On March 15, Constanza Alva de Urmeneta got in the car behind the hearse for the funeral procession of her 15-year-old daughter, Pía Urmeneta. Typically somber occasions, it was apparent from the second they drove off the church lot that this was instead a celebration of Pía’s life, just as she had wanted.
Catholic Church teaching, like many other religious traditions, prohibits assisted suicide. The church encourages natural, humane options of caring for patients in the final stages of life — including palliative and hospice care.
In celebration of Easter, today’s Gospel gives us a simple, easily overlooked detail that is the clue to a wonderful message of hope.
Let me adapt to recent circumstances a thought-experiment theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar proposed decades ago: Imagine that a friend contracts a severe case of COVID-19 and medicine can do no more for him. The doctors inform his widowed mother and us, so we gather with her for the final scene in the drama of this life. The ventilator is removed; the man grows weaker from lack of breath and whispers his final farewells. We hear the death-rattle. Then he expires and takes on the pallor of death.
The fifth commandment of the Decalogue is quite clear: “Thou shall not kill.” Given by the Lord God to Moses on Sinai, this has remained a staple of civilization. And yet today, that basic rule — “Thou shall not kill” — is hardly understood in our culture.
Is Abortion an Important Issue for Us or Not?; Happy Passover, and Happy Easter; Help for Fellow Americans Who Are Hurting; Faith Cannot Be Taught — It Must Be Witnessed.
St. John’s University, Jamaica, men’s basketball sophomore Julian Champagnie has announced that he has entered the NBA draft process.
The brotherhood of priests and their common devotion to Jesus Christ was a thread running through the Chrism Mass that took place Holy Tuesday at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
Bishop Nicolas DiMarzio came out strongly against New York State’s move to legalize recreational marijuana, warning that letting people smoke pot will lead to serious health effects.
In a passage of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Taking this to heart, this year the Vatican has asked children to write the meditations for the Way of the Cross led by Pope Francis on Good Friday, April 2.
