Recently, when I was in the hospital, a lady came to
give me the Anointing of the Sick. She said she was
sanctioned by the "Healing Ministry" of my parish to do this.
When a priest came to anoint me, I told him that I had been
anointed by a lady from my parish. He said that lay people
cannot anoint, so I did not receive the Sacrament. If my
first anointing was not a sacrament, why does my parish have
"healing ministers," and why cant they anoint? A
reader in Falls Church. The Sacrament of the
Anointing of the Sick (formerly known as Extreme Unction) is
administered only by a priest, or, of course, a bishop. The
Catechism specifies, "Only priests (bishops and
presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick" (No.
1516). The Code of Canon Law likewise asserts, "Every
priest, and only a priest, validly administers the Anointing
of the Sick" (No. 1003). The reason for the restriction to
priests is because the "anointing of the sick" and the
effects of the sacrament are inherently related to the
Priesthood of Christ. During His public ministry, Jesus
healed people the blind, the lame, the lepers, the
deaf and mute, the hemorrhaging and the dying. His healing
touched both body and soul. In most of the accounts of the
healing miracles, the ill person comes to a deeper conviction
of faith, and the witnesses know that "God has visited His
people" (Lk 7:16). These healings, however, foreshadow the
triumphant victory of our Lord over sin and death through his
own Passion, death and Resurrection. Our Lord entrusted His
healing ministry to His apostles. He instructed the apostles
and sent them out on mission: "With that, they went off,
preaching the need of repentance. They expelled many demons,
anointed the sick with oil, and worked many cures" (Mk
6:12-13). At the Ascension, Jesus echoed this instruction to
the apostles and declared that "the sick upon whom they lay
their hands will recover" (Mk 16:18). At Pentecost, the Holy
Spirit conferred great gifts upon the Church, including
healing; St. Paul recognized, "Through the Spirit one
receives faith; by the same Spirit another is given the gift
of healing, and still another miraculous powers: (1 Cor
12:9-10). The apostle St. James provided a clear teaching
regarding the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick: "Is
there anyone sick among you? He should ask for the priests of
the Church. They in turn are to pray over him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord. This prayer uttered in
faith will reclaim the one who is ill, and the Lord will
restore him to health. If he has committed any sins,
forgiveness will be his" (Jas 5:14-15). In all, the Church
has been continually mindful of our Lords command,
"Heal the sick" (Mt 10:8). (The Council of Trent cited these
passages to refute the charges of the Protestant leaders that
Christ had not instituted this sacrament and had not
conferred His healing ministry to priests.) The
administration of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is
also restricted to a priest because the major effect is tied
to the ministry of priests, namely,, the forgiveness of sins.
The sacrament not only provides the sick person with the
forgiveness of sins but also the completion of Christian
penance (Council of Trent, "Doctrine on the Sacrament of
Extreme Unction"). Given this basis, a lay person who acts as
an Eucharistic minister or "healing minister" should never
give the impression that he is administering the Sacrament of
the Anointing of the Sick. He should never anoint a person
with an oil, blessed or otherwise, that would suggest that he
is anointing the person with the Oil of the Infirm, which is
used in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. We must
never mislead a person, albeit unintentionally, into thinking
that he has received the graces of this most important
sacrament of healing, when in fact he has not. A
persons soul could be in jeopardy because of some
symbolic anointing that does nothing. We must be very careful
never to do anything that simulates a sacrament. When a loved
one is seriously ill or near death, please call for a priest,
who alone can administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of
the Sick, which provides great graces for healing both body
and soul. Fr. Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame
Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Queen of
Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria. Copyright ?1998
Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.