The Anointing of the Sick & Lewis' Great Divorce

A Family Emergency & Final Healing in the Foothills of Heaven.

Happy Tuesday Barrel Aged Christians!

As some of you may know already, we had a family emergency last week, and my mother-in-law was care flighted to Indianapolis where she was in ICU from Sunday night to Saturday. Keep Julia in your daily prayers as she improves day by day in the hospital. My wife, Sarah, and our entire family could also use your intercession.

Anointing of the Sick.

I was reminded of Christ’s great gift of the sacraments when our priest came to anoint Julia with sacred chrism oil and intercede on her behalf. “The Anointing of the Sick” is meant to strengthen the sick person in body and soul, and it is also a prayer for miraculous healing if God grants it. It may also include a time of confession and repentance.

This sacred rite is recorded in the Book of James (ch 5: 13-16) in the New Testament:

“Are any among you sick? They should call for the presbyters (priests)¹ of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.”

This ‘rite of healing’ or ‘prayer of faith’ was likely given to the Apostles from our Lord when he sent them out two by two to cast out demons, heal the sick, and proclaim the Gospel of repentance:

“He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits… So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick…” (Mark 6:7-9, 12-13).

Although miraculous healings have happened through the prayer of the Church since the time of Jesus, we should always remember what the greater miracle is- the healing of the soul, the forgiveness of sins, and reconciliation with Christ and one another. Those who belong to Christ are promised by Him to have their bodies raised up on the Last Day when he returns to our world. Therefore, we should not get too caught up about the timing of when our bodies will be healed, whether that be now or at the Resurrection of the Body, but rather, we should be most concerned about the healing of our souls and being conformed to Christ now.

After we die, C.S. Lewis believed that Christ would finish his healing process upon our souls among the foothills of Heaven as we journey further up and further in toward ‘Deep Heaven’ or the Face of God (the Beatific Vision). He describes this afterlife journey of ‘letting go’ of our vices in his book, The Great Divorce. In the video below, Fr. Michael Ward, a great C.S. Lewis scholar, describes why Lewis believed in purgatory or final purification and why we should not fear God’s ‘cleaning up process.’

If you would like to watch the entire interview with Fr. Michael Ward, it is now available to free subscribers! (It was only available to paid subscribers two weeks ago).

Stay tuned for more upcoming articles, interviews, and announcements!

Be entirely His until the Day,

-Kyle

1

‘Presbyter’ (Greek and Latin) was transliterated into the word ‘Priest’ (German/English). In later editions of the Bible, translators also began using the word ‘Priest’ for the Old Testament Temple Managers (Heiros in Greek, Cohen in Hebrew). This translation decision to use the word ‘priest’ for both the New Testament Presbyters and the Old Testament Heiros/Cohen caused confusion during the time of the Protestant Reformation when certain Protestants were making the case for the Priesthood of all believers apart from the Ministerial, Ordained Priesthood. Much of this confusion is cleared up if we stick to the original languages of Scripture. Everyone, both Catholic & Protestant, agrees that not every Christian is a Presbyter.