April 14, 2013 – Catechism 2276 - 2283

I sometimes think about that situation when you go to the doctor and they tell you that you have A and you are going to die, but there is B and if we do it you could live, but it could also kill you.  Do you do it?  This obviously falls into the category or extraordinary means that we may or may not do as Catholics to continue our lives.  This is not the situation like the parents that won’t treat the children with simple medical procedures so that they die, but it is interesting as to what that line might be.  I don’t think anyone will die from Lasik eye surgery, but if you did, was it sinful to try because it was unnecessary.  That might be a question off topic, but medical procedures are becoming so “common place” that it is hard to see what “extraordinary” might mean.

There is also the question about treatments that prolong your life but have the side effect of making your life miserable.  Where is the line there.  I am sure there is a lot more that is written about it for a Catholic to educate themselves, but is it binding.  It just seems like a subject that would have more than a few paragraphs of instruction.

Suicide is something I always thought was an automatic ticket to hell.  That is what I was told growing up.  I don’t know if I learned that wasn’t true before or after I learned that the Catholic Church has never said anyone is specifically in hell, but when I found that out, I know I thought of suicides.  The Catholic Church makes it a point to not say anyone is in hell for the same reason that we don’t know if suicides are in hell, because we do not know a person’s mind.  We have no idea why they really took their own lives, their motivation, their mental state, if they were sick, if they really knew what they were doing.  Even those we think we know or those that leave messages telling us why, mental illnesses can cause all sorts of issues and make a person think things that aren’t true.  The Church knows that it is not for us to judge, and so we don’t and are called not to.