Eternal Hope For Those Who Die By Suicide

Do you believe that a person will go straight to hell if they die by suicide? According to the Roman Catholic Church, that is not necessarily so. To better understand this mismatch, it helps to look at some of the theology behind sins.

There are venial sins and mortal sins. Venial sins diminish and wound the divine life in our souls while mortal sins destroy it, thereby separating oneself completely from God. To be a mortal sin, three conditions must be met: 1) The matter of the sin must be grave. Killing is grave. Suicide is killing, but the priest must check the other two conditions before concluding it is mortal. 2) The sinner must have full knowledge of the evil involved. People do not like hearing the word evil when it comes to suicide, but killing in itself originates from evil in the world. 3) Just like in marriage, the person must use the full consent of their will to carry out the action. If the person's mind is compromised in some way, the person did not use their will with full consent and the sin would not be mortal. [1]

Since the one doing the killing is dead, it is impossible to check in on the last two conditions. Therefore, we cannot say for sure that their action was a mortal sin. We do not know for sure if they completely separated themselves from God and put themselves in a state of Hell. We can then hope and pray for the person's eternal salvation of soul. If the person did separate themselves completely from God of their own free will, then the prayers will be used by God in some other beneficient situation.

Using my father as an example, he was an active alcoholic of at least 25 years and most likely depressed at the time of his suicide. One might say "he was not in his right mind" but no one knows for sure. Only God knows. So I pray that Jesus may have forgiven him for his action, and I hope at the least, he may be in Purgatory being healed of remaining sins and the effects of them in preparation for Heaven. That is, I continue to pray for him and the salvation of his soul, that he will be forever united with Jesus Christ. I choose to live in Hope.

Lastly, there is salutary repentance, mentioned below, which is forgiveness in ways only known to God. This is another reason to choose Hope and pray for the one who died by suicide.

~ ~ ~

A good reference for this is The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition. Here are some useful excerpts.

"1037 God predestines no one to go to hell." [2] 

To "go to hell," a person must willingly turn away from God in a grave manner, and persist in doing so. That is, they must of their own volition commit a mortal sin. Second, people do not actually go to hell. Hell is actually a state of the soul. It is "The state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, reserved for those who refuse by their own free choice to believe and be converted from sin, even to the end of their lives. [3]" 

On the other hand, heaven is "the state of supreme and definitive happiness. [4]" It is "Eternal life with God; communion of life and love with the Trinity and all the blessed. [5]"

2280  Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

2281  Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to the love of the living God.

 2282  If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law. 

Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility [i.e., culpability] of the one committing suicide [and thereby provide hope for the survivors of the one who took his/her life].

2283  We should not despair of the eternal salvation [i.e., getting to Heaven] 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." [6]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, 1997, available online

 

pdf version - Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va) [Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 5]

New & Used - Amazon.com: Catechism of the Catholic Church: 9781601376497: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, USCCB: Books 

Used - Catechism of the Catholic Church book by Libreria Editrice Vaticana (thriftbooks.com)

Abbreviated footnotes:

1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, 1997, p. 889.

2. Ibid, p. 270.

3. Ibid, p. 881.

4. Ibid, p. 881.

5. Ibid, p. 881.

6. Ibid, p. 550.

image - https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781574551105_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg

Unethical Doctors & Psychiatrists Should Be Reported &/or Prosecuted

Unethical Doctors & Psychiatrists 

Should Be Reported &/or Prosecuted

If you need redress from your current or past doctor’s unethical practices in MA, like I do, seek out 

The Board of Registration in Medicine

Submit A Complaint Against A Physician

The Board is responsible for licensing, regulation, and discipline of Massachusetts physicians and acupuncturists. 

The Board of Registration in Medicine’s mission is to ensure that only qualified and competent physicians of good moral character are licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and that those physicians and health care institutions in which they practice provide to their patients a high standard of care, and support an environment that maximizes the high quality of health care in Massachusetts.

In my case, my current psychiatrist is allowing my medical records to be falsified - diagnoses, billing, the uploading of my external and internal messages, appointment history and scheduling - ignoring my requests for prescription renewals and more. It is truly appalling and certainly does not meet the standards expected of doctors in this state.

Beware: If Brian or Laura or Jill or (I have to listen to the recording again to recall the woman from today) are in your life in any fashion, do not submit your complaint online or mail it through the Marlboro, MA Post Office. Contact me first. 

06/01/2022 - Additions in blue.

+ Please pray for Richard, Robert, Brian, Laura, etc. - and me :)   +

image - https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/unethical-doctor-with-stethoscope-switchblade-money-and-glasses-white-background-gm171278693-20661711

Unmasking Fake News, Misinformation, and Disinformation (FNMD)

Unmasking Fake News, Misinformation, and Disinformation (FNMD)

It used to be called propaganda, the negative kind. Now it is called Fake News, Misinformation, and Disinformation. Whatever label you give it, it boils down to being a lie of some kind.  

White lie. Pathological lie. Lie of omission. Lie of fabrication. Lie of commission. Lie of influence. Lie of deception (except what lie is not of deception?). Lie. Lie. Lie. A fancier name for a lie is Subversive Truth Deflector (STD). Like sexually transmitted diseases, this STD results in millions of new “infections” every year. Like sexually transmitted diseases, this STD can reside in a person without them even knowing it. 

Fake News is an umbrella for other information disorders (I love that label) such as misinformation (false or purposely misleading information) and disinformation (false information intentionally spread to deceive people). [1] The ultimate result is an ongoing insidious erosion of The Constitution of the United States.

 

Like propaganda, FNMD is misleading communications often created by news media, social media, lawyers, corrupt politicians and small and big businesses. It is also created by government officials looking to stay in power. Duping and cheating the marginalized to maintain “control” is typically the goal. It is a significant part of maintaining and deepening poverty and oppression. It can be sensational, but it can also be subtle, as is often found in legalese at all levels of government.

FNMD is cunningly used to deceive people rather than to enlighten them. It is not information you necessarily disagree with at first glance. You may not even recognize you are being “duped.” Fake news, misinformation, and disinformation is craftily fabricated to resemble usual communications in appearance or sound, but not in intention. 

Fake news, misinformation, and disinformation are inherently oppressive. 

FNMD outlets can become so entrenched in their misleading practices that they simply are unable to be transparent. They become unwilling and afraid to try. They dig themselves into irreparable cover ups. Trust with others is eroded, such that if authentic information is actually given, it is doubted and questioned, even by their own peers. It often takes outside forces to get rid of STD infections by pushing change-or-lose-your-job reform.

FNMD is not just in the media. It is in the very fabric of our lives. If we want to root it out and keep it out at the media and state and federal levels, we need to root it out and keep it out of our families, schools, school boards, committees, Select Boards, Police & Fire Department inspections and reports, Board of Health and Building Department inspections and reports, Housing Authority activity at all levels, Town & City records, and on across, down, and up the lines. 

Eliminating FNMD is critical to eliminating oppression of all kinds. 

[1] https://guides.library.Cornell.edu/evaluate_news

Copyright © 2022 by Kathleen Laplante

All rights reserved. 

Related Posts - Becoming Part of the Solution

McCright & Associates and Hudson [MA] Housing Authority Exposed - Again

Lent 2022

May yours be fruitful. 

image - http://www.emme-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/lent1-1.jpg

Lament of St. Nicholas by Paul Murano

I posted this other years. I decided to post it every year now, as long as I remember! It's worth some solemn meditation.

Lament of St. Nicholas by Paul Murano
('Twas the Week Before Christmas - in Contemporary America)


‘Twas the week before Christmas and throughout heaven above

the angels and saints were proclaiming God's love

“Nicholas”, called Jesus, “Faithful servant on earth

it's time for children to celebrate my birth

Go on and inspire the parents of these

to all of their hearts I now give you the keys”

Yes Lord! cried Nicolas with the greatest of joys

I love helping out with their clothes and their toys

But most of all Lord what I work for these days

is leading their minds back to you and your ways

So he started his mission, this jolly ol’ soul,

to the homes of God's children, the young and the old

The trees were in place and the candy canes hung

but he stared at the fireplace as carols were sung

Something's wrong! said the saint, as it paused his delight

Less than half of the stockings are hanging this night!

I see cars, DVR's, home computers, and more

but I hear not the laughter that I heard once before!

So he checked his list twice but it just didn't jive

there were many more children that were meant to be alive

Reality of Contraception & Abortion

Dear Lord, cried St. Nicholas with a voice of surprise

Many children are missing! as the tears filled his eyes

Oh Nicholas my servant, I thought that you knew

in many heart$$ green has replaced pink and blue

And Nicholas, said Jesus with a sad solemn voice

in the past 40 years this is what they've called "choice"

Then He took the saint's list and divided it thrice

and revealed the true meaning of naughty and nice:

This first group has children I could never create

my people used barriers and drugs with their mate

The second are the children that had never been born

from the wombs of their mothers they were taken and torn

And the third group are now all the children on earth

they're the ones that did make it through conception and birth

Oh Jesus I'm sorry! ol' St. Nicholas cried

This shouldn't be happening - they forgot why You died!

Help me to show them how to be brave

like the poor Virgin Mary giving birth in a cave!

I Am the hope many don't know, Jesus said

so go forth dear St. Nicholas – my light you must spread

'Twas the week before Christmas and St. Nicholas did pray:

Merry Christmas to all ... and to all a new day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Photo and color scheme were added by me.


image - http://dontbuytheabortionlie.blogspot.com/2011/02/contraception-is-not-solution.html

Killing Off Baby Jesus

I saw an Advent calendar last week. It had the word Advent on it. Jesus was nowhere to be found. Christianity was nowhere to be found. Mary was nowhere to be found. The word Christmas was on it. Obscure unrelated and unknown fun-looking cartoon characters were found all over the place. 

It reminded me of my The Valley Patriot article from 2010. It is even more fitting now. 

Killing Off Baby Jesus

December 14, 2010

Killing Off Baby Jesus

Copyright (c) 2010 originally published in The Valley Patriot, reprinted with permission.

That is what Christmas is about these days. Killing off and eliminating Baby Jesus from the Christmas season.  It’s infanticide,of sorts.

For example, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukah and Season’s Greetings are okay, but Merry Christmas is out. Holiday Gathering and Tree Lighting Day are okay, but Christmas Party is not. Santa Claus and his reindeer and elves are in all the stores and homes, but St. Nicholas has long been forgotten.

The extended gift buying in December, and now November, has become the norm.  The shift occurred during World War II, when many Americans were stationed overseas in the military. People here bought their gifts early in December to insure that the packages would arrive in time for Christmas. Merchants enjoyed the extra revenue that year, that they expanded advertising and sales of Christmas merchandise earlier into December on an ongoing basis. Commercialization is now rampant.

Christmas carols are often diluted or replaced with secular songs. (Heaven forbid we say the name of Jesus in public.)  Prayers are nowhere to be found in family celebrations, and employees are told to take down their pictures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, because they might offend someone.

This de-Christianization of Christmas has greater problems. Other things get killed off with Baby Jesus. For instance, Advent is gone. It is the pre-Christmas preparation for the coming of Jesus, and it has been replaced with the extended gift buying season mentioned above. February 2 is another example. It has traditionally been a marking of the Presentation of Baby Jesus in the Temple. It is 40 days after Christmas, because in Hebrew tradition, the 40th day after birth is considered the  last stage of birth when the mother brings the child to Temple. This Feast Day has been replaced with Groundhog Day.

All is not lost, though. There are ways we can reverse the trend. We can speak up about the dangers of removing Nativity scenes, and point out the benefits of keeping them. Instead of remaining silent, we
can dare to say Merry Christmas to others.  We can also bring St. Nicholas back into Christmas celebrations, and curb extensive gift buying, replacing it with Advent and its wonderful practices for reflection and preparation.

We can do something new, like learn the genealogy of Jesus. His lineage is recorded in two places in the Bible, Matthew 1:1–17 and Luke 3:23–38.  One account is from Joseph’s side, and the other is from Mary’s side.  Both accounts are rich with interesting characters that can be weaved into the Christmas story. The origin of the date of Christmas, December 25, is another topic that can be researched. For many years, people thought it was arbitrarily chosen in an attempt to override a pagan holiday, but it was not. Recent research by Thomas J. Talley testifies to that.

Taking any of these steps can gradually bring Baby Jesus back to life, and lead to a revitalization of Christianity, something we terribly need. Ben Stein, a speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford, could see this back in 2005. At that time, he provided some insightful commentary about what I call the infanticide of Baby Jesus.

He said, “I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.”

Along those lines, Merry Christmas to all! ;-)

Kathleen Laplante is a member of the Catholic Church. She can be reached at klaplante2@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2010 originally published in The Valley Patriot, reprinted with permission.

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image - http://www.evangelchristianschool.org/holiday.php 
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Prayer as a Path to Finding Joy in Suffering

This is a prayer that the Holy Spirit brought me to pray for the hurtful and misguided people in my life, i.e., what the Bible calls my "enemies."

   

May God bless you.

May He remove all evil from within you.

May He bring you joy, happiness, peace, and love.

And, May He open the windows for you to have a wonderful life.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

May you reap its spiritual rewards, like my "enemies" and I seem to have reaped thus far.

image - https://channelingerik.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/FindingJoyInSuffering-600x314.jpg

Victory in Jesus by Carrie Underwood

https://youtu.be/BPlsOPDQr_g

Victory in Jesus

“I heard an old, old story

How a Savior came from glory
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me
I heard about His groaning
Of His precious blood's atoning
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory, yeah

Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

I heard about His healing
Of His cleansing power revealing
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit"
And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory

Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me, and He bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood, oh. yeah

Sweet, sweet Jesus

Yes, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me, and He bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood
Yes, He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood”

Song By Carrie Underwood

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: E.m. Bartlett

image - https://3brothersfilm.com/blog/2012/04/thursday-rethink-5-the-passion-is-not-a-meaningless-work-of-pornographic-violence

Our Lady

O - Obedient

U - Underrated

R - Rapturous

 

L - Laudable

A - Affectionate

D - Devotional

Y - Yours!

A Break in the Action - Wachusett Reservoir, Clinton, MA

Yes, I climbed them all. 

images - personal collection