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September
1, 2004
Are
any of you sick? Then send for the elders of the church to pray over you. Ask
them to anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer offered by
those who have faith will make you well. The Lord will heal you. If you have
sinned, you will be forgiven. So admit to one another that you have sinned.
Pray for one another so that you might be healed. The prayer of a godly person
is powerful. It makes things happen. James 5:14-16 (NIRV)
When you walk into St. John’s on Sunday,
do you carry the weight of the world with you? Is your heart burdened by the
chaos that surrounds us on a daily basis? Do you or someone you care about have
physical, emotional and spiritual pain? When you are sick, weak and feeling
alone the church has a special sacrament for you called Unction. The Catechism
defines this sacrament as such:
Q. What is Unction of the Sick?
A. Unction is the rite of anointing the sick with oil, or the laying on of
hands, by which God's grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind, and body. (BCP 861)
Starting in September, your clergy team
will be offering the sacrament of Unction during our Sunday morning liturgies.
At the distribution of communion, a clergy person will go to the back of the
church to offer laying on of hands and anointing with oil. A prayer desk has
already been placed in the cloakroom for this purpose. All--adults and children
alike-- who wish to have prayers for themselves, a loved one, or the world are
welcome to come back to the healing station. You may stand or kneel at the
prayer desk. Simply tell the clergy person what your healing request is and we
will offer an intercession on your behalf. While we cannot say how the Holy
Spirit will answer the prayer, we firmly believe that by opening ourselves to
the power of the Spirit, we can find healing, peace and restoration. Some of
you will immediately take to this sacrament, others will be wary of it. To this
I offer the Anglican maxim, "All Can, None Must, Some should." See
you on Sunday.
May God the
Father bless you.
May God the
Son heal you.
May God the
Holy Spirit enlighten you.
May God
protect you from harm and grant you salvation.
May He shine
on your heart and lead you to eternal life.
In
Christ’s Love,
Fr.
Mark
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