{"id":11654,"date":"2017-11-14T13:11:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T13:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=11654"},"modified":"2017-11-14T15:48:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T15:48:12","slug":"the-hidden-power-of-anointing-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/the-hidden-power-of-anointing-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hidden Power Of Anointing Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When we think of holy oil we think of baptism, of chrism, of anointing the ill or dying; we think, more than anything: healing. We may reflect upon exuding statues. (Photo above: a Chrism Mass)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But there is a hidden aspect to oil and that’s its place in forming a\u00a0shield<\/em> of protection<\/em>\u00a0— of warding off the enemy around us.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Oil and specifically olive oil take us back to the actual shield used by ancient Romans and known as the\u00a0scutum<\/em>, which was fashioned with two layers of wooden strips (similar to plywood) and heated so that they could be pressed into a curved shape.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>After being formed, the shield was covered with six layers of animal hide.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

That leather dried<\/span> and cracked, compromising the shield — unless it was regularly rubbed with:\u00a0olive oil.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span>(As Isaiah<\/em> 21:5 says: “Anoint the shield.”)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We get this all from\u00a0an extremely worthwhile new book called\u00a0There’s a Crack in Your Armor<\/em> by a minister, Perry Stone, who adds:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>“Each Christian must keep his or her shield anointed. Just as drying out caused the shield to be more vulnerable to a fiery dart, dry churches produce dry shields and leave the Christians more vulnerable to a hot attack from the adversary. If no practical applications of the [Bible] are taught, and the atmosphere is dead and boring, it is a\u00a0dry<\/em> church.”<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A dry church is an “unoiled” one.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The oil represents the Holy Spirit,<\/span> as oil was used to anointed spiritual leaders in the Bible, and afterward the Holy Spirit came upon them (1 Samuel<\/em> 16:13).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Are our churches alive — anointed, protecting us — enough?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We think also of sacramental oil: <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Are we using it not only at times when we are ill, but also as a protection in our homes, forming the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads and in rooms in our home that may be susceptible to infiltration by nocent spirits? <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(Do we not now see how, just as Christ had to wage warfare — cast out spirits — before healing, oil should be used by us both in healing and<\/em>\u00a0keeping away evil?)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In oil is a hidden protection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The solution to waning Catholicism is simple: protection against the enemy and reversion back to the way the most ancient Christians not only fought in battle and shielded themselves but also worshiped.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[resources: There’s a Crack In Your Shield<\/a><\/span>]<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[The photo at top comes from the mail: “Dear Friends, please see attached, the picture being sent\u00a0 was taken at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Pueblo, Colorado, during the Chrism Mass of 3-29-2012. Bishop Fernando Isern, an American\u00a0born\u00a0Cuban Priest and Bishop of the Archdiocese of Pueblo at the time, unfortunately he was not\u00a0able to attend\u00a0this Mass. While the Mass was being said he was hospitalized in Florida after having returned from a trip to Cuba.\u00a0He was the first Cuban American Bishop to have\u00a0visited Cuba since the Castro Regime take over and most likely the first Cuban American Bishop ever to have done so. Interesting the light\u00a0in the\u00a0cathedral as it\u00a0shown during sunset through a stained glass of Jesus, and as Bishop Isern lay in a hospital bed in Florida. It is said he was in deep prayer during this hour — Elmer A. Villalon, DMD.”]<\/p>\n

[As for bringing the Church alive by reverting to olden times:\u00a0“If you think Catholicism is dying, the Saturday Night Festival of Praise at St. Albert the Great in Baldwin might make you think twice,” reported a television station, KDKA, in Pittsburgh last week. “It\u2019s a raucous, hand-waving affair that doesn\u2019t even look Catholic at all. ‘Anyone who thinks the church is dead, I invite you to the Diocese of Pittsburgh,’ Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese Bishop David Zubik told the crowd. It\u2019s a gathering that\u2019s risen from the ashes. ‘What we\u2019re trying to do in all of this is to light the fire again of faith, and it seems to me that one of the ways we can do that is bringing people together in a much closer relationship,’ said Bishop Zubik.”]<\/p>\n

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