The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 205: Christ the Physician (2024)

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Sickness and suffering bring us face-to-face with our fragility and limitations. While they might cause some to lose hope and become bitter, we can also endure them in such a way as to grow in maturity and trust in God. Jesus not only heals the sick in the Gospels but also plunges into suffering’s depths. In this redemptive work, we know Jesus as the physician of soul and body. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1499-1505. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 205. We're reading paragraphs 1499-1505. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations

of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y, C-I-Y for Catechism in a Year. You can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Thank you so much. Just a word of note for all those who have assisted and supported the production of this

podcast with your prayers and financial gifts, could not do it without you. We definitely could not make it to day 205 without you. Also you made it to day 205. This is, I've been reflecting on this kind of a lot lately, actually even a little bit this morning, but yesterday for sure, just that sense of, oh my gosh, the number of people here you are who just keep pressing play.

That sense of, I've talked to somebody recently who said that yeah, you know, you bring a lot of excitement to the catechism in here. Sometimes I'm wondering like, what is he so excited about? I was like, yeah, I get it. Either sometimes there's a little bit of, there might be some manic in that too, in the non-clinical sense, but that sense of just,

here we are, here you are, pressing play and taking that next step every single day, which is remarkable. We just concluded yesterday, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and now we're onto the second Sacrament of Healing, which is the anointing of the sick. You might notice in your catechism, if're following along there are some words to know the anointing of the sick extreme unction

Viaticum the anointing of the sick used to be called extreme unction. It's still that term can still be used It's not that's not it's not prohibited at all, but it was changed I heard it was changed because you know the same with last rites It was changed because the church is saying no this is yes. I mean, yes, there same with last rites. It was changed because the church is saying, no, this is, yes, I mean, yes, there are the last rites. There are those final rites of passing from this world to the next world where you have that last Holy Communion, the Atticum, where you have that last anointing of the sick, extreme unction.

But you can also, I mean, this is a sacrament of healing that it doesn't always end in death. It sometimes actually grants life. And so we're gonna talk about that today. In fact, what we're gonna to start talking about the sacrament of anointing of the sick is we're going to talk about the foundations of anointing of the sick or even Jesus is healing in the economy of salvation. So we, in order to do that, we have to talk about the reality of illness in human life. We're also going to talk about

the sick person before God. So what is it that happens? What is it that sickness, what is it that suffering does to us? What is it that illness does to us? As well as we're gonna conclude today essentially by reflecting a little bit on Christ the physician. So those are kind of our three movements today. The reality of illness in human life, who we are when we're sick,

when we're suffering before God and what that does to us sometimes as well as Jesus Christ the physician. So in order to prepare our hearts for this, let us call upon that same Jesus, the power of his Holy Spirit, and we pray, Father in heaven, we thank you because you have sent your Son to heal us, not only to physically heal us, you sent your Holy Spirit to heal us, not only to physically heal us, you have sent your Holy Spirit, you've sent your Son to give us a deeper healing,

a healing that no one else can give. You've sent your Son to give us a spiritual healing. You sent your Holy Spirit to reconcile us with you. You sent your Holy Spirit to kill the spiritual illness in the depths of our hearts, in the depths of our souls. We ask you, God, this day, give us patience and suffering. Give us understanding. Help our hearts become softer,

not more brittle in the midst of sickness. Help our wills and our minds become more open to you and more inclined to you in the midst of our own pain and the pains of others. Help us all to grow in maturity and entrust in you in the midst of our suffering, not in despair and not in resentment in the midst of our suffering or the sufferings of others. But please, like you always do, meet us in our suffering,

be with us at this moment, at our best moments, at our worst moments, and at every moment. We ask this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 205. We're reading paragraphs 1499 to 1505. Article 5. The Anointing of the Sick. By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests, the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord that He may raise them up and save them. And indeed, She exhorts them to contribute

to the good of the people of God by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ. Its foundations in in the Economy of Salvation Illness and Human Life Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death. Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him

discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often, illness provokes a search for God and a return to Him. The Sick Person Before God The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. Illness becomes a way to conversion. God's forgiveness initiates the healing. It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil and

that faithfulness to God according to His law restores life. As God said, For I am the Lord your healer. The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others. Finally, Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when He will pardon every offense and heal every illness. Christ the Physician. Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that God has visited

his people and that the kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal but also to forgive sins. He has come to heal the whole man, soul and body. He is the physician the sick have need of. His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them, saying, I was sick and you visited me. His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them.

Often Jesus asks the sick to believe. He makes use of signs to heal – spittle and the laying on of hands, mud and washing. The sick tried to touch him for power came forth from him and healed them all. And so, in the sacraments, Christ continues to touch us in order to heal us. Moved by so much suffering, Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own. He took our infirmities and bore our diseases. But, he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of

God. They announced a more radical healing, the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross, Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the sin of the world, of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross, Christ has given a new meaning to suffering. It can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive passion. There it is, paragraphs 1499 to 1505. There is so much that is said in this. This is one of those days, I think, where we just say, okay, Lord, teach me. Our posture, I think, in so many ways has to be docility. You know, docility is true docility, is just being open to being taught that we all come

before this day, we all come before God with our experiences. We all have experiences of loss and of pain and of illness and of suffering, not only our own, but also the people around us. And sometimes, as we know, it is even harder to experience and witness the pain of others, the illness of others than it is our own. And yet here is the church, here is the Lord teaching us through the church of like, okay, what should our posture be? And so it could be a challenge though, right? Because it's like we can show up today saying, actually, no, I'm bitter.

Here we are talking about illness and talking about suffering and I look at my heart and I just find resentment. And yet here is the Lord that invites us through the church to let down our guard and to say, okay, what is it that's really happening in these moments? So very, very first article, 1499, it just kind of tees up and says, okay, when it comes to the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, what's going on? And so let's just highlight that because that's gonna, that's gonna be the thread that continues even after we pass through the right realities,

illness, reality of this sickness. We're gonna talk about healing. So here's the quote in 1499, says this, by the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests, the whole church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord that he may raise them up and save them that's the heart of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick there's the secret anointing and there's that prayer of the priests and that

comes from James chapter 5 and we're gonna talk about that as days go on that is so important is are there any sick among you let them send the priest of the church but the priests prayer over them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord the prayer of faith will save the sick person if the Lord if they've committed any Sins their sins will be forgiven them and the Lord will raise them up This is just the height the core here of the sacrament of anointing of the sick goes on to say indeed she or the church Exorts them to contribute to the good of the people of God by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ. So not only is the anointing of the sick

this sacrament of healing and forgiveness, it is also a commendation for those people who are actually experiencing the suffering, experiencing that illness, maybe even death, to freely unite themselves to the suffering, the death, the passion of Jesus Christ. We recognize that Jesus, we get this in paragraph 1505, we recognize that Jesus, by his passion of death

on the cross, has given a new meaning to suffering. A new meaning to suffering. He's not removed it, he's redeemed it. He hasn't taken it away, he's transformed it. But in order to look at this, we have to get there. So let's walk through what it talks about here, 15 and 100 and 1501. one illness and human life Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life

And this is the reality of course, you know, St. Thomas Aquinas. I maybe I mentioned this recently I know in some context I have but Thomas Aquinas in writing the Summa theologica right this this summary of the faith He asks the hardest questions and he answers them. He gives the best answer he could at the time and he's a genius. One of the questions he said was the hardest, the most difficult question to even respond to is, if God is all good and if God is all powerful then why is there evil in the world? Like it's called theodicy, right? It's the problem of evil in the world and it's been among the gravest problems confronting human life and I

love this because it goes on to say, in illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death. Just think about this. Think about the fact that you can be anyone, you could be as powerful a person in the world. You could be the president, you could be a king or queen, you could be a billionaire. And yet a germ could take you out, you know, a, a cold pneumonia. I think I remember, I remember being a kid. There was this, if you remember that there was this book called the book, the book and movie, the best Christmas pageant ever, they were telling these kids

of the story about, you know, Herod, who had, you know, slaughtered the book, the book and movie, the best Christmas pageant ever. They were telling these kids the story about Herod who had slaughtered the innocents, looking for Jesus. He had killed all these innocent infants. And at one point it said, the Herod died in his bed of a cold. At least that was, I don't know if that's accurate, but I remember the kids in the book, and then I think they made a movie about it,

but the kids in the book thought that was fair. That was just that, yeah, this king who killed all these you did horrible things in and in real life He did in rest of his life. I mean he did additional horrible things But that he yeah a little cold took him out And I don't know if that's accurate that he died of a cold but the truth is Every king every queen every millionaire every billionaire, every dictator, everyone. The greatest athletes in the world, every one of us, we experience powerlessness in illness.

We experience our limitations in illness. Every illness can make us glimpse death. Have you ever thought about the fact that when you don't have a sore throat, you never think about not having a sore throat, but when you have a sore throat, every time you swallow it's all you can think about? Or when you don't have a stuffy nose, you never think about not having a sore throat But when you have a sore throat every time you swallow it It's all you can think about or when you don't have a stuffy nose You'd never think about not having a stuffy nose You just breathe but when you have a stuffy nose all of a sudden everything, you know, everything has to stop And maybe I'm just talking for myself, but this reality of course that every illness can make us glimpse death

It makes us realize our limitations. It's not just abstract. It's very concrete. Oh my goodness, this is the only body I have, this is the only life I have, and I am so, so fragile. If you've ever broken a bone or torn some kind of tendon muscle, something like this, you know what that's like, that sense of, I am not indestructible. And it can make us realize the shortness of our lives. There's something about this though, that illness can, this limitation, right?

This can lead to anguish, can lead to self-absorption, it can lead to sometimes even despair and revolt against God. Again, let's think about ourselves the last time you were sick. I know that, man, when I'm sick, all I can think about is my being sick. I don't want to, it's one of those situations where it's just, yeah, but that's all I can think about is my being sick. I don't want to, it's one of those situations where it's just, yeah, but that's all I can think of.

It says here, self-absorption. Man, that's why it's so remarkable when you find people who in their illness are asking you how you are. Because illness can also, it doesn't have to just do that, it doesn't have to lead us to despair or revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature. It can also help a person discern in their life what is not essential so they can turn to that which is.

And he goes on to say in the Catechism, very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him. I know that has happened. Again, some people, bitter in their illness, bitter in their limitation, bitter in their finitude. And others, if you've maybe heard people say, it doesn't make them bitter, it makes them better.

It takes some of those edges off. And I've seen this so often that people just, oh, I realize life's not about me. And then they turn to love the people around them. They turn to be more patient. They turn to be more patient. They turn to the Lord. There's this, this elderly man that I met with the first time a couple of years ago and he is now in his nineties and it took him a long time, but, but cause he was powerful. I mean, literally he was a powerful individual. He was incredibly intelligent,

incredibly successful in his career and just kind of dominated life. I mean, there was a wake of brokenness there too. Broken marriages, broken family relationships, broken other relationships. But it was when he, in his old age, in his limitation, in his illness, that something happened. Something just moved and he had this incredible conversion back to the Lord. And it wasn't just a situation where, okay, I feel really bad because I'm coming to the end of my life,

and so I probably should clean things up before I have to see the Lord face to face. I'm sure there's some of that. But it was a deep conversion of just, oh my goodness, I have been driving my life by my strength, by my genius, by my own will. And now I've experienced the limitation of that and I realize I'm not enough.

And he realized he himself was not enough and it provoked a search for God and he returned to God. In these last couple of years, he has said, I think it's been two years since his conversion, he's 93, I think he's 93. And he has said that he's prayed more in these last two years and his life is more full of joy, even though he can hardly walk, he can barely walk.

But he says his life is so full of joy because yes, illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, even despair and revolt against God, or it can lead us to becoming more mature. It can lead us to trusting in God more. Now, the sick person felt the Old Testament, right? In Israel, the Old Testament, there are so many stories of people,

they just recognize, okay, there's some mysterious way that my sickness is tied to sin. Now, it doesn't have to be necessarily tied to my own sin. That's in the book of Job, remember we talked about that. Not necessarily like a one-to-one ratio where if you've done something wrong, now you're sick to that proportion. No, that's not how it works.

At the same time, we recognize that because of sin, the world is now broken. Because of sin, our relationships with God, our relationship with each other, with the world, with ourselves, that's broken. Because it's out of order, there's illness. Because it's out of order, there's suffering. So yes, in some way, every illness is connected to sin, but it's not necessarily that one-to-one, like my personal sin leads to my personal illness. That's not the same kind of thing. And yet what happens is that we realize that we stand before the Lord in need. And that's what the Old Testament continues to come back to, because we come before God

and He is our healer. Now, ultimately, Jesus is the healer. And it's so important that we recognize that Jesus has come and in heals, I mean, think about all of the signs and wonders that Jesus does. He heals sicknesses of every kind, every infirmity. And it's a sign that God is close to us, a sign that God loves us, a sign that we can trust God.

And he not only has the power to heal physical illness, he has the power to forgive sins. Why? Because he's come to heal all of us, soul and body. He is the physician we need. It goes on to say, though, it's very, very important, Jesus doesn't heal everyone. He did not heal all the sick. That all those who came to him, he delivered them from their illness, from their infirmity. At the same time, he did not heal all the sick. The healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God and they announced a more radical healing, victory over sin and death through his Passover. And that's the reality. He even said this, he said, don't fear those who can kill the

body but fear those who after killing the body can also take the soul, essentially. Fear that one. And so we recognize that there are graver evils than physical suffering. There are graver evils than even death. We said this, I think, yesterday, that sin is the worst thing in the world. And Jesus came to deal with the worst thing in the world and why how did he do it on the cross? He took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the sin of the world and illness is just a consequence of that No, it was is horrible. But illness is just a consequence of the worst thing

And last thing last thing to note and this is gonna be something we comes up again and again Jesus does not remove sickness. He does not remove suffering. He redeems it. He doesn't take it away. He transforms it. That Jesus has given illness a new power, and that power is we can unite that illness, we can unite that suffering to His suffering.

What did His suffering do? His suffering had the power to transform the world, right? As Jesus is saying yes to this on the cross He's saying yes to his suffering not that he wanted it, but he Submitted his will to the Father's will he said yes to that moment said yes to the cross and in doing so it actually transformed the world it actually Redeemed the world it actually saved us when we are willing

to unite our suffering, our sickness. And it doesn't have to be massive suffering or massive sickness. It can be even the small stuff. It can be that sore throat. It can be the stuffy nose. It can be the hang nail. It also can be the cancer.

It can also be the dementia. It can also be the broken leg or broken back, broken hip. It can be any aspect of life. It can also be the broken leg, a broken back, a broken hip. It can be any aspect of life. It can be loneliness. It can be confusion. Every aspect of life can be united to Christ's suffering on the cross. And in doing that, every aspect of life that we live

can be part of the redemption of the world. We're going to talk more and more about this as we continue, but just realize this, that this is not a new problem. This is an old problem. At the same time, it's something that wakes us up. It's something that could make us bitter, or it could make us better. It's the kind of thing that could drive us away from the Lord or it is the thing that can spur us on to learn how to trust in him more and more. We're gonna continue to talk about this in the days to come so keep me in your prayers. I'm keeping you in my prayers. Another way to say it is please pray for

me. I am praying for you. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.