A priest gave a homily during a funeral service today.
He talked about the large number of people committing suicide daily. And he said that he agreed with them. He said, “With all of the suffering in this world, life is not worth living.”
I found this repeated remark of his to be inappropriate and irresponsible in the context of the funeral service. Sure, he went on to say that the promise of a kingdom of heaven changes the game, but his core belief is that life alone isn’t enough.
I could not disagree more!
Life is precious. Life is full of beauty and wonder. The painful moments in our lives serve to let us appreciate the moments of intense joy we experience all the more.
Life is worth living no matter what happens after we die.
Life is a beautiful gift that keeps on giving during the darkest of times.
Unfortunately, the priest’s homily wasn’t some random musing. I attended another funeral in October of 2021, and I had a similar reaction when the same priest pulled a similar stunt.
The following is what I wrote on 10/16/2021.
I’m not one to pay too much attention to the words of priests. However, I’ve recently been to two funeral services, where I learned that “Peace be with you” is no longer followed by, “and also with you”, the rejoinder I remember, in modern Catholic church services.
I’m disappointed and upset that this morning a priest said, “Life would not be worth living”. He said it twice. He talked about the glory of living forever in the kingdom of God after dying. I have no issues with people wanting to believe that a better world awaits us after we die. Unfortunately, these specific words go against so many of my beliefs that I felt compelled to respond.
The priest said that given wars and the atrocities we hear about on the nightly news, he would not want to live in this world if he didn’t believe that a better world awaits those of us who have been baptized. In other words, if this is all life has to offer, then, “Life would not be worth living”.
It’s fine to hope that a better world awaits us after death. It’s NOT fine to encourage groups of people to doubt the value of what it means to be human.
What if one of the people listening to the priest was suicidal? Would those words push him to take his own life? Given that the possibility exists, I believe the priest was being irresponsible in speaking those words.
We are here on Earth to live our lives. We are here to learn who we are able to be, to discover what makes our individual souls sing. We each have a unique opportunity to make the world a better place…
I understand the pain and suffering that is tied to the human condition. Sometimes, life sucks. And sometimes, life sucks more for some people than it does for others.
But I promise you that LIFE IS WORTH LIVING — no matter what happens after we die.
Human life is sacred… We are HOME now. We BELONG to this world.
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