Healing Touch and Saving Word
Sacraments of Healing, Instruments of Grace
- Preaching & Worship
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2013
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Publisher's Description
"Is sacramental anointing the same as last rites?" "Don't you have to have some kind of special gift to be part of the Church's healing ministry?" "Why am I sick? Is it God's punishment?" "Ever since I became sick, I don't feel like myself anymore." If life is a journey, what happens when our way is obstructed by sickness or failing health? In Healing Touch and Saving Word, Linda Malia draws upon the rich theology of the Anglican tradition personified in the Episcopal Church's sacramental liturgies of healing. In easy-to-understand language, Healing Touch examines the theological foundations of the Episcopal Church's healing liturgies, from the first Book of Common Prayer to the most recent sacramental rites. Probing the dynamics of symbol and ritual, the complex relationship of sin and sickness, and the spiritual and psychological impact of every serious illness, the book explores the power of these graced encounters in enabling the faithful to draw new hope and renewed purpose out of the chaos and turmoil of illness and debility. Individuals struggling with life-changing illness and those who care for them--clergy and laity alike--are sure to find Healing Touch a helpful and thought-provoking resource.
Endorsements (3)
“The rescue of unction from last rites to a central feature of restored rites of healing has been one of the most pastorally significant results of the liturgical renewal movement in several denominations. Malia has done a brilliant job tracing these developments on liturgical life and its pastoral consequences. This is a must-read for scholars, pastors, and laity involved in healing ministry.”
“Linda Malia audaciously wants us to re-imagine holy unction as a sacrament of vocation. On the basis of an excellent discussion of sacramental theology, she argues for the transformation of anointing from a palliative ministry to the sick or dying into an integral ministry of the whole church. Writing out of an Anglican tradition, Malia nevertheless succeeds in marshaling an impressive ecumenical array of liturgical and pastoral theologians, bringing them to bear on the potential application of this renewed sacrament in the life and mission of the body of Christ.”
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