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The notion of healing has always
been central to our Christian faith. Each year, our parish celebrates
a Mass of the Anointing. Elderly people and people whose health
is seriously impaired our urged to come and celebrate together in
this Eucharistic liturgy. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick
is an action of the community whereby all members are concerned
for one another. St. Paul tells us, "as one member suffers,
all suffer, and as one member shares in the joy of the Sacrament,
all share in the joy of the Sacrament." The group, coming together
for communal anointing, is a great sign of a concerned community
celebrating a joyful Sacrament.
On April 9, 2005, our parish celebrated our
annual Mass of Anointing. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny
day. Many of our elderly came along with their caregivers and friends
to experience God’s healing presence in this Sacrament. Our
Gym was transformed into a place of worship on one side with a lovely
decorated café on the other. Don Renda graced us with his
music, Ronnie and Ed Quinn lent their voices and Liz Grunig proclaimed
God’s healing word. Msgr. Geraghty’s homily seems always
to be just what our elderly need to hear.
Our elderly always look forward to this day
of celebration in the spring that is just for them. As Monsignor
Brown, Father Lou DeGaetano and Father Wtulich move through the
rows reverently “praying over” and anointing each person
our Gym is transformed into Holy Ground.
After the Mass, many parishioners remained
to enjoy fellowship with their friends as they enjoyed the coffee
and cake that was served lovingly by the members of our prayer group.
This year some of our seniors were delighted to go home with the
beautiful flowers that were the centerpieces on each table.
As usual, our elderly and their friends were
all smiles as our own parish photographer; Father Lou came to each
table with his camera. Everyone loves to have their picture taken.
We are blessed to have so many parishioners
who come forward to help make this day so special. We especially
want to thank Dorothy Brenna and Pat O’Brien for making our
table settings so colorful and beautiful.
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