Posted on 02/26/2011 8:53:21 PM PST by Salvation
For Christians, this teaching takes on even greater depth because our Lord entered this world and our own human condition. Our Lord knew the joy and pain, success and failure, pleasure and suffering, happiness and sorrow that come in this life; yet, He also showed us how to live this life in the love of God and trusting in His will. Moreover, Jesus suffered, died, and rose to free us from sin and give us the promise of everlasting life. Through our baptism, we share a new life in the Lord. St. Paul reminds us, "You have been purchased, and at a price. So glorify God in your body" (I Corinthians 6:20).
Therefore, we must be mindful that the preservation of our life — body and soul — is not something discretionary but obligatory. We must preserve and nourish both our physical and spiritual life. The Catechism asserts, "Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of" (#2280).
With this foundation in mind, we can see why suicide has traditionally be considered a gravely wrong moral action, i.e. a mortal sin. Our Holy Father affirmed this position in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (#66). (Please note that suicide is distinguished from the sacrifice of one's life for God or another, as in the cases of martyrdom, or of offering one's life or risking it to save another person.)
The intentional taking of one's own life is wrong for several reasons: First, in the most basic sense, each human being naturally seeks to his preserve life. To take our own life defies our natural instinct to live.
Second, suicide violates a genuine love for oneself and one's neighbor-- family, friends, neighbors, and even acquaintances. Other people need us and depend upon us in ways we may not even know. When I as a priest have had to comfort the family of a suicide victim, I hope that the person somehow realizes how much he really was loved and needed. I also feel sad that this poor troubled person faced something so seemingly unbearable, insurmountable, or agonizing that he chose to withdraw from the love of God and others, and kill himself.
Finally, suicide defies the love we owe God. Sure, we all face the tough times, hardships, and sufferings. However, we are called to place ourselves in the hands of God who will never abandon us, but see us safely through this life. The words of the "Our Father" — "thy will be done" — must be real for us. To commit suicide is to reject His "lordship" in our life.
Therefore, objectively, suicide is a mortal sin. (Moreover, to help someone commit suicide is also a mortal sin.) Here though we must remember that for a sin to be mortal and cost someone salvation, the objective action (in this case the taking of one's own life) must be grave or serious matter; the person must have an informed intellect (know that this is wrong); and the person must give full consent of the will (intend to commit this action). In the case of suicide, a person may not have given full consent of the will. Fear, force, ignorance, habit, passion, and psychological problems can impede the exercise of the will so that a person may not be fully responsible or even responsible at all for an action. Here again the Catechism states, "Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide" (#2282). This qualification does not make suicide a right action in any circumstance; however, it does make us realize that the person may not be totally culpable for the action because of various circumstances or personal conditions.
Only God can read the depths of our soul. Only He knows how much we love Him and how responsible we are for our actions. We leave the judgment then to Him alone. The Catechism offers words of great hope: "We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to Him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives" (#2283). Therefore, we do offer the Mass for the repose of the soul of a suicide victim, invoking God's tender love and mercy, and His healing grace for the grieving loved ones.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Saunders, Rev. William. "The Sin of Suicide ." Arlington Catholic Herald.
This article is reprinted with permission from Arlington Catholic Herald.
And now it would seem you are trying to read his mind and heart.
Yes, I agree, God does know why. And Scripture is clear that every person that was ever born is a sinner, with selfish and evil thoughts. I don’t claim to know where those people are that commit suicide, but for the people for whom this is an option, one can only wonder if they really trusted in our Lord, Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Demons have no power over a true, Holy Spirit filled, Born again Believer in Jesus Christ.
Its not always mental illness. Environmental and socio economic conditions can cause someone to take their life. I don’t judge people who take this route because their pain and suffering is over and its between them and god.
I find it amazing that other illness's no one doubts, but anything that has to do with the brain is somehow not really an illness...Too many people fear such things and therefore poo poo it...Be careful my friend...
Scripture is clear that every person that was ever born is a sinner”
You may not agree, but Catholics beleive there were two people born without sin. Jesus Christ himself and also his Blesed mother. The immaculate Conception refers to Mary being born without the stain of original sin.
Some people just aren’t meant to be here.
The Church also cannot say what might have gone through that person's mind in the last second before death. Did that person realize what they were doing, and ask for forgiveness? If so, they reconciled themselves with God.
The Church has no way of knowing the state of someone's soul, at the time of death, so many in the Church now think people shouldn't be denied a Catholic funeral. Since funerals are really for the folks left behind, it might be comforting for the families of those who have committed suicide to be able to have a Mass offered for their loved one.
Amen — I’m with you.
I’ve got one relation who took his own life. He’s buried in our family graveyard. He coached sports and was principal of a brand new high school.
It was something of a cause for gossip and scandal that he was given a Christian burial among some, but he was family. This happened before I was born, and I didn’t learn of this until I was a senior at the high school of which he was the first principal. There was a family scholarship bearing his name for which I was eligible, and that was when I put two and two together and had it all explained by family members.
To me, there’s nothing to be gained from spiting the remains of a dead person. There’s also nothing to be gained from assuming they’re burning in hell, even though the Bible is reasonably clear that it’s forbidden to us and not our decision to make.
I look at his tombstone every time I’m there and wonder what went through his mind. He seemingly had everything going for him, apparently.
I totally disagree with everything you said. I believe I did suffer from depression in the past, and once I took my eyes off myself and placed my trust in Jesus Christ, my life changed. I do not claim to know where those souls are that committed self murder, I am not the Judger of souls, but I can refute what the culture and what society and the status quo has to say about matters pertaining to the Truth. And while I do believe in true medical conditions; I continue to question whether suicide is driven by such medical conditions. I am not bringing “religion” into this, I trust in Jesus Christ.
So sorry for your loss, tommix2.
I hated my life back then and once considered suicide. But that has all changed now. Thank you Lord.
I wouldn’t call it a sin. My cousin killed himself, he was severely bipolar, he was a sick man. He was a successful man, had a family and a wife, but he was sick. He went off his meds, he spiraled, he had constant physical pain from an injury that added to his depression. It was a very tragic event, but he wasn’t in a clear state of thought, he was sick. Horrible thing, but not a sin, he was not competent enough to make rational decisions.
Thank you
Exactly, I was raised RC, but I am Agnostic now, I know about mental illness, I worked in the field. Its not a choice, its physiological, prayer won't do anything. Treatment, medication and counseling is what is needed. There are lots of great success stories in the world of mental illness. Its fine to have faith, but, a good Psychologist and the right medications and counseling works.
No one can fully understand another’s despair. We can listen, acknowledge the impact, and seek additional help from others if suicide is an issue. The Father was merely trying to explain why the Church offers Christian burials for people who have taken their life. “Only God can read the depths of our souls.”
I’m with you. Clinical depression needs a doctor and medication, to help the mind; a cast and crutches help while a broken leg heals, the antidepressants help while the mind heals. Both legitimately need a doctor.
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