Denver Catholic

2 MAY 27-JUNE 9, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila PHOTO OF THE WEEK @ArchbishopDen Mar. 13 #Fatima100 8 men ordained priests today! Thank you #Jesus! Thank you #Ourlady- ofFatima!! Pray for them & #ArchDen! Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January. Denver Catholic is printed by Prairie Mountain Publishing, LLC in Boulder. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $50 a year in Colorado; $57 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $57 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $63 air; Canada, $70 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. CIRCULATION & CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-715-3230 or info@archden.org. General Manager KARNA SWANSON Director ANDREW WRIGHT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE MAY 28: Mass, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10:30 a.m.) MAY 29: Memorial Day Mass, Mount Olivet, Wheat Ridge (11 a.m.) MAY 30: 50th Anniversary Mass, St. Joan of Arc Parish, Arvada (6 p.m.) MAY 31: Mass (Spanish) and Confi rmation, Our Lady of Peace Parish, Greeley (6 p.m.) JUNE 4: Mass, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Longmont (10 a.m.) JUNE 5: Episcopal ordination of Bishop- elect Steven Biegler, Cheyenne Members of the Archdiocesan Boys' Choir sing at the May 13 ordination. Read more about the boys choir in the next issue. photo by daniel petty/denver catholic Your life in God's hands R ecently, Pope Francis met with a contingent of people who suff er from Huntington's Dis- ease, a rare genetic illness that causes movement, cognitive and psychiatric disorders. "For Jesus," he told them, "disease is never an obstacle to encoun- tering people, but rather, the contrary. He taught us that the human person is always precious, always endowed with a dignity that nothing and no one can erase, not even disease." I was struck by this because those who are tempted to use Colorado's new law allowing physician-assisted suicide cite their loss of dignity as a reason for doing so. They feel like their life no longer has value, that they are a burden, or that their suff ering is too great. Priests throughout the archdi- ocese have also been thinking about people in these circumstances since the new law passed. They have come to me and asked, "How can I respond to someone who asks for the sacraments but has requested assisted suicide?" These kinds of questions led the four bishops of Colorado to discuss how to respond in a way that encour- ages an encounter with Christ and off ers true mercy, rather than the illusion of mercy that assisted suicide presents. Our discussions resulted in a set of recently published guidelines for priests called, "Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit," which this column briefl y summarizes. At the heart of these guidelines is the importance of true compassion and mercy, which always sees the person as digni- fi ed and point them toward the good. When people describe someone or an action as "compassionate," what they usually have in mind is pity — feeling sorry for the person who is suf- fering. But compassion is deeper than that: when someone has compassion, they feel another person's suff ering as if it is their own and they are will- ing to suff er with the person in pain. Likewise, mercy is not just removing suff ering, it is desiring the true good for someone and being willing to remove any obstacles to that good. Assisted suicide, on the other hand, is a false mercy. While it may end suf- fering, it simultaneously introduces a barrier to a person's salvation, which is the greatest good possible. With assisted suicide and the offi cial request for it, one encounters an action that contradicts the foundational gratitude we should have for life as a gift from God and a rejection of the way that Christ taught us to live and die. On this last point, the way that Pope St. John Paul II died remains with me. Although he was suff ering, he loved his life until the end and did not reject it or end it prematurely. His fi nal words captured his pursuit of the greatest good: "Let me go to the house of the Father." As my fellow bishops and I thought about assisted suicide and the way it treats human life as disposable, we sought to guide priests toward a response that is both compassionate and merciful. For that reason, "Into Your Hands" emphasizes the need for priests to accompany people grappling with terminal illnesses, urging them to make personal sacrifi ces for those they encounter who have decided to commit assisted suicide. At the same time, the guidelines also say that unless a person is repentant and will- ing to carry out a penance, then priests cannot grant absolution for requesting assisted suicide. In a similar way, those who have not received absolution for requesting assisted suicide cannot receive the Last Rites or Viaticum, since they remain in a state of sin. The state's acceptance of this law creates a culture that treats certain people's lives as disposable and involves various sectors of society in facilitating their deaths. Because of the risk that people might believe the Church is supportive of assisted suicide, the bishops of Colorado have decided to only allow burial, but not funeral Masses, for those who die by assisted suicide. The Church desires to respond to those facing terminal illnesses with compassion that is rooted in the truth and points them toward the good. To that end, the archdiocese has com- piled a list of Catholic hospice and palliative care facilities, which will be distributed to all parishes over the Memorial Day weekend. Those who have questions about this important issue can also visit archden.org/life for additional resources. Let us follow the example of St. Teresa of Calcutta, who spoke to the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast about the importance of loving people when it hurts. She said, "How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so, it is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give what- ever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is not true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me." Love, to be true, has to hurt." ST. MOTHER TERESA " i See pages 6-7 for guidelines on PAS and the Sacraments.

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