THE AUTHOR
Father William Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Sterling, Virginia. The above article is a "Straight Answers" column he wrote for the Arlington Catholic Herald. Father Saunders is also the author of Straight Answers, a book based on 100 of his columns and published by Cathedral Press in Baltimore.
Someone asked about this tonight. So here goes.....please talk with a minister or a priest. Please
He also does not have a clue about the kind of pain that typically drives a person to suicide.
I am not a catholic, but a born again Christian and I really enjoyed this posting. thank you.
With all due respect, Father William Saunders does not know despair.
P.S. Your prayers, others’ prayers, as much as I sincerely appreciate them, and my prayers as well, have done nothing, sorry to say.
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.
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.
Yes, thanks for posting this!
February 27, 2011
Sunday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel
Reading 1
Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
my LORD has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.
R. (6a) Rest in God alone, my soul.
Only in God is my soul at rest;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all.
R. Rest in God alone, my soul.
Only in God be at rest, my soul,
for from him comes my hope.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed.
R. Rest in God alone, my soul.
With God is my safety and my glory,
he is the rock of my strength; my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O my people!
Pour out your hearts before him.
R. Rest in God alone, my soul.
Brothers and sisters:
Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now it is of course required of stewards
that they be found trustworthy.
It does not concern me in the least
that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;
I do not even pass judgment on myself;
I am not conscious of anything against me,
but I do not thereby stand acquitted;
the one who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes,
for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“No one can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
A couple of years ago the doctor wrote out medicine for me. Well I took this pill I almost killed myself. It was some crazy chemical inbalance whatever instant deep depression for an hour or more. I just prayed to Christ with the our father with please Jesus help me. I truly believe the healing of the Lord. I throw that bootle of pills out. I will never persume that someone deserved to go to hell for suicede ever!
If you commit suicide, it is absolute that you go to hell? Is it absolute?
All of you are to be commended. Open thread. Honest discussion, many faiths, no belittling, no sarcasm, no condescending posts.
I am so touched by all your testimonials and stories. I wish all the Religion Forum threads on FR could be like this.
We are indeed livng in troubled times. Let us reach out to one another in love and support.
Good night.
BTW, good article.
As the story goes, as the woman approached the confessional, she could see Saint Jean-Marie Vianney talking to the Virgin Mary...
She was distraught over the fact that her husband committed suicide, and therefore went straight to hell.
She spoke to Saint Jean-Marie Vianney about her grief. But the saint-to-be replied:
"When your husband jumped off the bridge, he made a perfect act of contrition before he hit the water. Your husband is in purgatory."
This is not to make suicide to seem like a trivial sin. But sometimes in God's mercy, people are given a second chance.
Sometimes there are other factors in the suicide that only God can see. In this case, the person may have regretted the act of suicide before doing, but might have thought it was "the only option".
God is the only one capable of seeing the whole picture.
The other example is King David in the Old Testament. Not only did have someone killed for his mistress (the mistress's husband), but King David committed adultery. Additionally, everyone probably realized the scandal that King David was involved: seduces a married woman, and then having her husband killed in battle.
Things are Black and White. But only God can see shades of gray...
In other words, it is not for us to judge, but only God.
And only God might make exceptions to serious sins and allow a soul to enter purgatory rather than go to hell...
Here late to this thread, but thought I’d pass on info about a group on facebook that prays for those who have committed or are in danger of committing suicide - It’s called Divine Mercy for Lost Souls, started by June Klins. (the term ‘lost’ means lost to the loved ones, not lost & in hell).
Prayers ongoing.
I am haunted by those pictures from the World Trade Center on 9-11 of people who jumped to their deaths rather than perish in the flames. Would they be considered suicides?
Please pass this on to people who are searching for God’s help in their lives.