One of the seven sacraments that we have is the anointing of the sick - a sacrament of healing. And I think this is one of those sacraments that is often misunderstood. Many of us think that this sacrament is only for those who are dying, for whom there is no hope for healing. But that is wrong. During this sacrament we ask to be healed. But you may ask: Ok, my mom or my father received anointing when he was sick and yet he died. Why didn’t God heal them? Yes, God has the power to heal our physical body, but most importantly He wants first to heal our soul wounded by sins. Perfect example in the gospel today when people brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. Jesus didn’t restore him to physical health right away, but first Jesus said: “your sins are forgiven.” Those who were there probably thought to themselves - we didn’t ask for his sins to be forgiven, but for his physical health. But for God, our soul is more important than our physical body. Our body will die one day, but our soul will live forever. We might not receive physical healing during the sacrament of the anointing, but we do receive God’s forgiveness, so He can welcome us into His eternal home.
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