Anointing the Sick – One of the Seven Sacraments
There are seven sacraments that are incredibly important to people to help them become holier every day. Why do we have to become holy; because God is holy and we cannot be with him without holiness? My website wants to trace our history using God’s Plan, not our plan. His Plan has given us seven sacraments, starting life on earth with “baptism” that brings us into God’s family. God gave each of them to us to help us throughout our lives gain salvation with Him forever.
Five sacraments generally help us during life, but when we become ill either physically or spiritually Jesus has given ALL baptized people including fallen-away Catholics and Protestants the “Anointing the Sick”.
It is my contention this sacrament needs to be written and talked about more broadly worldwide and that is what I hope to accomplish with MyGodsBlog.com. It is not even talked about much in the Catholic Church which is a pity I think.
Far too many people become ill near death and fail to call a priest who can easily give this sacrament in minutes to anyone near death. I think many may go to hell or have to spend a long time in purgatory to purge their sins. This sacrament does that for them if they are truly sorry for their sins in minutes while they are withering away on their way possibly to heaven or hell.
As a Catholic, I don’t understand why more people don’t believe there has to be an intermediate place between heaven and hell. For Jesus has said no one gets into heaven unless they are holy. We know from scripture that venial (less serious) sins people have committed such as lying about a minor thing, etc. prevent a person from going directly to heaven but do not warrant hell. There has to be a place for them to purge their sins before entering heaven.
To summarize, our journey on earth from Baptism to Anointing the Sick and death is short. Life is over like in the blink of an eye. There is a wonderful place God has prepared for us sinners, but He requires we follow His Commandments, to repent, know and love God above all things, and to love one another. The most important thing we can do is for our salvation and if a person has not been so holy “Anointing the Sick” will forgive all sin if a person is truly sorry. It doesn’t matter how bad a person was either, it could even be a murderer, bank robber or worse those sins will be forgiven.
God gives us special graces to help us in our journey from birth to death and we should all use this sacrament of anointing the sick anytime one is physically or spiritually sick, or about to undergo serious surgery, even travel or going off to combat. Police officers, firemen, and other law enforcement people are in danger of death daily and they need this too.
The sacrament cannot be given after a person is dead. But, if they are breathing even on a machine in a coma they can be given the sacrament. A person doesn’t have to say anything to receive it. The priest does all the work saying a few brief prayers and making the sign of the cross with oil on the palm of both hands and the forehead.
It is a simple process you don’t have to say anything. Non-Catholics, fallen-away Catholics (I was one of those for over 30 years), Catholics, and ALL BAPTIZED persons can receive this sacrament. They will receive God’s complete and total forgiveness of ALL SINS, even a lifetime full of sin. But, a person has to be truly sorry for those sins. This is not like a confession to a priest, but that is recommended.
Anyway, all people need to know this and find the date, time, and location of the nearest Catholic Church for the annual Mass for Anointing the Sick. Mark your calendar and go stand in line with others to receive the sacrament. It only took me about 15 minutes for 30 people in that line for me in Tucson, Arizona about 18 months ago. I’m almost 88 years old and who knows when you die suddenly so I plan to go receive the anointing again just as soon as possible.
I pray everyone reading this, especially when physically or spiritually ill or in probable danger of sudden death like police officers or anyone going into combat receives the sacrament immediately. You can call a Catholic Church to have a priest come to you if it is serious or mark your calendar and go to that Mass for Anointing the Sick.
This is vitally important to everyone because we are all going to die once and then hopefully heaven forever with God according to His Plan.
~William E Peters