St. George Cathedral of Stockholm
April 8, 2026
Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we enter more deeply into the solemn days of Holy Week, Holy Wednesday is a day that confronts us with two radically different responses to Christ: the silent, tearful repentance of the woman who anoints Him, and the calculated betrayal of Judas.
This is also the day on which the Church gathers to celebrate the Holy Unction, a sacrament that reveals with particular force the mercy of God as healing, forgiveness, and restoration.
From the earliest pages of the Old Testament, God reveals Himself not primarily as a judge, but as One who shows steadfast mercy. We hear of His “loving kindness,” His enduring compassion toward His people—even when they fall, even when they turn away. The prophets speak of a God who does not abandon the wounded, but binds their wounds; who does not extinguish the wick, but gently restores it.
Oil, throughout Scripture, is a sign of this divine care. It strengthens, heals, consecrates. When the Good Samaritan tends to the wounded man, he pours oil upon his wounds; a powerful image later embraced by the Church as a sign of Christ Himself, the true healer of humanity.
In the Holy Unction, this same symbolism becomes reality; the oil is a vehicle of grace, a means through which God touches both soul and body.
Holy Unction is part of the Church’s ongoing therapeutic life, through which the grace of God restores the human person to communion.
We are called not only to receive mercy, but to embody it. Mercy becomes real when we forgive, when we show compassion, when we care for those who suffer.
As we approach the Holy Unction, let us do so with faith, as a genuine encounter with Christ, the Physician of our souls and bodies. Let us bring before Him not only our physical ailments, but also our hidden struggles, our fears, our burdens.
For in these holy days, we are reminded of a profound truth: that God does not stand far from human suffering. He enters into it. He heals it. And ultimately, through the Cross and Resurrection, He transforms it into life.
May we receive His mercy with open hearts and may that mercy become light within us. Amen!
