Suffering With Joy

Finally, a Tighter Directive from Catholic Bishops on End-of-Life Care

January 4, 2010

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote its usual one-sided whine in covering a November 17th mandate from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide nutrition, hydration, and medication to patients who are in a “presumably irreversible conditions … who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.”

The bishops voted to revise the guide,  Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, at their November general assembly in Baltimore.  The bishops’ previous guide predated Pope John Paul II’s 2004 address to the International Congress on “Life- Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” and the August 2007 Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

All Catholic health care institutions and workers have been notified of the new mandate.  Whether any will attempt to get around it remains to be seen, but predictably, Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, which advocates for the right of terminally ill patients to make life-or-death decisions is making false accusations about the mandate without, apparently, having read it.  She claims that these directives are in conflict with legal instructions from patients or their families and will apply to everyone.  The answer to the first is “Maybe”, to the second, “No.” The work-around stated as hospital policy, that someone or their surrogate who insists on starving and dehydrating the patient to death will be moved to another institution is not acceptable. Not surprising from someone who is in the business of killing.

However, Lori Dangberg, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Catholic Health Care, which represents California’s 55 Catholic hospitals made a disturbing statement.  She is quoted in the article as saying that if a situation was unresolvable, the hospitals would find some other way to accommodate the person.  How do you find a moral way of accommodating a person who wants to commit suicide or a family that wants to murder a member?  What about the fifth commandment do people not understand?

The bishops wrote:

The moral teachings that we profess here flow principally from the natural law, understood in the light of the revelation Christ has entrusted to his Church. From this source the Church has derived its understanding of the nature of the human person, of human acts, and of the goals that shape human activity…

28. Each person or the person’s surrogate should have access to medical and moral information and counseling so as to be able to form his or her conscience. The free and informed health care decision of the person or the person’s surrogate is to be followed so long as it does not contradict Catholic principles…

The Church’s teaching authority has addressed the moral issues concerning medically assisted nutrition and hydration. We are guided on this issue by Catholic teaching against euthanasia, which is “an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.”[38] While medically assisted nutrition and hydration are not morally obligatory in certain cases, these forms of basic care should in principle be provided to all patients who need them, including patients diagnosed as being in a “persistent vegetative state” (PVS), because even the most severely debilitated and helpless patient retains the full dignity of a human person and must receive ordinary and proportionate care…

58. In principle, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally. This obligation extends to patients in chronic and presumably irreversible conditions (e.g., the “persistent vegetative state”) who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.40 Medically assisted nutrition and hydration become morally optional when they cannot reasonably be expected to prolong life or when they would be “excessively burdensome for the patient or [would] cause significant physical discomfort, for example resulting from complications in the use of the means employed.”[41] For instance, as a patient draws close to inevitable death from an underlying progressive and fatal condition, certain measures to provide nutrition and hydration may become excessively burdensome and therefore not obligatory in light of their very limited ability to prolong life or provide comfort.

59. The free and informed judgment made by a competent adult patient concerning the use or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures should always be respected and normally complied with, unless it is contrary to Catholic moral teaching.

37. See Declaration on Euthanasia.
38. Ibid., Part II.

40. See Pope John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the International Congress on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” (March 20, 2004), no. 4, where he emphasized that “the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.” See also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration” (August 1, 2007).

41. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Commentary on “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration.”

The new mandate is a much better document, emphasizing the importance of a properly formed conscience, compassionate about families faced with tough decisions, and clear on Catholic moral teaching. However, a key piece to the puzzle concerning implementation is the elephant in the living room: lack of catechesis on end-of-life issues at the parish and diocesan level.  Some Catholics are very fortunate to have bishops who are vocal about pro-life issues and publish steady, authentic teaching in their diocesan media.  But the priest has to stand up in the pulpit and tell the entire congregation what the Church teaches and why on these issues and do it often because of the pro-death atmosphere we breathe every day.

Support at the parish level for families in troubling circumstances is also a necessity.  Everywhere we must have a loving and caring approach to help people realize that what seems to be the greatest calamity is instead a gift from God and murder has no place in the heart of the Christian.

The Chronicle’s so-called journalism contained no quotes from Catholic medical personnel nor Catholic institutions who view this mandate as a boon and why.  Nor did they present any quotes from pastors who support the mandate and how the mandate helps people deal more peacefully with end-of-life decisions. Clearly, from the article, it appears that this is another “bash the big, bad bishops” slant.

Click on the links provided above to read the article and to read the bishops’ document.  You can order the document from the USCCB publications page on line.

Please join me in my nine month rosary novena for our country and conversion of those who are pro-death.

Tags: Catholic bishops, conversion, end-of-life, pro-life, rosary

A Rosary for Our Country

Today I prayed an extra rosary that our nation be delivered from the pro-death powers governing our country.  Over the past few days my mind has seen hordes of dead – not just babies, but disabled people of all ages and the elderly.  The implications for life if Congress passes any form of the health care bill they are wrangling over are dim, dim, dim. It’s not only abortion, it’s the denying of livelihood to so many Americans through policies that pander to special interest groups. Terrible poverty, anarchy, and despotism with the attendant cruelty of such a world is all too close.  It’s all a continuum. A demonic darkness pervades this country at every level of government, but especially Capitol Hill.  If we lose our moral authority through pro-death laws, we can no longer offer hope to the suffering elsewhere on this planet.

This morning, I understood that I was to devote more prayer and sacrifice to our country’s situation.  Since today is Friday, I took the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary to Our Lady and asked her to crush the head of Satan – to put the screeching demons to flight.  I cannot go out to demonstrate anymore, I have written letters, sent emails, and done what I can from the temporal angle.  Now what is left is penance and prayer.

Agony in the Garden, 1465, Donatello, bronze, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence

Agony in the Garden: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus suffered a terrible agony in Gethsemane with no one beside Him except the angels.  He knew the pharisees were out to kill Him.  He sweat blood for us.  We are your children.  Please Mother Mary, do not let the demons of hell continue to inspire the evil directed at America through the power-drunk politicians who seek to destroy the nation and make it into something it was never founded to be.  Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Scourging at the Pillar: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus was scourged almost to death while the sadistic Roman guards laughed and the Pharisees and High Priests gloated.  His blood was poured out everywhere.  Please, dear Mother Mary, gather your children, we the brothers and sisters of Jesus, and ask your loving Son to stay the hands of those who would have our blood and our livelihood. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Crown of Thorns, c. 1510, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, oil on lime panel, private collection

Crowning with Thorns: Dear Mother Mary, with a cruelty beneath that of the animal kingdom and worthy only of the hateful demons of hell, the Roman guards pressed a crown of sharpest thorns into the head of your Son and our Brother.  They shoved a reed into His hand and threw a red cloak about Him while mocking His Kingship.  Please, Mother Mary, we are your sons and daughters, too.  Ask our dear Jesus to stay the hands and tongues of those who mock life and the dignity of all man with their plans to strike down the poor and helpless and continue the genocide of races. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Carrying of the Cross: Dear Mother Mary, you followed Jesus as he carried his heavy cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. You saw the people curse and spit on Him.  You saw the soldiers beat Him when He fell.  You saw little mercy toward Him except for Veronica.  Please, Mother Mary, for the sake of the suffering of your Divine Son, ask dear Jesus to give His followers the strength to remain on the narrow path of life and to defeat the demonic forces that would go against the natural law of God. Plead with Him to stay the hands that would lay burdens upon our backs so heavy that we will fail under their load. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Crucifixion, 1503, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, pine panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord: Dear Mother Mary, you saw and heard it all – the hammering of the nails, the thump and jolt of the cross as it sank into its hole.  You saw the soldiers gambling to win your Son’s clothes.  You heard the mocking of the crowd and more gloating from the Scribes and Pharisees. You heard him cry out from the Cross.  You accepted us as your children when He gave you to us as our Mother before He died.  Please, Mother Mary, ask your Son, Jesus, to come to our aid in this time when so many lives are threatened by the greedy and pompous who live by the dictatorship of relativity.  Plead with Him to stay the hands of those who would have us die because they believe we are unworthy of life.  Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Tags: Blessed Virgin, conversion, moral authority, pro-life

Jihad at Fort Hood

My condolences to the families of the fallen, and heartfelt prayers for all who died or who were wounded in the Jihad at Ft. Hood this week.  Here’s a first hand account a doctor wrote of how the emergency was handled by the medical staff and the local hospitals.  Very inspiring.  God bless our troups.  We can be so proud of them.  Now the military needs to look into better ways to protect our soldiers from within their own ranks.

The culture of death is more than abortion, euthanasia, and life styles that lead to bad ends.  It is also about religions that advocate killing those who oppose their faith and religions that enslave people.  Islam is not and never has been a religion of peace.  A web site I recommend to people interested in hearing from former Muslims is FaithFreedom.org.  They have an article posted by the title: Massacre by Political Correctness.”  Well worth the read.

If ever there were a time in the history of the world where an army of quiet penitents is needed to offer up all the pain and suffering God asks of them in union with the Sacrifice of the Cross, redemptive suffering, it is now.  Pray for the conversion of Muslims to Jesus.

Tags: conversion, suffering

He Made Us; His We Are

“From the beginning and before the world was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him.” Eccl. 24:14.

Catholics praying the Divine Office will find this Biblical quote in the hour of Lauds from the Saturday Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It is a favorite of mine because not only does it apply to Our Lady, it applies to every person created.  In this one verse God tells us that we are in His mind from all eternity, and that we will live forever after death, worshiping and praising Him. 

I am constantly struck by the love God has for each person – that He made us and His we are. (Ps. 99:3)  When we are struggling with pain and illnesses of all types we can sometimes forget that One greater than we has us in His heart.  Often we are so preoccupied with just getting by under our own power we forget to surrender to His power – to stop and ask what He is asking from us.

With the culture of death gaining greater ascendance daily, it seems to me that we must practice our Faith ever more diligently and especially to pray for the conversion of others.  (We must pray daily for our own conversion, too, but that is another topic.) 

For those of us who cannot do much in the physical realm, there remain the intentions of the heart: the unseen sacrifices we make in union with Christ.  The value of these sacrifices cannot be measured in earthly terms.  We will only know their true worth at the Last Judgment.  Fortunately, we have great examples to follow from Our Lady to our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone on before us.  Saints such as Catherine Laboure, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. John Cantius, and Blessed Herman Joseph of Steinfeld – all spiritual giants who called no attention to themselves but left us the example of quiet holiness and the desire that all come to know and love Our Lord.

Tags: Blessed Virgin, Christ, conversion, Divine Office, pain, sacrifice, suffering