{"id":1162,"date":"2016-06-04T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-04T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2016-11-22T15:30:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T20:30:31","slug":"raised-up-through-his-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/2016\/06\/04\/raised-up-through-his-mercy\/","title":{"rendered":"Raised Up Through His Mercy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MercyIconMedium\"<\/a>The icon that has been created for the Year of Mercy<\/em> contains a beautiful image of the Risen Christ, as the Good Shepherd,\u00a0 carrying on His shoulders a young man who represents the lost soul. Beneath Christ is seen an image of Mary, the Mother of Mercy, who embraces the whole world with her love. Beneath Mary, to her left, are to be seen figures from the Bible who themselves encountered God\u2019s mercy\u2014 the Samaritan women, Zaccheaus, Matthew, the Woman who anointed Jesus\u2019 feet, the Prodigal Son, the Repentant Thief, St. Peter, and the Parable of the Lost Coin. Beneath the Blessed Mother, to the right, are the saints who have been witnesses to Christ\u2019s continuing mercy through the life of His Church, like Mother Theresa of Calcutta, St. Maximillian Kolbe and St. Theresa of Lisieux. I have put a copy of this beautiful image in this week\u2019s bulletin for those who wish to use it to pray with. It is hard to think of a better image for the Year of Mercy<\/em> than the Good Shepherd. This beautiful image speaks to us of God\u2019s compassion and presence with all people in their time of difficulty and need. It proclaims the desire on God\u2019s part to support us and carry us at those times in our life when we are tired and find things difficult. The fact that in our own Church there is an image of the Good Shepherd over the tabernacle, points to the strength and comfort that we are to find in Christ\u2019s presence in our lives through the Sacraments of the Church.<\/p>\n

One thing that I have always noticed about the image of the Good Shepherd is that He always seems to be carrying a young sheep. The parable implies that it was a younger sheep who was separated from the flock that the Good Shepherd went to find. Even the image that has been produced for the Year of Mercy <\/em>shows Jesus carrying a young man who is referred to as a lost soul. And while I think this is a beautiful image, it seems to me that sometimes we might be justified in thinking that the sheep that Jesus went to get was an older sheep that could no longer keep up. Imagine the affection that the Good Shepherd would have had for one of his older sheep\u2014 perhaps a sheep that had been with him for many years as a parent and grand-parent to the younger sheep. This older sheep would have helped the shepherd to raise the younger ones. Maybe the older sheep got separated from the flock because it could not longer keep up and had to stop to rest. I think we have to believe that the Good Shepherd would have been just as concerned to go get that loyal and faithful sheep, who had been with him for so many years, as he would have been to get a young and inexperienced sheep. Would not the Good Shepherd care just as tenderly and affectionately for that loyal and faithful sheep who had been with him for so many years. For me, this is an image that is just as important as the image of Christ the Good Shepherd going out after a young and inexperienced sheep\u2014 which obviously he also would have done.<\/p>\n

I say this because today our parish will celebrate a Mass for the Sacrament of the Sick at 4:00 pm for those who are sick and in danger of death and those who are elderly. Through this beautiful sacrament, Christ touches and supports in a very beautiful way those who are weekend by a crisis in health or who are experiencing diminished health due to old age. For many good and faithful people, sickness and old age present a very difficult challenge to their faith and their belief in God. I have met so many good people who when they became old and began to lose their health and abilities are convinced that God is punishing them for something. When they ask why God is doing this to them, I always like to point to the example of Saint Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa of Calcutta. These were two of the holiest people in the last century and they both got old and sick in front of the cameras for the whole world to see. They were beautiful examples of accepting God\u2019s will and the journey that we are all on towards God. As the Book of Job makes very clear, we are all pilgrims in this life and everything that we have is a gift from God\u2014 a gift which must be handed back to Him at the end of our lives. You can read the Bible from cover to cover and nowhere does it say that those who are faithful to God will not have problems. What it says is that God will always be present to those who are open to His presence and that He will be with them through their problems to help them overcome. The resurrection of Jesus means that no matter what we suffer in this life, His resurrection has conquered it and that all of our struggles will be conquered through His presence in our lives when we share in His glory in Heaven.<\/p>\n

The Sacrament of the Sick is a sacrament for those who have a life threatening illness or who are elderly and struggling with the diminished health of advanced age. In this sacrament, the Church prays for healing. The healing that Christ may give through this sacrament can be a physical healing if this would be to the advantage of the individual\u2019s salvation. It can also be a spiritual healing which allows the individual to feel the presence of Christ in their lives and accept their situation and the reality before them. No matter who we are, our life in this world is only passing, and sometimes the spiritual healing that is needed is one of accepting that reality and not being angry at God for having given us the gift of this life on earth before the eternal life that He has created us to share with Him. The sacrament might help a person not to be angry at God for creating them for life in Heaven and not for an eternity here on earth\u2014 something that some people actually struggle with, if their faith in Heaven and the Resurrection is weak.<\/p>\n

The Sacrament of the Sick can be celebrated by anyone who is seriously ill and in danger of death or elderly. Since it used to be called \u201cextreme unction<\/em>\u201d<\/em> and be part of the Last Rites, some people think that it is only to be celebrated moments before a person dies. This is completely untrue. The sacrament should be celebrated as soon as someone learns that they have a serious illness. This gives much more possibility for both physical and spiritual healing. It also allows the person to experience the healing comfort of Christ while they are still conscious and can benefit from it most. In this sacrament, Jesus the Good Shepherd wishes to carry and support the person who has grown weak due to illness and old age. Through the sacrament, Jesus wishes to tell the individual who is sick and elderly that they are always His beloved children and that He always cares for them. As society might want to tell us that the elderly and sick no longer have any value and might even encourage them to be murdered through doctor assisted suicide, Jesus wishes to tell the person who receives this sacrament that they are always His beloved children and that they never loose value in His eyes. I like to say that because an eternity awaits all of us with the Risen Lord, in His eyes each of us are always His dear and beloved children\u2014 with God we are always young. Just like all of the sacraments, the Sacrament of the Sick must actually be celebrated for the person who is sick. A friend or relative cannot receive the sacrament on behalf of another person.<\/p>\n

Because there is so much confusion about the Sacrament of the Sick and the Last Rites, I would like to say just a few words of clarification about these two related things. The Last Rites are a person\u2019s last Confession, last Eucharist and last reception of the Sacrament of the Sick. And so just as a person should receive the Eucharist regularly as well as before they die, and should go to Confession whenever they have a serious sin to confess as well as before death, so too a person should receive the Sacrament of the Sick when they are seriously ill and before they die. It is incorrect to believe that the Sacrament of the Sick is only to be celebrated before death. It is very important to receive this sacrament when a person has become seriously ill and with regularity once we have reached an age that would be considered \u201celderly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The celebration of this sacrament takes place in a beautiful way. The priest lays hands upon the head of the individual who is receiving the sacrament. As he does so, all are to pray for the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the person receiving the sacrament. It is even appropriate for the person receiving the sacrament to ask for a particular healing and gift of the Holy Spirit while this laying of hands takes place. This is followed by a prayer of thanksgiving for the Oil of the Sick that was blessed by the diocesan bishop at the Mass of the Chrism. The person is then anointed on the forehead and hands with the following formula on the forehead: \u201cThrough this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.\u201d R\/. Amen. And on the hands: \u201cMay the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.\u201d R\/. Amen. The prayer speaks beautifully of this sacrament as a sign of God\u2019s love and mercy for the person who is sick. It also speaks of the fact that the ultimate reason for celebrating this sacrament is that the person might come to share in the eternal life of the Risen Lord. The word \u201craise-up\u201d that is used in this prayer is referring in the end to the Resurrection that Jesus came to share with all of us. Through this victory, all that we suffer in this life will ultimately be destroyed and the Good Shepherd will carry all of us to be with Him in the glory of Heaven, where we will never suffer again.<\/p>\n

The readings this week speak to us of different miracles of healing. In the first reading from the First Book of Kings, the widow of Zerephath and Elijah cannot understand why the son of this good women has died. She asks if this is how God has repaid her for her goodness to His prophet. To show her that God really is with her, Elijah raises the son back up. The Gospel speaks to us of the sadness of the widow of Nain at the death of her son and the fact that Jesus also raises him up to show that He does indeed have power over death and has been sent by God. The temptation can be to fall into the trap of hearing these stories and ask why God no longer raises people up today. However, neither the son of the widow of Zerephath or the widow of Nain were spared death forever. They are not alive and with us still today. As we now live in the age after the Resurrection, Jesus raises all of us up now not for a few years of more life here on earth, but for all eternity with Him in Heaven. Much of the healing and grace that He now offers us is to help us to accept that we are pilgrims and to support us on the journey, like the Good Shepherd who takes the weak and fragile lovingly on His shoulders. Through His sacraments and through His grace, Jesus wishes to carry each of us and ultimately to raise us up through His mercy. The Sacrament of the Sick is a beautiful expression of this love and mercy. In this beautiful sacrament we are reminded that with the Lord we are always His beloved children, whom he wishes to take on His shoulders and bless us with His strength and grace that He might raise up through His victory for all eternity.<\/p>\n

Fr. Michael McGourty
\nPastor \u2013 St. Peter\u2019s Church, Toronto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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