When I got to church today, I was surprised to see that the Bishop was there. The reason was that it was the parishes’ Confirmation Mass. He told an amazing story when he gave the homily. He said that during COVID, he was not yet a Bishop, but a priest caring for a parish. He lamented the loss of so many people during that time and spoke of his process of anointing the sick in the hospital – mostly just before they died. One day a parishioner’s daughter called and asked him to anoint her father who was on a ventilator in the hospital. They would be turning off the machine and were told that he would die within a few hours. The priest knew this particular man well as he would come to church in the morning an hour before work and pray. The priest went to the hospital and into the man’s room. He spoke to the man who was unable to respond. He anointed the man and left sadly. After a couple of days, he wondered what had happened to the man, when the daughter called him again. She said that her father wanted to talk to him. Needless to say, the priest was stunned. When he spoke to the man who had been near death, the man told him that when he was unresponsive, he could feel the darkness of death on one side and Jesus on the other. He was so happy and peaceful that he was ready to go with Jesus. Then the priest walked in the room. The man proceeded to tell the priest everything that happened in that room. And Jesus told him it wasn’t yet his time. The man went home shortly after they turned off the ventilator as he recovered quickly. The now Bishop relayed this story to help the Confirmation candidates and the rest of the congregation to understand that Sacraments are real. They aren’t magic, but they also are not empty words and rituals. They are true and real encounters with God.

I Found God today in a story and reminder of the reality of Sacraments.