At the general audience Pope Francis highlights the true meaning of a sacrament that "is not a taboo" but "the whole Christian community that tightens, as a single body, with Jesus around sufferers and family members". An appeal for Venezuela.

Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - Calling the priest to come and bestow the Sacrament of the Sick to a sick person "is not a taboo", it does not "bring bad luck".  Instead it is "beautiful" , because "it's nice to know that in times of grief and illness we are not alone", because "Jesus comes to allieviate, to give strength, to give hope, to help. Even to forgive our sins".

Pope Francis presented as the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to 50 thousand people present in St Peter's Square for the general audience. As has become his tradition, he toured at length among the crowds, greeting blessing and kissing babies, some of them wearing carnival costumes, even one dressed "like a pope". On a cloudy day, "the forecast was for rain - said Francis waving to the crowd - but you came anyway. You are brave, congratulations".  The Pope also launched an appeal for Venezuela at the end of the audience: "I sincerely hope that violence and hostility will cease as soon as possible, and that the whole Venezuelan People, beginning with political leaders and institutions, will endeavour to promote reconciliation through mutual forgiveness and a sincere dialogue, respectful of truth and justice, that is capable of dealing with concrete issues for the common good".

Earlier, in catechesis, the Pope said that the Anointing of the Sick "allows us to reach out and touch God's compassion for the man . Previously - he added - it was called Extreme Unction, because it was understood as spiritual comfort in the imminence of death.  Instead speaking of the Anointing of the Sick helps us to broaden our vision to the experience of illness and suffering, in the horizon of God's mercy".

"Every time we celebrate this sacrament, the Lord Jesus, in the person of the priest, comes close to those who suffer and are gravely ill or elderly". The Pope recalled the parable of the Good Samaritan who "cares for the sufferer, pouring oil and wine on his wounds" and that entrusts the sufferer to an inn keeper, "so that he can continue to take care of him, with no expense spared. Now, who is this inn keeper? The Church , the Christian community, every day the Lord Jesus entrusts us with those who are afflicted in body and spirit, so that we can continue to bestow upon them , without measure, all his mercy and salvation".

"This mandate was reaffirmed in an explicit and precise way in the Letter of James, where he recommends: " Who is sick , call unto him the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven". So this is a practice that was already in place at the time of the Apostles. In fact, Jesus taught his disciples to have his same preference for the sick and the suffering, and sent them the ability and the responsibility to continue to offer relief and peace in his name after his own heart through the special grace of this Sacrament".

"But this should not lead us into an obsessive search for a miracle or the presumption that we can always be healed. It is the certainty of the Jesus' closeness to the sick and the elderly, because every person who is old, who is over 65 years of age can receive this sacrament: it is Jesus who draws near. When a sick person thinks: 'Call the priest, tell the priest to come' - ' no, no, that will bring bad luck ... and then they do not call him. 'Then the sick person is frightened ... Why, because sometimes there is the idea that when a priest comes to visit a sick person, he will be followed by a funeral: and that's not true! The priest comes to help the sick or the elderly.  This is why it is so important for priests to visit the sick. Calling him: 'There is a sick person, come, give him the anointing, bless him': because it is Jesus who comes to raise him up, to give him strength, to give hope, to help him. And also to forgive sins. And this is beautiful!".

"And do not think that this is a taboo, because it is always nice to know that in times of pain and illness we are not alone: the priest and those who are present during the Anointing of the Sick in fact represent the entire Christian community, as one body gathered with Jesus around those who suffer and their family members, nurturing their faith and hope, and supporting them with prayer and fraternal warmth. But the greatest comfort comes from the fact that the Lord Jesus himself is present in the Sacrament, He takes us by the hand, caressing us as he did with the sick and He reminds us that we belong to Him and that nothing - not even evil and death - can separate us from Him".

 

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