemotherapy drugs in 9 regimens, total body irradiation, innumerable biopsies, whole body CT and PET scans (1,000+ years of background radiation) and finally an allogeneic stem cell transplant. There is no earthly reason for my being alive. My prognosis was poor 8 years ago and dropped 5 times since then. I have been chosen for suffering and I praise God for His unfathomable mercy. As you can see, His grace is sufficient. Reception of the Holy Eucharist brings tears. How could it not?
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
Actually, I could hardly disagree more with the theses of the author…as one who taught this sacrament, as one who worked with our seminarians and our young priests on the practicalities of when to administer or refrain from administering this sacrament and finally as one who was entrusted with the mandate of pastoral care in health care settings by my bishop
This author’s thoughts clearly derive from an adhesion to a mindset that antedates where we are in the 21st century regarding this sacrament. His appeal to re-visit this sacrament is out of step with the consensus in the theological community, which continues to reflect on this sacrament but, happily, in a very different direction from that of the author
His criticism of his national conference of bishops decision is also disturbing
I frankly find his conclusions, for the most part, as false as many of his premises
How much preferable is the mind of Archbishop DiNoia, the Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and his co-author, Father Joseph Fox who was professor at a Pontifical University, in an article that I cited in my own lectures
2. The revised rite of the Sacrament of Anointing clearly intends to encompass a range of ‘‘moments’’ between serious illness and preparation for death, and thus to recover the elements of prayer for healing present in the most ancient traditions of the celebration of the Anointing of the Sick. The liturgical renewal of this sacrament has involved a deliberate attempt to distinguish and highlight its healing effect, after centuries of emphasis (in the view of some theologians and liturgists, an overemphasis) on its role precisely as ‘‘Extreme Unction’’ and therefore as preparation for death. While in the past, the Sacrament of Anointing tended to be conferred only once (like other sacraments involving anointing, viz., Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders) when death was thought to be imminent, it can now be repeated several times during a particular illness which, although serious, does not result in death, or during the period of old age which, because of medical advances, increasingly extends over many years.
This, from the archbishop, situates us where the theological community, particularly with thanks to pastoral theology, finds itself today in terms of reflection about and usage of this sacrament. In contrast to the author who calls for a movement that would be toward a return to an era that we have moved away from for very good reason
Personally, I’m very grateful, both as theologian and priest, to have seen what has beautifully happened with this sacrament since its renewal and reform at the behest of the Second Vatican Council with, as the archbishop says, an emphasis on its healing effects. After all, James asked “Are there people sick among you?”…not “Are there people among you facing imminent death?”
As one who worked in this field across decades, I have to add how bizarre I find the author’s focuses…for example regarding anesthesia. A patient receiving anesthesia is receiving anesthesia to undergo a medical procedure. It’s the medical procedure, not the administration of anesthesia, that would prompt – correctly – the administration of the sacrament
Or his thesis that the use of this sacrament can increase a fear of death in the patient. Not if the sacrament is being properly presented using contemporary theology and not an outdated thought! If one’s approach to this sacrament is, in reality, that of trying to turn back the clock, on the other hand…
This “fear of death argument” is truly astonishing since, of course, the emphasis after the Council is that this is a sacrament of healing. Such a mindset as the author evinces about the anointing of the sick is analogous to seeing a hospital as though it is a place one primarily goes to die. Thankfully, in the 21st century, that is no longer the case
It is quite proper that the sacrament be seen firstly – and precisely – as a sacrament for physical as well as spiritual healing. The prayers of the revised and reformed rite are oriented to that end…with, from the variety of options prayers to be chosen, selections that are most suitable when death appears imminent or inevitable. Those compositions are very different from, for example, the prayer to be used when the patient is undergoing an operation or invasive medical procedure
I would conclude with a personal note…I’m myself the recipient of this sacrament. Repeatedly. No one should dare have the temerity to suggest that, as a theologian and priest, I do not have an understanding of the theology of this sacrament or am unable to judge the appropriateness of my requesting and receiving it
On the occasions when I have been rushed to hospital, I am quickly asking upon arrival to be anointed. I am very grateful – not only for the medical care but also for the pastoral care – that has seen me pass through serious medical situations, aided in the hospitalisation and in my daily life by the graces of this sacrament including living the trials and vicissitudes of advanced age. Thus, when there is a period of months when I have not been hospitalised, I seek out the sacrament – as I will on World Day of the Sick this coming February 11th
It requires a very great thoughtfulness, attentiveness, reflection and, actually, I would say pastoral sensitivity that appreciates that how people age and come to be elderly and how people subjectively experience the burden of their physical body’s failing requires a different pastoral approach from one person to another
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
What a beautiful testimony. Yes…I can look back across the many years with absolute wonder at the marvels I have seen Him perform with my own eyes in pastoral care situations.
I assure you of my prayers for you – and for all those who provided you with both the medical care and the pastoral care that you have received.
May the Lord guide your caregivers. And may He sustain you in all the manifold ways that He is evidently doing so…through the hands and skills of others as well as directly through His sacraments and His interventions that are unseen but are ever so real.
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
You are indeed correct that there is an appropriateness of use of the sacrament of the sick therapeutically in the case of psychiatric conditions…above all when the origin of the mental illness is traceable to a physiological origin. This is, actually, an area of great focus in pastoral theology presently.
As in all situations that are a specific application to a particular case, the priest providing pastoral care would have to make the determination. In a case like this, he should not only rely on his own training and background – unless, of course, he is specially trained in this area in which case he might be a subject matter expert himself – but this is a situation, in the main, in which a priest uses the provision in the norms that counsel his consultation with experts in the specific field to provide the priest with information that can assist him in his assessment – as well as turning to theologians who specialise in these areas of sacramental and pastoral theology.
Fortunately, since the Council especially, the presence of theologians who are also psychologists – or other medical professionals – is a great asset to the discussions and dialogue in these areas…which began years ago, if I may say, and that continue today with the younger generation having even more assets and advantages in hand than those of us in the previous generation.
Finally, unquestionably I, and my diocese, would invoke the second provision in canon 1004 before the age of 65, and without hesitation.
Can. 1004 §1 The anointing of the sick can be administered to a member of the faithful who, having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age.
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Don_Ruggero
Guest
There is no need to calculate a “proximate risk of death” in the application of canon 1004.
po18guy
Well-known member
Your words are most kind and your prayers are irreplaceable! They are the wind beneath my wings. We all seem to desire the ability to levitate in prayer, or to bear the stigmata. Knowing infinitely better, the Lord has graced me with the stigmata of cancer. By the examples of the great Saints, I am learning to bear, even to enjoy suffering for love of God. If He can bring this about in my most pathetic soul, imagine what He can do with better clay.
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Phemie
Guest
I’ve only attended one of these and I was the only person who did not go for anointing. I heard a 22 year old say to her mother, “BUT I’M NOT SICK!” to which her mother replied, “Do you think you’re perfect? Get up there.” She went to be anointed. A non-Catholic also went up to receive the sacrament at the same Mass. When they are held monthly and the same people get anointed every single month, you have to wonder about the appropriateness.
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FrDavid96
Guest
This thread has further convinced me how badly we are in need of a reform of the reform when it comes to Anointing of the Sick.
I’ll leave it at that and unsubscribe.
I’ll leave it at that and unsubscribe.
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