This last one has a shroud of mystery around it to many people, and conjures up images of a priest visiting a dying person in the hospital, giving Last Rites and all that. The idea is that a person must be at death's door to receive this rite. While this may have been the practice for some time, the teaching of the church is that this sacrament is offered to anyone who is suffering from a serious illness, in hopes that the person may be healed physically and spiritually. Through the ministry of the priest we remember that Jesus touched many sick people and healed them. A person need not be dying to get this sacrament.
I received this sacrament a while back, and I wanted to tell my story. I was skyrocketing toward marriage, making wedding plans with a date and priest meetings and designing a ring and making a list of wedding invites. Everything was moving along. It was finally happening for me. Then the young man I was to marry threw a wrench in it all.
"I'm not sure if we should be together".These words shattered my peace and life trajectory. I was so devastated that I couldn't focus on anything else. For three weeks I agonized, cried myself to sleep at night, and was so worried about the back and forth things he was saying that I became severely depressed.
I asked my confirmation sponsor (then a deacon) what I should do, and he suggested anointing of the sick. I was worried I'd be judged for wanting this when I wasn't dying or even physically ill. I had a million excuses in my head about why I shouldn't ask for this, and that I was silly or just wanted attention. But my deacon friend assured me this is why the sacraments exist: for the people who need them. He made me an appointment with his Jesuit superior.
I showed up to his office like a kid sent to the principal. (I'm always like this when I'm nervous). I went inside, and gingerly told him what was going on, that I had no peace, and desperately wanted Jesus to help me. He listened like the kind and wise man that he is, and gave me the rite. He said some prayers out of the book, and anointed my hands and my head with oil. After it was over I thanked him and left.
Did I feel different? Honestly, no. I figured it was a passing thing; another sacrament I could mark off the list. I still felt depressed. I was still filled with dread that my engagement was going to end. I went home from my trip not knowing what to expect. It was only then that I really came to know the power of this sacrament.
My fiance blindsided me with a two-by-four style hit. He broke up with me out of the blue after assuring me of his love and that everything was fine. I was so shocked that I didn't cry. I was living on the edge of a surge of anxiety and adrenaline for months. I couldn't sleep, eat, or relax. My life was constant tears and a drive for survival that rivaled The Fugitive or Rocky.
I didn't see the miracle in all of this until so much later. Over the course of my journey into the Catholic Church, I ditched a lot of unhealthy habits and thought patterns that weren't serving me and were making me miserable. I started on a journey to healthy thinking and dealing with stress and anger in much better ways than I'd done for years. The great part is this: instead of collapsing into despondency like I'd done before when awful things happened, I held onto Jesus. I clung to the Church as my lifeboat. I wanted nothing more than to get away from this awful person who did this and be with healthier people who loved me and didn't want to harm me. Coming from a cycle of abuse in my relationships with men, this was huge. Something major had changed in me. I think it had a lot to do with this Anointing of the Sick.
Who knows what might have happened if I didn't come to Jesus in this way?
We will never know. But it is clear to me that nothing harmful came out of receiving this sacrament. I needed Jesus in an ever-increasing way, and I was so happy to be near Him however I could. Like my patron saint, Amelia of Temse, I was determined to cling to Jesus with broken arms, even when a man tried to drag me away from Him.
So I encourage you to pray about this Sacrament. If you need healing and it's serious, ask your priest! I know some priests are more willing to do this than others, but it can't hurt to ask. Jesus wants to comfort you and unite with you in your suffering. The Church is there for you. Take advantage of the incredible grace we have offered to us in her sacraments. I fully believe that my trauma would have been much worse if I hadn't done this. God indeed works in mysterious ways.
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