We all need healing. No one escapes physical hurts or spiritual wounds. The sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick are the Church's response to our need for healing--both physical and spiritual. These sacraments continue Jesus's work of restoring health and bringing salvation to the broken, the vulnerable, the sick, and the dying. Both sacraments are points of contact between us and Jesus, part of the legacy of his mission: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." The Church inherited Jesus's concern and through these sacraments continues what he did. In reconciliation and anointing we experience Jesus's healing touch. How comforting it is to know that Jesus is still healing us, still forgiving us, still very much with us. The
Catholic Update Guide to the Sacraments of Healing reviews the healing power of both sacraments, dispels some misconceptions, and provides a historical, practical, and sacramental perspective that blends solid theology with liturgical experience. The book also explores the variety of names for these two sacraments--confession, reconciliation, penance, conversion, and forgiveness for the sacrament of reconciliation, and extreme unction or the sacrament of the dying for the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.
