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.
Saying a prayer for you and your wife, longhorn too, that you continue to find strength in God’s promise and comfort from his absolute love.
I find it strange when people have no problem with any other part of the body being sick and needing surgery or medication to heal, but with the most complicated organ we have, namely the brain, it seems some people just don't believe it can malfunction.
I believe its because the brain effects actions and thats scary for some people to admit about themselves or others..
Some like myself was fortunate enough to find a great doctor, others are not so lucky. I being a christian and he being a Jew, religion was never talked about, the illness I had was talked about. He, telling me what to expect and the road I was walking helped me more than anything else. Knowledge of what is happening and why is very important part of the healing process..
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!
Yes, it IS the name, LOL. Someday I hope to take us out to dinner, somewhere, where we can talk for several hours.
Oh, Sal, those readings gave me blurry screen problems! How He loves us!
I lost a friend at work who completely changed after they changed his meds. He was a wonderful guy, he was raised christian and became a muslim. I had lots of good talks with him, as did one of our trainers, an evangelical minister. He chose his path and was happy. When they changed his meds he went 180 degrees off, we were so worried when he didn’t come to work, we tried to get him help, but it was too late, not sure if it was suicide.
Sadly his family never knew him once he changed faith, we had a memorial for him and we all shared how much we really liked him and how great he was. The family buried him under his christian name, that bothered me, he made the choice to change his name it was his life. But, that doesn’t matter, he is gone, I sure miss the guy, he was such a gentle soul.
Many things can drive a person there including ill health, abuse as a child and/or adult, loss of a loved one, loss of family through divorce, and yes even well meaning preachers can drive a person to it by putting GOD out of the hurting persons reach with religious rigity. They'll say Brother Billy you are healed.If brother Billy then is still depressed then some will say Oh Well Brother Billy's lack of faith is why. As one former Freeper used to say, Horse Hillary!
I have known two persons who did it both were very seriously ill. I know another who almost tried it {was caught by the abuser actually} and that person loves The Lord more then about anyone I know. That person is free of the abuser but will never be free of bouts of depression. A circumstance at that time made the person feel there was no other way out. The person years later got a wonderful therapist but still has depression. I don't think many posters in here could walk in that persons shoes and endure the life that person has without some very serious emotional issues happening.
I've spent a lot of time in therapy myself as in over 5 years. PTSD compounded with G.A.D. can do quite a number. I was lucky. I got depressed but never to the point of thinking about ending my life. I did have trouble with Meds though because I had something causing my G.A.D. the doctors weren't catching and it made taking antidepressants impossible.
I'm a Christian by The Grace of GOD. But I do not buy into any notion that once you accept Christ your life is all sweet and happy followed by everything goes right. It means to me that Christ is there. He's there in the good and the bad and I've seen a lot of both. I've seen enough prayers answered I've prayed for answers when medical science had no answers to know GOD answers them.
At one point in my life I went through more emotional trauma in six months then many persons go through in ten years or maybe their life. I've been so mind numbed at one point I didn't care if I got hit by a truck as in no feeling for anyone anymore. It wasn't my own doing that got me through it. I give GOD the credit. A hopeless situation changed into a life direction change which was a very positive one despite the pain.
The human brain chemistry under duress can distort many problems and make them look like there is no resolution. That monster likes to work on a person when they are tired both physically and mentally.
I see the medicines and treatments available today as miracles in themselves. Depression for many means life long treatment by those who understand how it actually works. Sometimes I think one of the best therapies for ourselves Christ Himself practiced which is stepping out of our daily lives and seeking a place of mental and physical rest as He did.
Hell is not for most cases of suicide. Purgatory is!
My dear friend had a son that was depressed and suicidal and she was terrified and all he could say to her was You don't understand. I could sit in their kitchen and talk with him for hours as I did understand where he was because I was once there. He is in his 50’s now but was in his 20’s when he had clinical depression...One that has been there KNOWS what it is like and it can be overcome with proper treatment.. :O) there is always hope.
And, in many cases, I believe its their religion that messed them up. Priests and preachers are NOT mental health counselors, they don’t know (nor should they) about how the brain and the body chemicals work. Depression is real, Pharmacology works, counseling works. Keep religion out of the mix, it harms some people as much as it helps some.
It depends on the individual, of course.
One person I know very well was helped only by electro-convulsive shock therapy.
I attended three years of grad school in NeuroPsychology but almost all of the neat stuff (pharmacology and imaging) came along after. I would have finished otherwise!
I appreciate your experience, and am very happy that you were able to get quality help and what you needed to pull you out. For me, non belief in God helps me, I became so much more reliant on myself. I don’t judge others on what works for them. What works works!
I have so much respect for mental health practitioners and organizations like NAMI, we have come so far in the last 30 years to treat the depressed and to remove the stigmas behind mental illness. Its an illness, like cancer or heart disease, but it affects our brain and how we interact and think. Its a tough road for those who are mentally ill, so much more for the severely mentally ill who I worked with, they used to be in an institution, now they can have a meaningful life. Science has made the advances to improve the lives of so many people.
If you commit suicide, it is absolute that you go to hell? Is it absolute?
ECT absolutely works, it has a stigma from too many Hollywood movies. It is an amazing thing, it truly helps the severely depressed. It is not the horror that is portrayed in film.
Yes, I read 3 books on Padre Pio he could see into the spiritual. He reported some cases as such. Thanks for sharing!
I agree. It has come a long way. The early bilateral forms without sedation and anesthetic were in themselves enough to cause PTSD (if they remembered it).
And I think there were some other Catholic Saints who wrote some things about suicide and Purgatory. I can’t remember which ones.
But if a person was going to hell otherwise they are still going to hell.
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