DIE HARD

If you think living a good Catholic life is challenging you haven’t seen anything yet. Try dying Catholic. The whole concept of what it is to be dead or when it is time to die is becoming rather nebulous. Technology is taking off more quickly than ethicists can follow, healthcare protocols morph right before our very eyes, and – this is very important – health care professionals are less and less trained in what Catholics need to know about life and death and in some cases don’t care as we have seen with certain institutions in our area.

There are some very good places – outstanding places. There are also those that do the bare minimum and even less but none-the-less claim that they have “Catholic services” so that they can check the little box off on their list of services.

I said Mass at one place recently in a room divided by a fabric screen. We have to constantly send people to the other side of the screen to try to kindly ask staff persons to stop talking at the top of their lungs. The room is a major highway for foot traffic. It opens onto the kitchen, a stairwell, as well as two major hallways. As people burst out of the kitchen or the stairway clamping their hands on their mouths once they saw what was going on we tried to carry on with the Mass. I kept telling myself, “John Paul could deal with such distractions so can I. Just pray.” But every time I told myself that it would be Okay it seems the interruptions stepped up a notch. It was all I could do to hold my temper when sheets of drywall were carted through the back of the room.

But what are you going to do? Stop having Mass and punish the residents?

But I digress.

Back to dying: All of a sudden you as a family member are faced with a decision about the life of a loved one. The doctor has given you the diagnosis and has asked you to make a decision. The suggestions that he supplies may or may not be not be in keeping with Catholic beliefs. It may be more in keeping with hospital administration wishes. So what do you do? Call a priest? I hate to tell you that priests are not always that well informed in this rapidly changing field. Take a class? Well, it’s too late now. And to be honest Catholics are not great about wanting to learn about such things until they are actually facing them – and then it is often too late.

Or there is the case of one institution not too about a half hour from here where the chaplains were told to practice Raiki on their patients even if they did not desire it. It was for their own good of course. But Catholics avoid this because we are becoming involved in something and dealing with powers we want nothing to do with. (But because a person is dying it’s Okay to force it one them for their own good?!?!)

I’m a little hot today.

We are contemplating trying to find a way to help alleviate this problem at least at this parish. Thoughts are bubbling about having a seminar about Catholic bioethics for health care workers in the parish. It would also be swell to start a help line of trained bioethicists but there is the problem of funding. Who will pay for the staff, the phone, and the materials? We can’t pay by the answer like some websites. “For the answer to this problem log on and send us your credit card number.” Meanwhile grandma needs your help.

This is a bit scattered I know but there is a lot going on out there and not a lot of people on which to rely. Hopefully you will deal with a good and sympathetic institution – but just as likely you won’t. You simply have to know your stuff. But how do you prepare for any possible event? If you have suggestions they would be appreciated.