When a priest is called to administer the “last rites” to somebody before they die, they are being called on to do a few things. In the ideal circumstances, the person who is dying would go to Confession, receive the Anointing of the Sick, receive Holy Communion as Viaticum, and receive the plenary indulgence known as the Apostolic Pardon. More often than not, however, the person is no longer conscious and unable to confess their sins or receive Holy Communion, so we provide as much as we can for the person, namely Anointing and the Apostolic Pardon.
After administering these rites, the priest will then pray from a selection of prayers from the Order of the Commendation of the Dying. I usually choose to recite Psalm 23, one of the most recognized and most consoling passages in all of Sacred Scripture. It offers an expression of hope that for those who have followed the Good Shepherd throughout life, He will “give them repose.” Even when we find ourselves in the shadow of death in our final moments, we “fear no evil” for the Good Shepherd is “at our side.” When we reach the end of our earthly journey, we shall “dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days unending.” It is my hope that the one who is dying will hear those words and be encouraged, but I also hope that those who are standing by, praying with and for their loved one, hear them as well and are strengthened even as they mourn.
The Church gives this Psalm 23 for our Responsorial Psalm today, and as we hear it, our hearts should be comforted and we can rejoice in the salvation that Christ, our Good Shepherd, has won for us through His Passion, death, and Resurrection. Through Baptism, we pass through the gate that grants us access to a share in His life, a share that promises us a place in His house in Heaven one day. With this imagery in mind, I have chosen the following invocation of the Litany of the Sacred Heart for this week:
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of Heaven, have mercy on us.
One of my favorite prayers is the Anima Christi, which is Latin for Soul of Christ. It is a short but powerful prayer, and one that the faithful often pray after receiving Holy Communion. When considering the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I often consider the following line of the Anima Christi: within your wounds, hide me. As we look at the image of the Sacred Heart, we see the wound that came from the thrust of the soldier’s lance. That wound serves as an invitation from Jesus to us to come to Him, to pass through the gate that has been opened in His heart, to take refuge there, and to experience the protection of His love and mercy. Whenever we find ourselves in the dark valleys of life, we have access to the Heart of our Good Shepherd. He will ever be at our side and He will give us courage to persevere, trusting that by staying close to Him, He will deliver us safely to the “house of the Lord” where we will be rest in peace, and where we will be able to see Him face to face for eternity.