Fr. Michael Williams

The Bishops of England and Wales have assigned this Sunday as a ‘Day for Life’. The Day for Life’ is dedicated to celebrating the dignity of human life from conception to natural death; it is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the meaning and value of human at life at every stage and in every condition. Ultimately, God is the ‘Father of all [life]’, and so our faith tells us that all life is sacred.

This year the Bishops have asked us to focus on the very real problem of suicide and how that affects the dignity of life. This is a very difficult and emotional issue, as we probably all know somebody who has been affected by this tragedy. When someone takes their own life it’s an awful situation for those affected.

But we must always begin by saying that taking one’s own life is a sin against the fifth commandment: ‘Thou shall not kill’. This means that we should neither kill ourselves nor assist anybody else in taking their own life. Our Lord commands ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. Taking our own life, or assisting someone to take their own life, is seriously wrong.

Nevertheless, we must always exercise the virtue of compassion when dealing with this tragedy of suicide and those tempted toward it. St Paul reminds us that Christians are to: ‘bear with one another charitably, in gentleness and patience’. Certainly when dealing with the victims of suicide we must exercise gentleness and patience, because it is people with serious mental illness (schizophrenia or depression), and those dependent on drugs or alcohol are more likely to try and take their own lives. As members of the Church we all have a responsibility is supporting people with such difficulties.

Unfortunately, there is a growing group of people within society who are promoting suicide as the solution to serious illness and disability. But this is seriously misguided, because assisted suicide and euthanasia are not the answer to sickness and suffering. Christ and His Cross are the only solution to sickness and suffering. There is a prayer that calls this to mind: ‘God of power and mercy, who willed that Christ your Son should suffer for the salvation of all the world, grant that your people may strive to offer themselves to you as a living sacrifice and may be filled with the fullness of your love’ (Fri wk 4 EP).

Our Lord says we will be judged on how we treat the most vulnerable members of our society. Assisting people to their deaths is not the answer: supporting them and alleviating their pain is, as they prepare to meet the Lord face to face. And as it says in today’s psalm, ‘The Lord is close to all who call Him, who call on Him from their hearts’.

If someone is driven to that terrible and final act of suicide, even then we can have hope. Bishop Bernard Longley writes: ‘Suicide is a grave sin. But an individual must be mentally healthy to be fully aware that what they are doing is a sin. When a person commits suicide, they are generally so clouded by confusion and despair as to be no longer in full control of their mental faculties. God does not condemn anyone not fully aware of what they are doing’.

And the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, ‘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’ (CCC 2283).

With these words of hope in mind let’s say an eternal rest for all victims of suicide: ‘Eternal rest…’