Anointing of the Sick
Part 4 The Ritual: Pastoral Care of the Sick
Chapter 43 Communion of the Sick
Preliminary QuestionsBibliography |
Theology |
To Think About |
Preliminary Questions
Bibliography
Theology
From my book Eucharist: Jesus With Us Chapter 12, “Beyond
the Mass”
Each year, the members of the Bianchi family gather at their grandparents’ home
after Mass on Easter Sunday. In addition to the way-too-much food grandmother
prepares, her daughters each make special dishes. The resulting meal is a
combination of Easter joy, great food and family ties. One year, shortly before
Easter, grandmother fell, broke her hip and was in the hospital on Easter
Sunday. Even though she could not be present, she insisted that the family
gather as usual; and so they did. They celebrated their family’s traditional
Easter dinner. After the meal, they took some of Rita’s ham, Clara’s lasagna and
Angela’s pie and went to share the dishes with their mother. They wanted her to
know that, although she was not able to be physically present with them at their
family gathering, she was very much a part of their Easter celebration.
When I help parishioners prepare for the ministry of bringing Holy Communion to
those who cannot be present for Sunday Eucharist, I often use this story to help
them to appreciate that they are bringing more than the consecrated Host.
Through their ministry of prayer and sacrament they assure those to whom they
minister of the presence and support of the parish family, the Eucharistic
community, the Body of Christ. This “more” is important not only theologically
but also psychologically, because the sense of isolation or separation from
family and friends is often one of the hardest parts of being ill.
Bringing Communion to the sick has a long history. However, some of the earliest
accounts of Communion outside of Mass are not about taking Communion to the sick
but of taking Communion to members of the community who were in prison! Today we
are so accustomed to freedom of religion that we can forget there were times
when being a Christian was a crime. And sometimes we forget that there are
Christians in similar circumstances today. ...
To Think About
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© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved. This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own. Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it. This site was updated on 10/07/08 . Your comments on this site are welcome at tomrichs@psci.net.