If you or a loved one is unable to attend mass due to age or sickness and would like to receive Holy Communion, please call the rectory at 718-428-2200 or Sister Kathleen at 718-224-5695. Either a priest or minister of Communion will come to your home. No one should be denied the Eucharist because they cannot attend mass.
Ministry to the Sick and Homebound is a ministry founded in the Church’s rich tradition of pastoral care. “It is proper that those who are prevented from being present at the community’s celebration should be refreshed with the Eucharist. In this way they may realize that they are united not only with the Lord’s sacrifice but also with the community itself and are supported by the love of their brothers and sisters” (Holy Communion Outside Mass, General Introduction #14).
It has become a tradition here at Sacred Heart that we celebrate THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK at a special liturgy on the Saturday before Palm Sunday.
Anyone who is in need of God’s tangible expression of love is invited to be anointed:
- those who will undergo surgery
- the elderly
- those suffering from long term sickness
- those with alcoholic problems or emotional difficulties
- children who are chronically ill
However, the SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING can be requested any time there is serious need. Please do not hesitate to contact the rectory and one of our priests will attend to you.
The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illness is sufficient. When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.
(United States Catholic Catechism for Adults)
