Having received from the Lord the charge to heal the sick, the Church strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick and accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. What is the attitude of the Church toward the sick? By his own passion and death he gave new meaning to our suffering which, when united with his own, can become a means of purification and of salvation for us and for others. The compassion of Jesus toward the sick and his many healings of the infirm were a clear sign that with him had come the Kingdom of God and therefore victory over sin, over suffering, and over death. What is the significance of JesusвЂ™ compassion for the sick? Thus sickness was lived out in the presence of God from whom people implored healing. The prophets intuited that sickness could also have a redemptive value for oneвЂ™s own sins and those of others.

In the Old Testament sickness was experienced as a sign of weakness and at the same time perceived as mysteriously bound up with sin. How was sickness viewed in the Old Testament? Therefore, Christ willed that his Church should continue his work of healing and salvation by means of these two sacraments. Why did Christ institute the sacraments of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick?Д¬hrist, the physician of our soul and body, instituted these sacraments because the new life that he gives us in the sacraments of Christian initiation can be weakened and even lost because of sin.

Anointing of the sick