Anointing The Sick

I was ill and you cared for me.   
 Matthew 25:36
 
The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick brings the compassionate presence of Christ into the midst of the sufferings of those who are ill. The sacrament is administered to bring spiritual and even physical strength during illness and to convey God’s grace to the recipient, especially to those individuals near death. 

Does a person have to be dying to receive this sacrament? No. 

The Catechism says, “The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament only for those who are at the point of death.”
James refers to the sacrament by saying, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jas. 5:14-15).


If you would like to have an anointing for someone who is seriously ill, at home or in the hospital, or who is about to undergo major surgery, please contact the parish office at 498-3602.


UPDATE FOR COVID-19 

Preparing for Surgery? Suffering from Illness? Receive your Sacrament before going into the Hospital.

In this time of COVID-19 Pandemic the rules of the hospitals change often, there are times priests and or families are not allowed to visit patients depending on hospital regulations.
If you are planning a surgery call and make an appointment with Fr. Ian prior to going into the hospital for your procedure.
If you or a loved one become hospitalized, institutionalized, or home-bound because of illness or age and would like to be visited by the Fr. Ian please contact the parish office to arrange an appointment at 805-498-3602 or email him directly at fr.Ian@stjulieschurch.org
Please note that due to federal privacy laws, hospitals, and other health care facilities no longer automatically provide to parishes the list of parishioners who are hospitalized or institutionalized.  The bottom line is that unless you or your loved ones notify the Parish, we have no way of knowing when you are hospitalized or institutionalized.  So it is never too early to have a conversation with your family about your desire that they request a visit of the parish priest should you end up in a hospital or institution or if you become homebound either temporarily or permanently.

“In the Church's Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, through the ministry of the priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes even from physical ailment. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and death by his dying and rising.
The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illness is sufficient.
When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.” United States Catholic Catechism for Adults