A Homily given by Fr. Ben Jones; Curate,

St. George’s Anglican Church, Raleigh, NC;

For A Votive Mass for the Sick; 17th October, A.D. 2009.

“Healing Power by the Holy Ghost”

+  In the name of God the Father, and of God the Son,and of God the Holy Ghost, Amen.

The Epistle General of St. James v.14-15.

“Is any sick among you?  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 shall raise him up; and if he shall have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him”

We have gathered today to participate in a very unique Sacrament, the Sacrament of Holy Unction.  Being anointed with Holy Oil is a very ancient Rite in the Church.  Our first prayer book, the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, which was referred to as the Prayer Book of Edward VI, provided a form at the end of the “Visitation of the Sick, introducing the Sacrament of Holy Unction.  The rubric or the instruction stated; “Then if the sick person desires to be anointed, then shall the Priest anoint the sick upon the forehead or breast, making the sign of the Cross saying thus”, the form is as follows.  “As with this visible oil thy body outwardly is anointed; so our Heavenly Father Almighty God, grant of His infinite goodness, that thy soul inwardly may be anointed with the Holy Ghost, who is the Spirit of all strength, comfort, relief, and gladness.  And vouchsafe for His great mercy, if it be His Blessed Will to restore unto thee thy bodily health and strength, to serve Him, and send thee release of all thy pains, troubles and diseases both in body and mind.

And howsoever His goodness, by His Divine and unsearchable providence, shall dispose of thee; we His unworthy ministers and servants, humbly beseech thy eternal Majesty, to do with thee according to the multitude of His innumerable mercies, and to pardon thee all thy sins and offences, committed by all thy bodily senses, passions, and carnal affections: who also vouchsafe mercifully to grant unto thee ghostly strength, by His Holy Spirit, to withstand and overcome all temptations and assaults of thine adversary, that in no wise he prevail against thee, but that thou mayest have perfect victory and triumph against the devil, sin and death, through Christ our Lord; who by His death hath overcome the prince of death, and with the Father, and the Holy Ghost evermore liveth and reigneth God, world without end.  Amen.”1

This form officially declared the mind of the English Church, the Church of England, which we draw our roots, that the Sacrament of Holy Unction is for the healing of those who are physically ill; and that this healing is obtained by the soul being inwardly anointed with the Holy Ghost.  The intended effect is mental as well as bodily healing; and that in connection there is pardon for sin, along with the power of the Holy Ghost to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Let’s consider what St. James has to say in our lesson.  St. James seems to imply that Holy Unction is to be used in any illness which the sick calls upon the Church for administration.  In St. James’ phrase, “the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick,” the word “save” can be proved to have a spiritual as well as a physical meaning.  It certainly suggests that there is a clear union or connection between the physical and the spiritual benefits of healing.  Still further, the healing of Holy Unction is a benefit that is spiritually conditioned by faith, a condition that corresponds to the beneficial reception or the Grace received of any of the sacraments.

I can say without a shadow of doubt that the “Sanctifying Grace” that is conveyed through the Sacraments is real.  It is an incredible benefit of our faith that God will use a sacrament for conferring a supernatural benefit.  It is a clear result of our faith and belief, and more specifically our OBEDIENCE to Jesus Christ as being the Son of the Living God, who became that perfect, obedient, sacrifice for us, to whom explicit, important blessings are surely pledged, both in this life and in the next.AMEN.

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“AND NOW UNTO GOD THE FATHER,

GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY GHOST;

BE ASCRIBED ALL MIGHT,

MAJESTY, POWER, AND DOMINION,

MOST JUSTLY DUE THIS DAY,

BOTH NOW, AND FOREVER,

WORLD WITHOUT END,

AMEN.”

1 The First English Prayerbook, 1549 ed., pp. 72-73,