TRINITY
16 27 September, 2009
James 5.16 ‘Therefore
confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be
healed.’
Often when someone is healed
through the Church’s ministry, he or she becomes a believer.
One of my sisters had breast
cancer many years ago. She was
anointed with the sacrament of Holy Unction and had an operation. She had been confirmed but rarely went to church but after her healing
she became a faithful communicant. The
continent of
Experience has shown me that
when the Holy Anointing is given the healing given is often surprising and
unexpected. So often the gift of faith is
received. This should not amaze us for the
sacramental seal of the Holy Spirit must give the fruit of the Spirit: love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.
The presbyters of the Church
as St James names them, that is the priests, must zealously minister to the sick
and regard this duty as one of the most important functions committed to them at
ordination. Emergencies must take
precedence over time off and days out. In
the case of the dying the priest must even delay celebrating Mass in order to
help the sick brother or sister in the hour of death.
Today’s Gospel began with
a story which shows Jesus to be tolerant. Anyone
who performs a healing in the name of Jesus is approved.
The healing ministry isn’t restricted to episcopally-ordained priests.
However,
the evangelist goes on
to give words of Jesus preserved by oral tradition, which are extremely
horrifying and condemnatory. ‘If
any of you puts a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in
me, if your hand causes you to stumble, if your foot causes you to stumble, if
your eye causes you to stumble’ you are in danger of being thrown into hell
unless you take drastic action.
This terrible warning is
expressed in the Rite for the ordination of Priests when the bishop before the
examination of those to be ordained, says to them:
‘The Church and
Congregation whom you must serve is Christ’s spouse and his body. If it shall happen the same Church, or any member thereof, to take
any hurt or hindrance by reason of your negligence, ye know the greatness of the
fault and the horrible punishment that will ensue.’ The modern ordinal tones down the warning of the 1662 ordinal but the old
words remain true and they apply to all disciples of Jesus, not just to the
clergy.
When I was a curate I was
sent to a man in hospital who was dying of cancer.
He had not attended church for about fifty years although he had been a
server in his youth. He stopped going to
church because he was accused of stealing money from the collection plate.
He carried a huge sense of grievance because he had not taken the money.
Mercifully at his end he was reconciled.
We are warned by Jesus to
take care not to cause someone to fall from the faith and not to fall away
ourselves by our own fault. If we do, the
consequence, unless we take drastic action, will be to cut ourselves off from
God for ever.
We can escape by the mercy
of God if, when we realise that we have gone wrong, we seek healing through
confession and repentance. We need to turn to the Church confessing our sins and
asking for prayers; prayers, as St James says, that
are righteous and effective.
Crispin Harrison CR