Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sister Kathleen Murphy reflects on Pope Leo’s November Prayer Intention for those struggling with mental illness.
Out of my distress I called on the Lord. The Lord answered me and set me free.”– Psalm 118:5
These words of the psalmist are a beautiful prayer for those for whom the Holy Father asks us to pray this month. His intention is:
That those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care, and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life.
Perhaps you have grown up with, or still hold the idea that the Church condemns those who commit suicide. What a suffering for those who have known and loved these victims of mental disorders. This month offers us an opportunity to become better informed about the Church’s stance on this issue that becomes more and more frequent in our societies.
In an article dated 2023, a website called Catholic Answers gives us a look at some facts. A new federal suicide prevention hotline has witnessed a significant increase in calls and texts, with 154,585 more calls, texts, and chat messages in November 2022 compared to the old national lifeline in November 2021, according to the Associated Press. This comes at a time when depression rates, overdose deaths, and suicide rates have all exploded. Though these statistics are a bit dated, one can guess that they have not been reversed in the last couple of years.
So, what does the Church say about the gift of life and how it should be regarded? The Catechism states: 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).
Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God (2281).
We all may know someone, even a loved one, who has committed suicide. It is realistic to be worried about the eternal state of these anguished children of God. However, we cannot know the thoughts of the deceased, who may have repented even as they died, or may have lacked full knowledge of what they were doing. The Catechism itself gives us 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).
Father William Saunders of the Catholic Education Resource Center offers a clear set of reasons why suicide is objectively a mortal sin.
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.
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. To commit suicide is to reject His “lordship” in our life.
Father Saunders goes on to state: 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.
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.
Another helpful gathering of thoughts on suicide and Catholic teaching comes from Ronald Rolheiser, OMI in an article from St. Anthony Messenger entitled 7 Things Catholics Need to Know about Suicide.
- Suicide is a disease.
- Suicide is a tragedy, not an act of despair.
- We can love someone and still not be able to save him or her from death.
- There is a huge distinction between falling victim to suicide and killing oneself.
- God’s mercy is equal even to suicide.
- We die into the tender, loving arms of God.
- We must work at redeeming the life and memory of our loved ones who have died by suicide.
Though all of these are helpful reminders, point 4 seems to be worthy of some exploration. In explaining this point Father Rolheiser writes: The person who truly kills him or herself is too proud to accept his or her place in a world that, at the end of the day, demands humility of everyone. He offers the example of Adolf Hitler here.
Rolheiser goes on to say: The person who dies by suicide has cancerous problems precisely because he or she is too sensitive, too wounded, too raw, and too bruised to possess the necessary toughness needed to absorb life’s many blows.
You may want to view a short trailer video at the site When A Loved One Dies By Suicide – Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. It gives us some further insight into the compassion the Church holds for those who succumb to suicide and those left behind.
Finally, we can consider a thought from Dietrich Bonhoeffer who writes: Nothing can make up for the absence of someone we love. It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap; God doesn’t fill it, but on the contrary, God keeps it empty and so helps us keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of pain. The dearer and richer our memories, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy. The beauties of the past are borne, not as a thorn in the flesh, but as a precious gift in themselves. – Letters and Papers Photo: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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