Homily Helps on Physician Assisted Suicide

Homily Helps

Bulletin Column Messages

Key messages

• On November 6, Massachusetts citizens will vote on Ballot Question 2 which would add a so-called “Death with Dignity” act to the statutes of the Commonwealth. If passed, the law will allow a person over eighteen years of age who is a Massachusetts resident, and who has been diagnosed with a disease likely to kill him in six months or less, to request and receive a lethal drug for the sole purpose of ending his life.

• Our Catholic moral tradition holds that human life is the most basic gift from a loving God—a gift over which we have stewardship, not absolute dominion. As responsible stewards of life, we must never directly intend to cause our own death or that of anyone else. As Catholics, we stand firm in the belief that a compassionate society should work to prevent suicide, which is always a terrible tragedy, no matter what form it may take.

• Many people of other faiths, as well as the medical and disabilities communities, have joined together in the fight against the legalization of PAS because of the dangers it poses to the elderly and terminally ill. These are some of the critical flaws in the proposed bill:

• Doctors agree that terminal diagnoses of six months or less areoften wrong. Many with terminal diagnoses live years longer.

• Patients requesting suicide do not need to be examined by apsychiatrist before receiving a prescription to commit suicide. This is a serious omission because many terminally ill patients suffer from depression.

• Question 2 does not require a consultation with a palliative careor hospice expert.

• No doctor is allowed to be present when the patient takes the lethalprescription. This is not a dignified way to die.

• There is no requirement that the patient notify family members. Compassionate care at the end of life should involve the lovingsupport of family members.

• The American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians and the Massachusetts Medical Society all oppose physician-assisted suicide. Advances in pain management and palliative and hospice care, make it possible to treat pain and to give the dying patient choices at the end of life.

Sunday September 30:

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

General Intercession:

That we take to heart Jesus’ command to care for the sick in His name and support with love and prayers those who are waiting for the Lord to call them home, we pray to the Lord:

Readings:

• Numbers 11:25-29; Ps 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14, James 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43,45,47-48

Homily helps (and bulletin column ideas) on assisted suicide

• God’s Word has been placed in our hearts to love God and one another. One way to love people is to walk the journey with them even when they are ill and aging. Our society focuses on the young and able; those who are slow, infirm and near the end feel helpless and a burden. There is no better gift than the gift of our own service to those who need our care. “Anyone who gives a cup of water…”

• The precepts of the law include “Thou shalt not kill.” This precept is based on the recognition that life is a gift from the Creator. To deny the precept is to deny the joy that it gives to the human heart and to fail to recognize that God’s Word is planted in our hearts. One way we can be “doers of the Word” is to value every person even until the time that God calls him home no matter what condition he finds himself in.

• People understandably fear the “last days.” As Christians, we know that no amount of earthly treasure will console us in the last days. Those who promote assisted suicide would have us believe that “control over the time and place of death” will give comfort to those who are terminally ill and increase their dignity. The law they propose, however, only reduces their dignity. Consider that under the proposed law a person who asks for suicide need not tell his family about his decision to end his life. His doctor cannot be present at thedeath; in fact, no one need be present at the death, and he need not have a psychiatric evaluation before being given the lethal drugs. This is not a dignified death.

• If you wish to know more about Question 2, the ballot initiative to legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts, attend one of the many workshops being offered in the archdiocese. They are listed in this week’s bulletin [mention ones that are in your region]. Also, please watch the virtual Town Hall Meeting on Assisted Suicide hosted by His Eminence, Sean Cardinal O’Malley on October 3rd, from 8:00 to 9:00 P.M., broadcast live on CatholicTV, CatholicTV.com and on the radio at 1060AM WQOM. Experts in medicine and law will talk about Ballot Question 2 and the danger it poses to our Commonwealth.

Quote:

“What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt.”

John Paul II, SRS 47.CCC 1929

Sunday October 7:

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

General Intercession:

That with the psalmist we pray that God will bless us all the days of our lives, from the moment of conception until natural death, and that the laws of Massachusetts will continue to recognize the dignity of every individual, including the terminally ill, until God calls them home, we pray to the Lord:

Readings:

• Gen 2:18-24; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Heb 2:9-11; Mk10:2-16

Homily helps (and bulletin column ideas) on assisted suicide:

• The readings for Respect Life Sunday celebrate the fact that we are created for a kind of love that mirrors the love that God has for us, which is given for its own sake and the sake of the beloved. The cultivation of friendship within marriage—which requires great sacrifice, sometimes, pain—also brings with it great rewards, including the joy resulting from long years felt in the company of the beloved.

• Another reward is that of family and the joy of children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews. We love to get together with our families. One of the greatest joys of family members is the comfort they bring to one another when sickness, misfortune and old age occur. When people think about their last days, they do so imagining themselves surrounded by family and close friends, comforted and cared for by them. Many of us have served our own parents, friends, relatives and, through ministry, even strangers, in this way.

• The law proposed in Massachusetts to legalize assisted suicide does not require that a terminally ill person who asks for lethal drugs has to notify his family. A father, mother, sister, etc., can make the request for lethal drugs and take them without ever notifying family members. There is no requirement that anyone be present at the death of the terminally ill person. The proposed Death with Dignity Act doesn’t allow the dying person’s doctor to be present. This is not a dignified death.

• If you wish to know more about Question 2, the ballot initiative to legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts, please read Cardinal O’Malley’s Message on Assisted Suicide in this week’s bulletin [available if you’d like to include] and attend one of the many workshops also listed in this week’s bulletin [mention ones that are in your region]. Also, tune into the live workshop on assisted suicide this Wednesday, October 10, from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. at

Quote:

“The measure of love is to love without measure.”

St. Francis de Sales

Sunday October 14:

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

General Intercession:

That we faithfully follow the Commandments of God recognizing the sanctity of life from moment of conception until natural death, we pray to the Lord:

Readings:

• Wis 7:7-11; Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-30

Homily helps (and bulletin column ideas) on assisted suicide:

• The young man went to the right place to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life; he went to Jesus. As the Psalm says, the only wisdom worth having is that which comes from God. It teaches us to value what is of real worth and to “number our days aright” so that we don’t waste time on vain pursuits. Those who do the opposite will have a hard time entering eternal life—like the camel trying to get through the needle’s eye.

• Humility is a hard virtue. The young man goes away sad because he has to give up the things in which he had placed all his trust. It is especially difficult for people who are successful, self-reliant and independent to be humble. In the secular world in which we live, pride in one’s accomplishments and possessions makes it hard to give them up. Yet, that is what Jesus asks: in order to enter heaven, it’s necessary to give up what we have on earth.

• Those who wish to legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts emphasize that Question 2 increases patient autonomy. It gives people control over the time and manner of their death. The choice for assisted suicide, however, offers a false autonomy. The choice to end one’s life is a choice to end all choices. It does not increase autonomy—rather it eliminates the patient.

• Doctors tell us that they are reluctant to predict a time frame for those who have terminal diagnoses, because patients so often outlive the time by months, even years. Studies show that patients who ask for suicide are often depressed. Yet, the question 2 ballot initiative allows patients to ask for lethal drugs with no psychiatric examination. This bill does not increase autonomy.

• If you wish to know more about Question 2, the ballot initiative to legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts, please read Cardinal O’Malley’s Message on Assisted Suicide [optional if you would like to include] in this week’s bulletin and attend one of the many workshops on assisted suicide listed in this week’s bulletin [mention ones that are in your region]. Invite friends, relatives and neighbors to attend with you.

• Let us “join with concerned Americans, including disability rights advocates, charitable organizations, and members of the healing professions, to stand for the dignity of people with serious illnesses and disabilities and to promote life-affirming solutions for their problems and hardships.” -USCCB, To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician –Assisted Suicide, p. 6.

Quote:

“Desire for hastened death among terminally ill cancer patients is not uncommon. Depression and hopelessness are the strongest predictors of desire for hastened death in this population. . . .Interventions addressing depression, hopelessness, and social support appear to be important aspects of adequate palliative care, particularly as it relates to desire for hastened death.”

JAMA, December 13, 2000, Vol 284, No. 22

Sunday, October 21:

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

General Intercession:

That as we pray with the psalmist for mercy, justice, and kindness, we recognize our obligation to support the terminally ill with care and compassion until God calls them home to Him, we pray to the Lord.

Readings:

• Is 53:10-11; Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45

Homily help (and bulletin column ideas) on assisted suicide:

• All authentic greatness mirrors the greatness of the Father whose love always takes the form of mercy and self-sacrifice. The disciples are being asked to do great things--to sacrifice for the sake of spreading the Gospel. By leading others to Jesus, by evangelizing, they will be bringing every human being to his true dignity as a human being.

• We, too, must be mirrors of the Father’s mercy to others, to help them to achieve their true dignity. Today, in our Commonwealth, we are asked to forego our responsibility to the incurably and terminally ill. Question 2 which proposes to legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts would give a terminally ill person the right to request lethal drugs so that he can end his life. We are told that is the compassionate thing to do.

• Palliative care and hospice care offer pain control and maximum involvement of the patient in decisions regarding his or her treatment. They provide for the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of patients who are seriously ill. They offer comfort and companionship to those who are at the end of life. It is in this way that we show compassion and mercy to those who are elderly, sick and dying. It is in this way that we respect the dignity of those who are at the end of life. Our moral tradition teaches that life is the most basic gift from a loving God—a gift over which we have stewardship, not absolute dominion. As responsible stewards of life, we must never directly intend to cause our own death or that of anyone else.

• Please learn more about Question 2 and the proposal to legalize assisted suicide by reading Cardinal Seán O’Malley’s Message [optional if you would like to include] in this week’s bulletin and attend one of the many workshops also listed in the bulletin.

• Next week, we will hear from Cardinal O’Malley on assisted suicide in a video/audio homily which we will play at all the Saturday evening and Sunday Masses.

Quote:

“When grave illness involves unbearable suffering, the sick are tempted to despair and their loved ones or those responsible for their care feel compelled by a misguided compassion to consider the solution of an easy death as something reasonable… But euthanasia, understood as an action or omission that directly causes death, is another thing entirely. Regardless of intentions and circumstances, euthanasia is always an intrinsically evil act, a violation of God’s law and an offense against the dignity of the human person.”

Blessed Pope John Paul II, Letter to the Elderly

Sunday, October 28:

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

General Intercession:

That, like Bartimaeus, may we be open to the gift of sight, clearly seeing our responsibility to protect life from conception until natural death, and to resist laws that encourage assisted suicide and euthanasia, we pray to the Lord:

Readings:

• Jer 31:7-9; Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Heb 5:1-6; Mk 10:46-52

Homily Message:

Please show/play Cardinal O’Malley’s video/audio homily on physician-assisted suicide.

Please distribute materials provided by Archdiocese at all Masses.

Quote:

“Please join me and members of our coalition in stopping assisted suicide here in the Commonwealth by voting no on Question 2. Question 2 is a flawed law and a false choice.”

Cardinal Seán O’Malley

Sunday, November 4:

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

General Intercession:

That Jesus’ great commandment of love be realized in laws that protect people who are seriously and terminally ill until the moment of their death, and that citizens of Massachusetts will say no to assisted suicide, we pray to the Lord.

Readings:

• Deut 6:2-6; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; Heb 7:23-28; Mk 12:28-34

Homily Message:

Messages for this weekend will be sent later to allow for the incorporation of key themes and/or key responses as the campaign develops.

Quote:

“Our society will be judged by how we treat those who are ill and the infirm. They need our care and protection, not lethal drugs. Suicide is always a tragedy. A vote for assisted suicide would be a vote for suicide.”

Cardinal Seán O’Malley

Additional References:

Excerpts from To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide, USCCB.

“Today there is a campaign to respond to these fears and needs in a radically different way. It uses terms like “death with dignity” to describe a self-inflicted death, generally using a drug overdose prescribed by a doctor for the purpose of suicide. This campaign to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide has been rejected by most policymakers in our society. Although Oregon passed a law in 1994 allowing physicians to prescribe deadly drugs for some patients, similar proposals were rejected by legislatures and voters in all other states for many years. The claim of a constitutional right to assisted suicide was firmly rejected in 1997 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld state laws against the practice as legitimate safeguards for innocent human life and the ethical integrity of medicine.

But after fourteen years of defeats, the assisted suicide campaign advanced its agenda when Washington state passed a law like Oregon’s in 2008. The following year, Montana’s highest court suggested that physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients is not always against public policy. With expanded funding from wealthy donors, assisted suicide proponents have renewed their aggressive nationwide campaign through legislation, litigation, and public advertising, targeting states they see as most susceptible to their message.