“He worked with Oppenheimer,” I heard myself saying as my friend, Dr. James Downs, lay in the hospital bed, shrinking in front of my eyes. Hours earlier, I had arrived at his apartment for our daily visit to find him in need of immediate care. I followed the ambulance to the hospital, but he had lost consciousness on the trip, never to regain it in the world of man. In the 25 years since, I continue to reflect on the months I spent with Jim, driving him to his chemotherapy appointments or sitting up late into the night listening to the stories of his life. Accompanying a fellow man immediately conscious of his immanent passing is a gift beyond compare. Everything is amplified, and even the most mundane of choices have a hint of numinous awe about them. Like being present at the birth of a new human but not interchangeable, death is more definite to the human mind. The birth of a new child does not often smell of repentance. Death does. Birth looks forward; death looks back. The words of birth are usually promises. “Laughed as my body she lifted, oh this child will be gifted” (Natalie Merchant, Wonder). Those of death, reflections, “What have I done?”, “I wish I had…”, “Forgive me Lord.” But they need not be the unidirectional reflections of a kind with Lot’s wife who looking behind became a pillar of salt (cf., Gen 19:26). We can look forward with hope in the Lord in whose sheepfold “Therefore, we are not discouraged; although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. This momentary light affliction produces an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparisons (2 Cor 4:16-17).
It is in keeping with this sacred word, along with all she protects and passes on, that the Catholic Church opposes euthanasia.
“Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of the handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus, an act of omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded” (CCC 2277).
By this, Holy Mother Church does not advocate abandonment or suffering. Quite the contrary, “those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible” (CCC 2276).
“Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot legitimately be interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged” (CCC 2279).
“Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven – through purification or immediately, – or immediate and everlasting damnation. At the evening of our life, we shall be judged on our love” (CCC 1022).
With stakes like these, how can we believe it is prudent to terminate our own lives? Our Lord beckons us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matt 11:28-30). He does not advise us to decide when we have had enough. He has instead left us a cloud of witnesses and many promises. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb 12:1). “Blessed is the one who preservers under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (Js 1:12). “…Because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). “Come what may, I want to run…” (2 Sam 18:23).
Dr. James Downs ran. He ran until his Lord took him. Was it easy? Did he suffer? No, and heck, yes. It was liver cancer, and he was a very old man. His body was failing; the cancer had metastasized, his skin was yellow, he couldn’t keep much food down, and what he did keep down did not stay in for long. In the last few days, he drank Ensure and water but only occasionally. On he went, though, living, talking to me. I learned of his faith, why he never married, and what it was like to live with a mind that was far ahead of most. Jim was like Mozart, except his love was math and chemistry. We even talked about euthanasia. Once, while I was cleaning up his bathroom, he joked, “But then think of the fun you and I would have missed if I had decided to end it that way.”
We would have missed some fun and quite a bit of mess and suffering. But we would have also missed all the joy, compassion, laughter, tears, ideas, reasons, poems, and memories that the Lord willed we have.
Jim may have fallen, but he leaned on the Lord and got back up. He never used the power, leading others to do wrong. He scandalized no one in his final days (cf. CCC 2287). Quite the contrary, his gift to me has inspired many through my recalling of his heroic last days. I count him with Flannery O’Connor and Pope St. John Paul II, both of whom suffered and died publicly, bearing witness to the dignity of humanity unto the end.
I thank the Catholic Church for her unambiguous guidance on the evil of euthanasia.