By Deacon Mike Seibert
Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly “Connecting Faith and Life” column has been renamed “Connecting Liturgy and Life.” The column consists of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. CCC 1514-1525
CCC 1522: By receiving the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, “… the sick … contribute to the good of the People of God.” And “… through the grace of this sacrament, (they) contribute to the sanctification of the Church and to the good of all men …”
Really!? You mean, simply celebrating the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick somehow helps all mankind? That doesn’t immediately make sense. It seems like the sacrament is for me personally. But when we ourselves receive grace, more grace is in the world. We become a vessel of grace.
Let’s try an analogy: Grace is like sunlight. The power available to us from the sun is literally astronomical! Think of solar panels; if we captured all the solar energy reaching the Earth’s surface — after accounting for reflection, atmospheric absorption and land-use constraints — the potential is over 173,000 terawatts. That’s enough to power the planet many times over, with some estimates suggesting 10,000 times more than current global demand. But if we don’t capture it, it’s wasted. (I realize there are many reasons we should not do that, but please play along with my analogy.)
While the power from the sun is unimaginably huge, the amount of grace that constantly flows from God is infinitely more. Like sunlight, grace is constantly flowing, but most is never captured. The sacraments are like solar panels — opportunities to capture the grace that is already flowing. How much grace is wasted because we don’t open ourselves up to receive it? Like on Sunday morning, if I decide to stay in bed rather than receive the sacrament of the Eucharist, I’m not availing myself of that grace. You and I can contribute to the benefit of all mankind by celebrating the sacraments and becoming vessels of that grace for our benefit and the benefit of all.
Sacraments are for now; for this life. God’s grace meets us as often as we seek it: In the big events of life, like birth and marriage, and in the weekly and monthly disciplines of communion and reconciliation. But the last sacrament, the anointing of the sick and viaticum, is described in CCC 1520 as a strengthening against “the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death.” It’s not just about dying. Any serious illness can tempt us toward discouragement. God may heal us, but regardless, the grace of the sacrament alleviates fear as we surrender our bodies and souls into God’s hands. The harder we hold on to this life, the more fear we experience. Eventually, we must surrender.
It reminds me of one line of the song “Thank You India” by Alanis Morrisette. “The moment I let go of it was the moment I got more than I could handle. The moment I jumped off of it was the moment I touched down.”
All of life is a slow surrender — giving up our youthfulness, our self-centeredness, and as our bodies fail us, we surrender our ability to do things — our sight, our cognition, our memories — and in the end, we may not even change our own diaper. So, we inevitably must surrender our pride and allow God to take care of us.
The sacraments guide us through this slow surrender — strengthening us for the journey, preparing us for the inevitable moment when we come to the precipice of life and are invited to jump off. But as the song said, “the moment I jumped off of it was the moment I touched down.” We close our eyes for the last time and open them to the life of eternity.
The sacrament of the anointing of the sick is for any serious illness or injury, so we should avail ourselves of the grace available to us. How appropriate that in our last moments we receive that same grace to help us jump from the precipice of life. The grace allows us to take that step into eternity with less fear; with more confidence in the goodness of God, into whose hand we’re stepping.
Celebrate the sacraments; open your solar panel and allow the Son to transform you, and thereby light up the world.