We remember today Pope St. John XXIII. He was born into the Roncalli family and Baptized Angelo. Throughout his life, he cooperated with God’s grace, believing that the job at hand was always worthy of his best efforts. His sense of God’s providence and care made him the ideal person to promote a new dialogue with people of faith around the world. In an overtly courageous move, he called for the Second Vatican Council, presided over its beginning, and died before it was concluded.
Stories about Pope St. John XXIII: https://youtu.be/67omOrcsIsM
More stories about Pope St. John XXIII: https://youtu.be/tpeZm3DWlcU
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Join us Wednesday at 8:30am for our monthly Mass of Anointing of the Sick.
A Pastoral Note: The name “extreme unction” (which is still associated with this Sacrament in some ways) tends to emphasize a connection with the moment of death. The Second Vatican Council, however, said that the name “Anointing of the Sick” is preferable and that the Sacrament for the dying is in fact the Eucharist, received as Viaticum (“food for the journey”). It seems obvious and preferable, therefore, that the sick be anointed at the onset of serious illness (or in the midst of chronic illness or connected to a surgery) rather than postponing the Sacrament to the end of an illness. As with all the Sacraments, the communal dimension is important. Thus, the ideal place for the celebration of this Sacrament is in fact the parish, outside the emergency situation of the hospital. It will of course still be celebrated in the hospital as well, and occasionally in emergency situations in the home.
