Catechesis
The Annointing of the Sick

For many Christians this is still a new word, which they have not heard enough about, and this leads to confusion. Many people still call this Sacrament, the “Last Rites.” Many years ago it used to be that when a person was sick, the custom was to call the priest to assist and anoint that person with the Holy Oil, when that person was about to die; it was understood by some as almost “the ticket or the passport to go to heaven.”

We priests in the parishes, receive many phone calls from the hospitals and nursing homes still requesting “the Last Rites”, which is unfortunate for the patient because he or she does not know or is not alert enough to know what happens while the priest is there with them.

What is sad, is that many family members just want their relative to receive the Sacrament, and the family is not present at that moment of Grace; the family is at peace when the nurse notifies them that the priest was there with the patient... praying and responding by himself.

To be continued...

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Catequesis
La Unción de los Enfermos

Para muchos cristianos esta palabra es aún nueva, no la han escuchado lo suficiente. Mucha gente aún llama este Sacramento, “la Extremaunción.” Cuando una persona estaba muy enferma, había la costumbre de llamar al padre para que la ungiera con los santos óleos justo antes de morir; se entendía como si fuera “el boleto o el pasaporte para ir al cielo.”

Nosotros los sacerdotes, recibimos muchas llamadas de los hospitales y asilos de ancianos aún pidiendo la “Extremaunción”, y eso no es lo mejor para el paciente porque la persona no se da cuenta de lo que pasa mientras el padre está con ella. Lo que es más triste es que muchos familiares sólo quieren que su enfermo sea ungido y no se molestan por estar presentes; se quedan muy tranquilos ya que la enfermera los llama para decirles que el padre estuvo ahí… rezando y contestándose solo.

Continuará...

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