Finding Comfort in the Sacrement of the Sick
I remember the first time I saw the sacrement of the sick performed in a hospital room, and it wasn't at all what I had imagined from the movies. There wasn't a sense of impending doom or a dark shadow hanging over the bed; instead, there was this strange, quiet sense of relief that filled the space between the beeping monitors and the sterile white walls. Most people still get a little bit nervous when they hear about this particular ritual because, for a long time, we called it "Last Rites." That name alone is enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat, as it carries the heavy implication that the end is right around the corner. ...