In considering our own death, we may entertain a strong wish that there be no more sufferings on the other side, especially when it comes to justifying our decision to engage in physician-assisted suicide. Simply having such a wish, however, does not actually make it so.
Read MoreWe need to care for them in a more truthful way — accompanying, supporting, and helping them to address underlying issues — so they can begin to find real healing.
Read MoreAs the symptoms and complications of dementia unfold, the challenges we face from the disease can unexpectedly become an invitation from God.
Read MoreCareful attention to pain management is of paramount importance in end-of-life care and supports both the patient and the family in a dignified way during the dying process.
Read MoreWhile scientists may promise new treatments, and politicians may promise safety through contact tracing and lockdowns, these measures are stopgaps in the face of our larger human questions.
Read MoreEach of our loving human gestures speaks volumes about the singular power of love to overcome fear, and to strengthen us in adversity.
Read MoreWhen we find ourselves nailed to our hospital bed, it can become an important personal moment for us to engage the possibility of a spiritual transformation opening before us.
Read MoreThe moral outrage and public reaction to Michelle’s behavior reveals a striking irony at the heart of Conrad’s suicide, namely, that similar indignation about encouraging someone to commit suicide is almost entirely absent when it comes to “physician-assisted” suicide.
Read MoreWhile ending our life may seem to offer an ‘escape valve’ for the serious pressures and sufferings we face, we do well to consider the real effects of this choice both in this life, and in the life to come.
Read MoreOur later years can powerfully provoke us to come to terms with our destiny and with higher truths.
Read MoreFor all our similarities to the rest of the animal kingdom, we are aware of a fundamental difference in kind between ourselves and our furry friends. We are not meant to die just as animals do, or be euthanized as they are.
Read MoreSuicide hotlines are open 24 hours a day because we seek to prevent as many deaths as we can. We treat as heroes those who walk along bridges or climb tall buildings and try to talk people down.
Read MoreBy spiritually embracing in God that specific path to death, our freedom is elevated to new heights; indeed, we “achieve control” in the most important way possible, through willed surrender and radical gift in our innermost depths.
Read More…approaching our own mortality with a greater dose of realism helps us make better decisions about when to roll back the medical interventions and focus our energies on preparing for death.
Read MoreWhen our ability to think rationally or choose freely becomes clouded or even eliminated by dementia, we still remain at root the kind of creature who is rational and free, and the bearer of inalienable human dignity.
Read MoreRecognizing that dehydration is a painful way to die serves as a helpful starting point to assist family members in addressing the nutrition and hydration needs of their loved ones who may find themselves in compromised states or approaching the end of life.
Read MoreFostering a humanly enriching environment for those facing death often means giving explicit attention to human presence and human contact, even in the midst of a plethora of technology that may surround a patient.
Read More…euthanasia and assisted suicide are little more than ways of short-circuiting our human interrelatedness & interconnectedness, acts of violence on a basic level that cause great harm and disruption.
Read MoreGod permits our sufferings, offered up, to make an indelible mark in His work of Salvation. This transformation of the ‘uselessness’ of our suffering into something profoundly meaningful serves as a source of spiritual joy to those who enter into it.
Read More
