April 29, 2024
Dear Friends,
At all the Masses this week a Chronology of the End Times will be provided to anyone who wants one. It helps us discern the “signs of our times.”
This Wednesday, May 1, we commemorate the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It is also First Wednesday. We ask St. Joseph to help us with work-related intentions and for workers’ needs.
First Friday, May 3, and First Saturday, May 4, occur this week as well.
If you’re interesting in a Home Enthronement to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this Saturday, David Tay of the Men of the Sacred Hearts, will give a brief explanation about it. Slips of paper will be available for those interested to give to Mr. Tay. Then, on June 8, on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, you can register. We will have a ceremony after Mass for all who do.
Our May Crowning will take place on First Saturday with a procession to the Shrine-Grotto Chapel. May is the month of Mary—a time to honor our Blessed Mother—and so we want to begin this month honoring the holy Mother of God.
After we close on Wednesday, at 1:30 pm, I will provide the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Everyone who wishes to be anointed needs to be PRE-APPROVED by me (my contact information below). PLEASE DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE. This is not a simple anointing with blessed oil (a sacramental) but a Sacrament. Below are GUIDELINES FOR RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT and well as some catechesis. They are a bit long, and not meant to discourage you but help all learn more about this wonderful but little known and often misunderstand healing sacrament.
Who is the Sacrament for? The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is for those “whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age (over 65).” [1] “Seriously ill” can mean that which significantly affects one’s health and well-being (even if not life-threatening) [2] or “in danger of death over time,” i.e., if left untreated it could lead to death. Merely being ill or having reached an advanced age is not sufficient reason to be anointed. The elderly in a weakened condition even without a dangerous illness present can be anointed.
We do not administer the sacrament indiscriminately because it trivializes serious sickness and reduces the anointing to the level of something like a St. Blasé blessing of the throats. [3] To anoint “everything that moves” undercuts the reform of this sacrament. We do not administer any other sacrament indiscriminately.
We are not to be unnecessarily restrictive either. A prudent or reasonably sure judgment, without scruple, is sufficient for deciding on the seriousness of an illness; if necessary a doctor may be consulted.
- To be anointed you must be Catholic and be at least of the age of reason. Someone who has lost consciousness or the use of reason during the course of an illness may be anointed if they would have asked for it when in control of their faculties. (Non-Catholic can come to the prayers teams after Mass.)
- The sacrament may be repeated if the sick person recovers after being anointed and then again falls ill or if during the same illness the person’s condition becomes more serious.
- Drug addicts and the mentally ill (e.g., Alzheimer’s) can be anointed.[4] The key to this is whether one is under a doctor’s care, be it ongoing care or even a one-time visit. (There is no clear cut standard but it is more than mere mental strains or anxiety which prayer and spiritual assistance can alleviate.)
- Sick children may be anointed if they have sufficient use of reason. If this is doubtful, anoint them.
- The sacrament may also be celebrated before serious surgery.
- This sacrament involves the forgiveness of sins and so people should be encouraged to go to Confession (before or within a week after), especially if they have serious sins to confess.
Not “Extreme Unction”: This is no longer a “sacrament for the dying” such as extreme unction. Vatican II made this quite clear saying, “‘Extreme unction,’ which may also and more properly be called “anointing of the sick,” is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as any one of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for that person to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived.” [5] The proper sacrament for the dying is Eucharistic Viaticum.
What is the purpose of the sacrament? Traditionally it has a threefold result: (1) remits sin, (2) raises soul of sick by increasing confidence in God’s mercy, and (3) heals the body. “Those who are seriously ill need the special help of God’s grace in this time of anxiety, lest they be broken in spirit and, under the pressure of temptation, perhaps weakened in their faith” (Ritual, 5). The grace of the Sacrament is that it strengthens the person primarily against the spiritual dangers arising from illness. The power of Jesus brings an increase in courageous faith to one who struggles with illness. It heals by empowering the sick to suffer as Jesus did. It sometimes heals physically, but always heals in the way Christ intends. As the Ritual states, “Those who receive this sacrament in the faith of the Church will find it a true sign of comfort and support in time of trial. It will work to overcome the sickness if this is God’s will” (n. 52).
To communicate with me, please DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL but email me directly at [email protected] or call/text me at (313) 727-9784. St. Joseph the Worker, pray for us and for all workers!
In Jesus, Mary & Joseph,
Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM
Spiritual Director of Terra Sancta Ministries
[1] Ritual, n. 8. “The word periculose has been carefully studied and rendered as “seriously,” rather than as “gravely,” “dangerously,” or “perilously.” This is to avoid unnecessary restrictions” (Ritual, footnote).
[2] Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome.
[3] Charles Gusmer, And You Visited Me (Pueblo, 1990), 87, 172.
[4] “Some types of mental sickness are now classified as serious. Those who are judged to have a serious mental illness and who would be strengthened by the sacrament may be anointed. The anointing may be repeated in accordance with the conditions for other kinds of severe illness” (Ritual, 53)
[5] Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 73.