Our Lady of Good Hope celebrates the
anointing of the sick during Mass about twice a year.
Few other Gospel texts have been as clear a victim of mangled interpretation and tradition as the story of the
anointing woman.
The early church understood the
anointing of the sick as a sacramental act.
The gesture of
anointing with oil links the woman to the ministry of the disciples in chapter 6 (6:13) where they are designated apostles for the first time (6:7).
In a series of influential contributions Gabriele Winkler pioneered new ways of looking at the evidence by arguing that the Syrian rite had originally emphasized the pre-baptismal
anointing of the head only as the crucial part of the rite, which was an imitation of the kingly/sacerdotal
anointing of Jesus at his baptism, marking the gift of the Spirit and inaugurating his Messianic kingship.
A Call for All Christians to Claim God's
Anointing and Miracle Working Power
With long strips of toilet paper draped for a stole around her shoulders, she proceeded with the
anointing, the ex-treme unction, which was how we pronounced it.
And though
anointing Manuel the next Michael Jordan is perhaps a stretch, Manuel's ability to come through the way he did in the A.
At the end of the pilgrimage he received the
anointing of the sick in the shrine's esplanade.
6) Further, there is the
anointing with the Spirit at the Jordan.
The two essays dealing with initiation and
anointing contain the interesting suggestion that the early Syrian and Armenian practice of prebaptismal rather than postbaptismal
anointing was influenced by Levi's vision of a rite of priestly ordination which included an
anointing, washing, the taking of bread and wine, and the investiture in a linen robe (Testament of Levi, 8.
West's classic multi-platinum debut, The College Dropout, was nominated for 10 Grammys and earned him three - including "Best Rap Song' for his anthem "Jesus Walks"
anointing him among music's elite.
The
anointing of the sick, like all sacraments, is one way that the church continues the ministry of Jesus.
Anointing with chrism as a symbol for ministry goes back all the way to the Old Testament.
There is a sense of the future tumbling in upon us as we hear Isaiah pointing hopefully across the desert; as we hear Paul waving the church at Philippi forward, leaving behind all their extra baggage; and as we see Mary
anointing Jesus for events that will change the world.
