By this anointing and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the Lord who suffered and is now glorified, that He may raise them up and save them. And she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the people of God by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ. Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, and sometimes to feelings of despair and even anger against God. But it can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn towards that which is.
Christ our Healer
Christ’s compassion towards the sick and His many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that God has visited His people and that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal the body, but also to heal the soul by forgiving sins. He is the physician the sick have need of. His compassion towards all who suffer goes so far that He identifies Himself with them: “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases (Mt.8:17).
Christ’s Healings were signs of His Power
Christ did not heal all the physically sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical spiritual healing: the victory over sin and death through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. On the Cross, Christ took upon Himself the whole weight of evil, and took away the sin of the world, of which physical illness is only a consequence. By His passion and death on the Cross, Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to Him and unite us with His redemptive Passion and Resurrection.
Christ the Teacher
Christ invited his disciples to follow Him by taking up their cross in their turn. By following Him they acquire a new outlook on illness and also on the sick---He makes the sick and their caregivers share in His ministry of compassion and healing. “They went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them” (Mk.6:12-13). The risen Lord renews this mission -“In my name…they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mk.16:17-18) - and He confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking His name. These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly God who saves.
The Mystery of Suffering
To some suffering is an absurdity, and Jesus, could have redeemed us without suffering. Nevertheless, as The Imitation of Christ says: Jesus chose “The Royal Road of the Holy Cross” and therefore in some mysterious way, the Sufferings of Jesus and our sufferings take on a profound meaning in the plan of God for our salvation.
Christ took our Miseries upon himself
The plan of God appears admirable especially in the way in which He has realized His merciful designs. All of us have suffered at one time or another and so we can all apply to ourselves the words of the psalm: “I am poor and needy”. Still, let us not be afraid to say it, the Poor One, the Man most weighted down with wretchedness, was our Divine Savior. Without a doubt, His all Holy soul had never known sin or imperfection. In His humanity, hypostatically united to the Word of God, He was aware of His Father’s love even in the midst of His sufferings. Having become our Elder Brother and the Head of the Church which is His mystical body, He wished to take upon Himself all the miseries and sufferings of His members. He espoused our human nature, together with all the weaknesses which accompany it. Without sin Himself, He took on the iniquities of us all.
Prayer
Our beloved Redeemer, our source of all grace! You willed to clothe yourself with our helplessness and poverty in order to show us the way to heaven. No trouble or toil did you spare yourself in redeeming us and making us the children of your Father. I grieve that up to now, I have so little understood the excess of your love and that I have given you such poor thanks for the hardships, pains and martyrdom you have borne for me. I now offer you my gratitude for your great love, and I resolve with your help to love you and follow you more and more each day until I meet you in heaven and be happy with you forever. Amen.
