Readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Psalm 18; Matthew 25:31-46
As I greeted her jovially on the street, I wondered why she was looking so pale. After a few minutes, she told me the story of her college mate who was found dead in his room on Sunday. He had hanged himself. He was a normal, happy and respected guy, and nobody knew the reason why he did what he did. We stood in the street for a while in silence and assured each other of our prayers.On my way home, I felt somewhat numbed. Why is it that I live and breath and walk and so many others cease to do so in this very moment. There are no rational arguments which could explain why I live and the others do not any more. Life as I’m able to lead it is a gift. And where there is a gift, there is a giver. God bestowed this wonderful life on me as a free and wonderful gift. I live and with me all the other wonderful people, in the midst of this marvellous world. Rather surprisingly, it is the encounter with death and nothingness in our everyday life which makes us discover the quality and beauty of life and its root: God.
Paul implores us “to offer your very selves to Him: a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1-2). It means we should follow Jesus Christ on His way to the cross, and not only “spiritually” but very actively. Then we can “discern the will of God” and see more clearly his recreating love.
In Dante's Inferno, the suicides become trees. They freely give up their bodies on earth and, therefore, lose them in eternity. Interestingly, they can speak only when they bleed. In the Odyssey, the shades in Hades can only speak if they drink blood. We find salvation and life in the blood of Christ. Life is a gift - people must be in terrible pain to give it up. I wonder if they are capable of making rationale decisions and if God recognizes that and forgives.
ReplyDeleteFor a soul to be in mortal sin, a person must have full knowledge and full consent. Does someone who is depressed enough to contemplate suicide have full knowledge of what they are about to do? Maybe. But are they of a state of mind where they can give full consent? In that much pain and anger, leaving aside the percentage that involve alcohol or other drugs? Absolutely not.
ReplyDeleteNot a mortal sin, then.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that Our Lord wouldn't hold these people closest of all - haven't they *already* been in Hell, having been in such pain that suicide was the only way they could see out of a prison that kept getting smaller and smaller? Isn't that despair *enough*? I think it must be.
I can't imagine my friend Lou being anywhere but with God.
A wonderful premise for a Lenten meditation, but when touching on a subject such as suicide, it needed to go far deeper than it did; I was sorry it didn't.
But then again, maybe you have to have been there - either having lost a friend to suicide or having stood on the edge of the abyss yourself.
Ixx
In my heart, I want and do believe that your friend is with God, for many of the reasons your stated. As far as understanding the why of suicide, let us hope we never come the edge of that abyss. Reading this post, I thought of a quote I keep in my office and my classroom.
ReplyDelete"When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive: to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." Marcus Aurelius
The old pagan philosopher I think got it right. I'm am struck by how wonderfully these old philosophers can speak to me at times.