Beautifully put...I couldnt have said it better myself. Ive been seeing this story passed around by many people today, whether championing it or not. Here is my response: I am truly heartbroken to hear this womans story; Shes so young, and had many years ahead of her and many loved ones will miss her. I couldnt imagine being in that situation. What I can recognize is the allure people have to assisted suicide. Its the simple fact that when you are told you have no control anymore, people make one last bid at being able to control *something.* I think this is the major allure of people to it. Insofar as a persons ability to die with dignity, I think many have a skewed vision of what this means as well. Is dying with dignity the lack of feeling pain or suffering? Of going through something that may seem unflattering to others? At the end of every death there is still a corpse, and a corpse is always going to be unflattering. Their dignity isnt played out in how they died, but in what they left behind, and how gracefully they handled themselves in a defining situation. Ive been reading lately about the Early Church, and the suffering they went through. The deaths they endured were horrible, but mostly, they were made examples by being specifically *humiliated.* There was a great desire by the political powers at the time to make this new religion seem undignified by exposing its followers to public torture, (whether flogging or having them mulled by a lion), public nudity (people were crucified naked), etc. But what their aim to do was to humiliate these people in the worse possible ways, making them scream in terror and pain, run from lions, soil themselves in fear, etc, to make them seem like they had no dignity. But the big question is why would there be so many who were willing to suffer and die like this for their new faith? St. Ignatius was a disciple of the Apostles John, and he wrote about his great desire to be martyred, eaten by wild beasts. This seems insane. So WHY were there so many people afflicted with this desire? The reason was because they understood their new faith was driven by the humbling of God in coming to Earth, and actively, willfully, suffering in the worse way any person could, when he could have turned it all off with the snap of his fingers. They recognized how he CHOSE this, to demonstrate his love to them, and they desired to do everything possible to reciprocate it. It is why Catholics have that whole redemptive suffering thing. On the flip side to all of this, it is a serious mortal sin to end ones life. It is a direct breaking of one of the 10 commandments, and in doing so one is embracing their fate of an enternal Hell. I do not think endorsing assisted suicide in any way shape or form for any reason is alright, specifically because of this. I understand the idea behind assisted suicide is to gain freedom from suffering, but they are instead causing worse suffering for themselves shortly after their death, far worse suffering than imaginable. This is why the Church urges against suicide so greatly. We can recognize that most suicides are the cause of a mental illness. We know how terribly all consuming ones thoughts and actions can be when caused by mental illness, this is why we do not believe these people are sentenced to Hell, because they are not capable of full intention and consent. I understand this may cause some distress in pointing this out, but the punishment is so severe that is it uncharitable and unloving to not make clear the dire and urgent consequences of this decision. It is out of love that we have such concern for the persons eternal well being. Im not trying to crucify anyone for not having this belief system. Im more attempting to point toward the hope that God has given to us in our suffering. He desired to be with us and know us so fully that he wished to endure every horrible thing we can feel, in an effort to let us know he TRULY completely empathizes with us. It is why Catholics depict Jesus on the Cross, and not missing or risen. Our faith centers around being as completely with God as possible, whether in a community forming his body on earth, or consummating our marriage to him through communion at Mass, or yes, even pain and suffering. God calls each of us closer to himself in different ways, because we are each different. Perhaps you hadnt properly heard the counter argument to Euthanasia. Perhaps those who champion assisted suicide had only heard the emotions of it from those who wished for it or had loved ones who wished for it. This is a glimpse into how or why anyone can have a differing opinion; it is not because we cannot empathize or sympathize with people going through this, it is because we wish to acknowledge how God, too, suffered and how he can love and console them through what they are going through. Its why he created them in the first place, it is why he came in earth at all, and it is why he still stays with us to endure with us what we go through daily. Maria Nicki Royce-ocds
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:07:39 +0000