HEALTH AND HEALING IN CHRIST

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick in the Gospel of Mark and the Epistle of
James:
An Exegetico-Liturgical Analysis
Darryl P. Reyes (II-MAL)
12

So they went off to preach repentance. 13They drove out many

demons, and they anointed many with oil many who were sick
and cured them.
Mark 6, 12-13
15

He said to them, Go into the whole world and proclaim the

gospel to every creature. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will
be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17These
signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will
drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18They will
pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly
thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and
they will recover.
Mark 16, 15-18
14

Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters

of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him)
with oil in the name of the Lord, 15and the prayer of faith will
save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has
committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
James 5, 14-151
Sickness and ill health are realities of human life. 2 This is especially felt in
third-world countries like the Philippines, where due to poverty, health is often
neglected, diseases seldom get immediate attention, and medication is an avoided,
unwanted expense. In poverty-drenched areas where health is ignored, yet so
highly-valuedwe see this when people neglect common symptoms, but lament
diseasesmany resort to alternative medicine and healing practices, like herbal
medicine, the village albularyo, and even magical and superstitious practices, which
are much cheaper. But the Filipino would always include in his healing process the
intervention of the Divine, so, in his time of sickness, he would always turn to
prayers and put all confidence in God, more than his doctor. He would willingly pray
any devotion or novena to any saint, would find his hands constantly on beads,
would make a panata in return of his health, or a pilgrimage to some miraculous
shrine, or would call in desperation for a miracle. Evidently, it is engraved in the
1 All Biblical citations from the New American Bible (1991).
2 Cf. Pastoral Care of the Sick (PCS) 1.

Filipino consciousness, perhaps even in the consciousness of all mankind, that God
has a part in his ill health, sickness, and suffering, whether it is inflicted by god, as
in other religions, or relieved by him.
Christ, the God-became-man and Emmanuel, on his days on earth,
exemplified this consciousness of mankind when he shared human infirmity, and
more wondrously lifted it up, when he accomplished his work of Redemption not
only through the Paschal mystery, but also through his ministry. This solidarity of
Christ with mankind is potently enshrined in the version of the Sanctus in the Aklat
ng Pagmimisa sa Roma, where it says, Dinadakila ng lahat ang naparito
mong Anak, na siyang nagdilat sa bulag, sa pilay ay nagpalakad, at nakiramay sa
lahat. Moreover, he established in his Church the Sacrament of the Anointing of the
Sick which forgives sins, strengthens the spirit in bearing the trials and labors of
sickness, and restores bodily health if this is expedient. 3
Pope Paul VI, in his Apostolic Constitution on the Sacrament of the Anointing
of the Sick, Sacram unctionem infirmorum, cites Mark 16, 13 and James 5, 14-15 as
the Biblical foundations of this sacrament. Let us look into these passages to be
enlightened more on the nature and effects of this sacrament.
Health and Healing in the Gospel of Mark
The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick belongs to the Sacraments of Healing,
together with the Sacrament of Penance. It would be helpful, then, in understanding
this Sacrament, that we first search through the concept of health and healing in
the New Testament through the Marcan text cited in Sacram unctione infirmorum.
12So they went off to preach repentance. 13They drove out many demons,
and they anointed many with oil many who were sick and cured them. (Mark
6, 12-13)
This passage occurs after Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth.
After that rejection, the proceeding sections mark a new period in Jesus Galilean
ministry. He sends the Twelve to the surrounding villages to proclaim his message.
These verses form part if what seems to be instructions on how the Twelve are to
conduct their ministry and how the should deal with acceptance and rejection. Verse
3 Paul VI. Sacram unctione infirmorum (1972) in Austin Flannery. Vatican Council II:
More Post Conciliar Documents. Pasay City: Paulines Publishing House, 2007. 13.

seven provides weight to the ministry of the Twelve: and gave them authority
over unclean spirits. The Twelves mission consists of preaching repentance,
driving out demons, and healing.
The concept of Christian healing. Verses thirteen and fourteen work
dynamically to form a concept of sickness and healing. It shows that physical
healing has a spiritual aspect, and spiritual infirmity has a physical effect. It is a
Jewish belief that sickness is caused by sin, or by demonic infestation. Thus, to be
healed, ones sins have to be forgiven, and the devil be driven out. Repentance,
they should repent (6, 12), that is, conversion from a sinful state of
life to a new one in God, and consequentially, liberation from the evil one, are thus
prerequisites for healing. This is seen in the rite of anointing, where while anointing
the hands, the priest says, ut a peccatis liberatum (liberatam) te salvet atque
propitius allevet (May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up
(n. 124), and in the prayer after anointing, where God is invoked to forgive the sin of
the infirm (n. 125). Indeed, at many instances does Jesus first forgives sins before
healing is effected.4 Physical healing, , healed [them], (6, 13) 5 can be
effected after conversion, as through the use of oil which is a common remedy to
sickness since antiquity, like in Luke 10, 34. However, anointing is not merely a
medical remedy, but a symbol of the healing presence of God. It is seen here that
Christian healing is a result of internal healing from sin, and health is not only a
physical state but also a spiritual one.
A Gospel passage in Mark connected with healing is found in the last chapter
of the book, which we shall now examine.
15He said to them, Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every
creature. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not
believe will be condemned. 17These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.
18
They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly
4 Matthew 9, 1-8; Mark 2, 3-12; Luke 5, 18-26; John 5, 1-18; etc., and even in the
Old Testament as in Sirach 38, 9-10, where repentance is recommended alongside
prayer to be healed.
5 In contrast to , has healed used in 5, 34 which is a technical term for
salvation in early Christian circles.

thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover. (Mark 16, 15-18)
These passages form part of the longer ending of Mark, of the section often
called Great Commissioning. As in Mark 6, Jesus once more sends his disciples,
now only eleven, to a mission, but now, not to surrounding villages, but to the whole
world to proclaim the gospel to every creature. He empowers them once more to
go in his own authority to drive out demons, speak in tongues, and heal.
It Christ who heals. As in Mark 6, 7, the disciples were sent not carrying their
own mission, but the mission of Christ. Thus, the ministry of forgiveness and healing
carried out by the disciples was a sharing in the ministry of Christ. They come not
on their own authority, but in the authority of Christ. It was thus Christ who was
forgiving, touching, and healing the sick. The passage mentions the laying of hands
for the effecting of healing, as in Mark 6, 5. This gesture is comparable, though not
the same in nature, to the keirotonia of the ordination rites. While the laying of
hands in ordination confers the Holy Spirit of the priesthood, the laying of hands in
the rite of anointing sends the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, that is, the Consoler (Prayer
for the Blessing of Oil of the Sick, n. 123) who relieves and strengthens the soul of
the sick person, arousing in him a great confidence in the divine mercy, whereby
being thus sustained he more easily bears the trials and labors of his sickness, more
easily resists the temptations of the devil.6
The Marcan concept of health and healing can be summarized thus: for Mark,
health and healing is an effect of internal, spiritual reconciliation with God through
the forgiveness of sins and liberation from evil, resulting to the physical well-being
of the individual.
Anointing of the Sick in the Epistle of James
We have seen in the previous passages how health and healing were viewed
in the New Testament mindset, especially seen in the Gospel of Mark. Now, let us
look on the ritual foundation of the celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of
the Sick. We shall analyze the instruction of James in his epistle.

6 Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, De extr. unct., chapter 2: CT, VII, 1, 356; Denz.Schon.,1696.

14Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the
church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name
of the Lord, 15and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord
will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. (James 5,
14-15)
James acknowledges the reality of sickness. To this, he leaves an instruction
for the healing of the sick members of the community. However, the style of the
Greek reveals that he is not giving new instructions, but presupposes an existing
one.
James mentions the kind of physical state the community member might be
in. The text uses the verb sometimes used to refer to near death, but still
conscious, being able to summon the presbyters. 7 He makes mention of the
presbyters of the Church. These refer to those who are in holy orders, not merely
the senior members of the community, as might be implied by the word .
These presbyters, or those in holy orders, are acknowledge in the community as
successors of the Apostles who are founders of churches, thus sharing the authority
given by Christ. These presbyters shall pray over the sick person. Prayer, alongside
repentance for sin, is recommended in Sirach 38, 9-10 to effect healing. After the
prayer, the sick person shall be anointed with oil. As in Mark 6, 13, this anointing is
not merely a medical remedy, but a symbol of the healing presence of God.
James further says that the prayer of faith will save the sick person. The verb
used here means both salvation of the person and restoration of health,
effected in connection with faith. The verb indicates the double spiritual and
physical health and healing in Mark. The verb supports the succeeding passage that
person is not only granted physical health, but also forgiveness of sins, indicative of
salvation.
The pattern here given by James is very noticeable in the current rite of
anointing of the sick. James here speaks of the recipient and minister of the
sacrament, its essential rite, and its effect. The recipient is a person ill, preferably
conscious enough to receive it. The minister is a priest. The essential rite consists of
the prayer and anointing with oil. Its effect is physical healing and forgiveness of
sins.
7 As in John 4, 46-47; Acts 9, 37.

Conclusion
These analyses of the Biblical foundations of the nature and effects of the
Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has shown us that this sacrament aims both at
spiritual and physical healing through the ministry of Christ. This short study shows
that this practice is not simply a novelty but finds its origin in Christ himself and has
been in the Church ever since. In the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, it is Christ
who takes away our infirmities, in continuation of his ministry of healing, and in
solidarity with our misery. The healing this sacrament brings is not magic, but
indeed a work of God accomplished in us through our faith, like the hemorrhagic
woman to whom Jesus spoke, Your faith has saved you. (Mark 5, 33)