Why We Should Pray for Condemned Prisoners -- Especially the Worst

On February 28, 1987, Paul Ezra Rhoades kidnapped 21-year-old Blackfoot convenience store clerk Stacy Baldwin.  He robbed the convenience store she worked at and drove her off to a secluded spot, where he shot her twice and left her for dead.  It took her an hour to die of her wounds.  A little over two weeks later, on March 16th, Rhoades entered another convenience store and shot the 20-year-old clerk, Nolan Haddon, five times.  He was found alive in the walk-in cooler the next morning, but soon died of his wounds.  Two days later, Rhoades kidnapped 34-year-old schoolteacher Susan Michelbacher, raped her and shot her nine times.  Her body was found two days later.  The following year, Rhoades was condemned to death for the kidnapping and murders of Baldwin and Michelbacher, and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Haddon. 

On October 19th, Rhoades was served with a death warrant, issued by Judge Jon Shindurling, ordering that he be put to death on Friday, November 18th.  The Commission of Pardons and Parole denied Rhoades' petition for a commutation hearing, and yesterday the Ninth Circuit denied his motion for a stay.  The execution is scheduled for Friday at 8:00 a.m. at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise.

There can be no event more solemn than the death of a human being.  No sooner does the soul separate from the body than its will is fixed for eternity and it goes to its eternal reward.  If it goes to Heaven, then it is free from sin forever, and will never be separated from God for all eternity.  If it goes to Purgatory, then it is certain to attain Heaven once it has been purged of its sins.  If it goes to Hell, then it will suffer endless torments forever, without hope of reprieve or clemency.  Once the soul leaves the body, there is no going back.  There is no time to repent of sins or do any good deeds or change its mind.  The time for all that is in this life; once that time is over, it is irretrievably gone.  How different all the time we wasted in this life will look when our last moments are upon us -- if we are fortunate enough not to be taken suddenly and unprepared.  

In that bleak execution chamber at IMSI, Paul Ezra Rhoades will meet his Maker and stand in judgment before His Throne.  That is a moment that should cause rejoicing to no one, even the families of his victims, since at all times we ourselves hurtle relentlessly toward that moment.  It is a moment that none of us can hope to escape: a moment when we shall be stripped of all our delusions of ourselves in the light of Truth.  How will we bear the abysmal contrast between what we are pleased to call our own "goodness" and the Perfection of Goodness, in Whose eyes the least shadow of sin is a hideous blemish?  How will Catholics answer the charges against us in that final tribunal, when we have gone on offending God even in spite of the light of Faith and the graces and helps of the Sacraments that we have received?  If we do not beg God's pardon while there is still time, can we hope to fall higher in the test than notorious sinners who have perhaps not received the same lights and graces that we have squandered?

Divine Justice will exact a fearful toll from a mass murderer like Paul Ezra Rhoades, if he does not avail himself of Divine Mercy while there is still time.  But all it takes is one mortal sin for us to suffer the same fate that endangers him.  The most leniently punished souls in Hell are in Hell nevertheless, and in eternal torment.  Of our charity, and in the hope of winning mercy for ourselves, we should pray for the grace of repentance and conversion for Paul Ezra Rhoades in these critical last hours of his life, if he has not already repented and converted.  If he is destined to be executed as scheduled, then we should pray that he will suffer his death with resignation and offer it up as restitution for his crimes.  

None of this precludes praying also for the souls of his victims and for their families.  But, as prayer for the living and the dead is a spiritual work of mercy, for this man whose end is coming we should pray for the same graces and helps that we hope for when our own ends draw near.

UPDATE, 11/17 at 20:03 MST: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to stay Rhoades' execution.

UPDATE, 11/18 at 09:23 MST: After a 55-minute delay following the denial of a last-minute motion for stay, Paul Ezra Rhoades was executed.  He was pronounced dead at 09:15 MST.

Don't Forget the Church Suffering

We should always pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, but November is the month when the Church specially remembers them.  Per the Enchiridion of Indulgences, we can gain a plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls every day for the first eight days of November by praying at a cemetery and fulfilling all the other necessary conditions for a plenary indulgence.

We should get into the habit of praying often, and remembering the Holy Souls whenever we pray.  Say the Requiem Aeternam (reproduced below) at the end of your daily Rosary.  Pray for the Souls whenever you pass by a cemetery, and when you receive Holy Communion.  The Dominican friars have a beautiful custom of reciting the De profundis (Psalm 129) in the cloister walk, where deceased friars were traditionally buried, before meals.  The traditional grace after meals -- which we have largely gotten out of the habit of saying, and which is reproduced below -- contains a prayer for the Holy Souls.

The best thing we can do for the Holy Souls is to have Masses offered for them.  In this way we can benefit not only the Church Suffering but also the Church Militant, by contributing to the material support of the Church.  Your average diocesan priest is basically a beggar: he is obliged to support himself and depends on stipends to supplement his small salary.

The Holy Souls are powerless to help themselves: the time for praying for ourselves and offering up our sufferings and trials ends at death.  The Church Suffering is entirely dependent upon the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant for the relief of their sufferings.  Can the Souls nevertheless help us in their present state?  Opinions differ.  The Church does not publicly pray to them for their intercession, but we are permitted to pray privately to them.  They are, after all, certain of gaining heaven once they have satisfied all their debts to Divine Justice.  It cannot be doubted that, once freed from their prison, they can and do help those who helped them.  

 Personally, I believe the Holy Souls can help us by their prayers.  I once was in dire need of oral surgery at a time when I was out of work and uninsured.  In my desperation I appealed to the Holy Souls, and in short order I was connected with an oral surgeon who performed the necessary procedure free of charge.  I believe the Souls are at least as anxious to help us as they are to be helped by us -- maybe even more so.

But really, the attention we give to the Holy Souls ought to consist mostly in our prayers and sacrifices for them -- especially those who were our family and friends.  

Some prayers for the Holy Souls:

Grace after Meals

+ We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, Who livest and reignest forever; and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Requiem Aeternam

V. Requiem aeternam dona ei (eis), Domine. 

R. Et lux perpetua luceat ei (eis). 

V. Requiescat (-ant) in pace. 

R. Amen. 

V. Eternal rest grant unto him/them, O Lord. 

R. And may perpetual light shine up on him/them.  

V. May he/they rest in peace.  

R. Amen.

Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen.

And since our primary order of business on this earth is to be worthy to join the Holy Souls someday in eternal beatitude, we should also get into the habit of making provision for our final hour by praying for a holy death.  Herewith an appropriate prayer by Bl. John Henry Newman:

O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy Sacraments, and the fragrance of Thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Your own Body be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love.

October 7th: Most Holy Rosary

Heaven intervenes in the Battle of Lepanto, where the Muslim fleet outnumbered that of the Christians.

Per the Rule for the Dominican Laity, I pray the Rosary (five decades) every day.  I don't usually pray the Luminous Mysteries, because I prefer the traditional 150 Hail Marys that mirrors the 150 Psalms.  (Pointing out that the very number of Hail Marys in the Rosary is biblical enables one readily to refute what I call the Jimmy Swaggart Theorem of the Rosary, which runs roughly thus: since there are 10 Hail Marys to one Our Father, this proves Catholics prefer Mary to Jesus 10 to 1.)  

Although many objected to Bl. John Paul's change to the Rosary, he is not the first Pope to have made such a change.  As. Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P. has reminded me, during the latter half of the 18th century, the Franciscan Pope Clement XIV replaced the last two Glorious Mysteries with the ones we are familiar with today: the Assumption and the Coronation of Mary.  The Glorious Mysteries used to be: (1) the Resurrection; (2) the Ascension; (3) the Coming of the Holy Spirit; (4) the Second Coming of Christ; and (5) the Last Judgment.  I suppose it could be said that Pope Clement did not substantially change these last Mysteries, but merely changed their emphasis.  Mary, after all, is a type and figure of the Church: she anticipates the state of the Church at the end of time.  Our physical bodies will share in our triumph at the Second Coming, as Mary's already does in her Assumption; and we shall be crowned in glory at the Last Judgment as she has already been.

The best way to conclude this post seems to be with the Lesson from the Extraordinary Form of the Mass for today's feast, taken from Proverbs 8:22-24, 32-35.  The Church applies these praises to Our Lady:

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived. Now, therefore, ye children, hear me: blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.

Pray the Rosary every day.  If you're already doing that, keep doing it.  If you're not...start!  The times grow more and more ominous.  

August 16, 1917: Death of Fr. William Doyle, S.J.

I hope one of these days, August 16th will become the feast of St. William Doyle, the "Trench Priest" who died in the midst of his ministry to the dying at the Battle of Ypres 96 years ago today, a martyr of charity.  But for now, it is simply the anniversary of the death of Servant of God Willie Doyle.  Fr. Willie has appeared several times in this space (e.g., here, here, and here).  An entire blog is dedicated to his memory: for the ether's best compendium of Fr. Doyle commentary and biographical material, as well as Fr. Doyle's writings, visit Remembering Fr William Doyle SJ.

Fr. Doyle does have a cause for canonization, but it has been in the deep freeze for decades.  Let us hope and pray for the rekindling of devotion to him, so that he may once more step into the trenches to the rescue of his beloved Ireland and Society of Jesus.

Amil Myshin, R.I.P.

Today, a multitude of family, friends, colleagues, judges, prosecutors and court staff descended upon the chapel at Summers Funeral Home in downtown Boise to pay their respects and say farewell to a great lawyer and remarkable human being.

Three years was all too short a time in which to get to know Amil Myshin.  I enjoyed going up to the fifth floor of the courthouse and watching him on his hind legs, when my own calendar permitted.  But the best thing was the lunchtime conversations.  Amil was a great raconteur.  Whether he talked about old cases, or his sons, or his days in the service, or my first boss who used to work with him, or his scuba-diving adventures, it would have been a delight -- if it were possible -- just to sit and listen to him tell stories all day.  And laugh.  Amil had so much laughter in him that it would have taken a concerted effort not to laugh with him.  It was as much fun to watch Amil laugh as it was to laugh oneself.

The Gospel of Matthew says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks; and so it is possible to learn a lot about a man as much by what comes out of his mouth as by how he conducts himself.  What sort of a man did Amil's words and conduct reveal?  It was clear that he enjoyed a good fight; but -- if one can trot out a metaphor -- he was no common, swaggering street brawler.  Amil was a gentleman.  And -- to extend the metaphor -- it was not for the sake of seeing blood spurt from wounds or feeling bones crack beneath his fists that he enjoyed a fight, but for the contest of wit and skill and endurance that he carried out with quiet dignity.  And he never forgot that matters of life and death hung upon his skill.  His courage always rose to match the stakes for which he fought, stakes than which there are none higher in the legal system.   

What mark should decades of defending accused murderers -- looking at crime scene and autopsy photos and poring over gruesome reports and listening to witness accounts of unspeakable brutality and witnessing a client's execution -- leave on a man's soul?  No lawyer or his family could come entirely unscathed through such ordeals. Amil was no different: he took some real blows on account of his work.  The danger of taking on hardships is that we may permit the toughness they build up to carry over into callousness.  But during the time that I knew Amil, in the last three years of his life, he was kindly, patient, gentle, modest, self-effacing, understanding, and cheerful.  In fact, considering all that he had seen and gone through over the years, his character was as remarkable for those things that it lacked as for those that it possessed.  Amil's vocabulary was not always the cleanest -- that is unfortunately a side effect of our trade -- but his professionalism was such that I never heard him utter a harsh word all the time I knew him, even in his moments of exasperation.  Even a consummate professional like Amil must occasionally let slip some flaw, whether he wants to or not; yet every time I interacted with him, I was struck by the complete absence in him of bitterness, egotism, pettiness, vindictiveness, meanness, vanity or pusillanimity.  And I could not -- cannot -- help considering how poorly my own behavior and attitude compared with his.  Even the last time I talked with him, when he was obviously ill and weak and distracted, he was uncomplaining and dignified, and still managed a few laughs.

But years and years of high-pressure, high-stakes, high-profile cases take their toll at last.  Amil shone out as a clear beacon over miles of rough seas, but the tower that housed that beacon was crumbling.  He struggled hard to go on preparing his last big case, even as his strength ebbed, until finally even his still-robust spirit had to yield to his physical exhaustion.  By the close of August 6th -- the Feast of the Transfiguration -- all was over.

Greater love than this no man has, said Jesus, that he lay down his life for his friends.  What I saw of Amil, especially toward the end, convinced me that he did indeed lay down his life.  Who were the friends for whom he laid it down?  Anyone who has ever worked as a public defender, as he did, could rattle off a fairly accurate description.  Clients who worked hard to try his patience.  Clients who called him 20 or 30 times a day and left threatening or raging messages on his voice mail.  Clients who tried to manipulate him and play him off against his co-counsel.  Clients who complained about him.  Clients who wrote nasty letters.  Clients who tried to make trouble for him and get him fired off their cases.  Clients who would do and say things publicly that would blow weeks' worth of his hard work all to hell, and create weeks' worth of additional work into the bargain.  Clients who fought him every step of the way, even though he was their only friend in the whole system.  Yet, for their sakes, he was glad to give all he had, even the strength to go on living.  Amil savored the thrill of combat, but in the end, he fought -- and died -- for love.

I do not know whether Amil thought of it in those terms, but with all that he had and all that he did for them, he loved every last societal outcast that he defended, no matter what they stood accused of or what they had actually done.  I do not know what level of commitment Amil had to the Christian faith, but he clearly knew something about sacrificial love.  He clearly knew, and lived, the love that is not a warm, fuzzy feeling, but an act of the will.  He knew, and lived, the love that wills to serve, freely and voluntarily, to the best of one's ability -- and even to the death -- people one knows will repay one with nothing except rank ingratitude.  Can such a love as this fail to cover a multitude of faults?

I trust that, in that supreme moment, when Amil stood before his God in the greatest trial of all, upon whose outcome depend the greatest stakes of all, it did not.  R.I.P.

Amil Norman Myshin, Jr. (1946-2011)

Fourth of July

Prayer for Government

by +John Caroll, Ordinary of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and America's first Bishop and Archbishop; written November 10, 1791 for recital in all parishes in the archdiocese.

We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope N., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

A Warrior for Life Passes from the Scene

I don't know what Phoebe Snow's political affiliation was, or whether she voted for Obama, or what her views were about abortion on demand.  I can't recall ever hearing that she marched or picketed or made speeches or was otherwise active on the political scene.  

But I do know that she sacrificed everything for her little girl.

Phoebe's classic "Poetry Man" reached the top 5 on the pop charts in 1975.  But when Valerie Rose was born that same year with severe brain damage, Phoebe chose to care for her at home rather than put her in an institution.  Through lawsuits, financial distress, and even desertion by her husband, Phoebe kept Valerie with her -- until Valerie's death in 2007.  Under her mother's care, the baby whom nobody expected to survive more than a few years lived to be 31.  "Occasionally I put an album out, but I didn't like to tour, and they didn't get a lot of label support," Phoebe once remarked in an interview. "But you know what? It didn't really matter because I got to stay home more with Valerie, and that time was precious."

Phoebe Snow's name may not have come up much at pro-life rallies, but she was still a giant in the war for life.  She lived it.  For 31 years, she kept her daughter safe from the vultures of "compassion."  With every fiber of her being, Phoebe Snow beat back the assault of the culture of death.  After so many decades of sacrificial love, it is perhaps not surprising that this devoted mother should not long survive the daughter for whom she poured herself out.

I don't know what Phoebe Snow thought about Roe v. Wade.  But I think I can guess.  R.I.P.

Dance Macabre

If you stood all of Hugh Hefner's exes in a line, one after the other, they would form a queue that would probably wrap around the earth's equator three or four times.  Having previously discarded two wives and a legion of concubines -- Hef has often economized by carrying on with multiple women at once -- the 84-year-old playgeezer has offered his soiled hand to Crystal Harris, a girl 60 years his junior.  And she, already foolish enough to have bared herself in Hefner's mag, is apparently compounding her foolishness by agreeing to marry this hound, who is old enough to be her great-grandfather.


Hey Hef: you can rob every cradle within a 100-mile radius of the Playboy Mansion, but: you're still going to die. 

No Longer Suffering?

On Thursday evening, local police officers went to an apartment to serve a felony warrant.  Having determined from the neighbors that the fugitive was there, they went up and started to enter the apartment.  Someone inside opened fire on the police, hitting one officer in the head.  The police returned fire, got the injured officer out of harm's way, and summoned SWAT and negotiators.  After several hours of failed attempts to make contact with the shooter, the police sent a bomb squad robot with a camera into the apartment.  The shooter lay on the floor, dead of what at this writing appears to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The officer who received a bullet in the head survived, and is even reported to be conscious and alert.  The dead shooter,  Patrick Green, was wanted for failing to appear at his sentencing on a felony possession charge. The media have interviewed a member of his family who paints a picture of drug abuse and jail time.  The very description of her relationship to him -- her stepbrother is the shooter's father, making her his "aunt" -- hints at a broken home with tenuous family ties that no doubt set the stage for this dissipated life.  "He just had trouble living life on life's terms," she said.

But what really captures the attention is the following, casually tossed out, almost as an afterthought (emphasis added):

She gives her thoughts and prayers to the officer that was shot, and even though she's grateful that Patrick is no longer suffering, she calls the events of Thursday night - a tragedy.

This is an incredible statement.  After a life of drug abuse, criminality, and pretty much doing as he pleased ("trouble living life on life's terms"), capped off with an attempt to murder the police officers who came to pick him up after his failure to appear on a felony charge, and then ended violently at his own hand, what rational basis is there to assume that Patrick is no longer suffering?  What must one believe in order to be able to arrive at such a conclusion?  What must the reporter believe in order to receive and pass on that conclusion so casually?  What must be the state of a society in which such a statement raises no eyebrows?

One certainly hopes and prays for some miracle of mercy for this man, however poor his outlook appears to outsiders: Christ shed His Blood to save him, too.  But salvation requires our cooperation.  What, then, must the aunt believe in order to take it for granted that Patrick Green's suffering is at an end?  It must be one of two things.  Either she believes that there is no  immortal soul, and no afterlife, and consequently, no heaven and therefore no God -- in which case, to what is she directing her prayers for the officer who was shot? -- or, she must believe in universal salvation, where we all get hoisted up to heaven and plunked down at God's right hand, regardless of what we have done and how we have lived.  In that case, nothing we do matters; and if nothing we do matters, then we ourselves do not matter.  Therefore, it was pointless for Christ to shed His Blood for our salvation, since we were never worth it, even in His eyes.  Moreover, a moral order is pointless -- and is not license the true purpose of a belief in universal salvation? 

But how false is a hope that leads us to count on a one-way, non-stop ticket to heaven at the end of a dissolute life.  On the contrary: we will die as we have lived.  We have no right to presume otherwise.  

We must pray for the soul of Patrick Green, who has now been stripped of all delusions, and pray that if he is suffering, it is, by some miracle, the expiating suffering of the saved and thankful. 

Stanton Parish Rines, Jr., R.I.P.

Of your charity, please stop and pray for the repose of the soul of Stanton P. Rines, who died this week of complications from diabetes.  Stan was a defense lawyer whom I worked with in the public defender's office in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, when I first started practicing.  The defense bar received word of his death this morning.

Although I had not seen Stan Rines for several years, I have been thinking about him all day, since receiving the news of his death. I can't say I was surprised, because he was not in the best of health even when I knew him; but there is still the shock of realization that comes even when the end is not unexpected.

When I was an infant in the law, Stan handed me an obscene live conduct case: the client, age 73, dropped his drawers in the post office on the 4th of July and...well, allegedly did some stuff one is not supposed to do in the post office or any other public place. Stan said, with a twinkle in his eye, that it would be better for this guy to be represented by a fresh young thing than to have one dirty old man representing another dirty old man. But whatever dirt Stan might have had on him, it was not an essential part of his makeup. He was kind and gentlemanlike, and generous. I never detected any meanness or pettiness in him; he certainly cut other people, even adversaries, a lot more slack than I was willing to do. That, I think, is because he was knocked around enough in the school of life to realize where his own failings were; whatever lessons in humility he had received, they were not wasted on him.

Stan was a great sailor, and loved being out on his boat.  He gave me one of the best days of my life when I was living in Coeur d'Alene, and that was the day he took me and a couple others out sailing. That was the first time I'd ever experienced the silent speed of a sailboat. Stan was pretty agile and resourceful on the boat, even with his mangled limbs, the product of injuries he had sustained in an accident some years earlier. We spent the whole day sailing or motoring on Lake Pend'Oreille, visiting and enjoying the view and the blue water and the weather, and then went back to Bayview for dinner. I never wanted that day to end. Yet, after all that, Stan was disappointed that he could not show his guests an even better time: he was actually apologetic that there wasn't enough wind to cut the motor and sail the whole day!

Besides all of this, Stan was one hell of a lawyer. It is said of him that he once got a guy off a possession charge by arguing to the jury that if he'd have known he had the dope on him, he'd have used it. If that story is not true...it ought to be.

Stan will be missed. Requiescat in pace.

July 13, 1917: The Secrets

Now it was time to show the three children why it was necessary for them to suffer and to make reparation for sinners.  Lucia's Fourth Memoir:

A few moments after arriving at the Cova da Iria, near the holmoak, where a large number of people were praying the Rosary, we saw the flash of light once more, and a moment later Our Lady appeared on the holmoak.

"What do you want of me?"  I asked.

"I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you."

"I would like to ask you to tell us who you are, and to work a miracle so that everybody will believe that you are appearing to us."

"Continue to come here every month.  In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle for all to see and believe."

I then made some requests, but I cannot recall now just what they were.  What I do remember is that Our Lady said it was necessary for such people to pray the Rosary in order to obtain these graces during the year.  And she continued:

"Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

As Our Lady spoke these last words, she opened her hands once more, as she had done during the two previous months.  The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire.  Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear.  (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me.)  The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals.  Terrified and as if to plead for succor, we looked up at Our Lady, who said to us, so kindly and so sadly:

"You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go.  To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.  If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.  The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI.  When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

"To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.  If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; but if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.  The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.  In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.  The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.  In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved..."

It must have been at this point that the children received the "Third Secret," which would not be revealed publicly for eighty-three years.  However, in obedience to the Bishop of Leiria, Lucia committed the Third Secret to writing in 1944 as follows (edited here for punctuation, spelling and paragraph breaks):

After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand.  Pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: "Penance, penance, penance!" 

And we saw in an immense light that is God something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it: a Bishop dressed in white.  We had the impression that it was the Holy Father.  Other bishops, priests, men and women religious going up [sic] a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark.  Before reaching there, the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins; and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way.

Having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big cross, he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him; and in the same way there died, one after another, the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the martyrs, and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.

Then, after warning the children against telling anyone what they had seen and heard (except that the girls could tell Francisco, who was not able to hear what was said) the Blessed Mother gave the children what has come to be known as the Fatima Prayer, albeit in a somewhat different form than that which is now commonly used (at least in English):

"When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell.  Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need."

Then the apparition ended.  But the controversy over what happened that July 13th has not ended.  The Third Secret has given rise to much speculation, all the more since the decision was made not to make the Secret public in 1960, the year it was assumed the Secret should have been revealed. 

Why 1960?  When she wrote down the Secret for the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Sr. Lucia wrote on the outer envelope that it could only be opened after 1960.  When asked why, and whether Our Lady had fixed the date, she replied: "It was not Our Lady. I fixed the date because I had the intuition that before 1960 it would not be understood, but that only later would it be understood. Now it can be better understood. I wrote down what I saw; however it was not for me to interpret it, but for the Pope."  By the time the contents of the Secret were finally made public in 2000, on the occasion of the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, so much doomsday-scenario speculation had gone on about it, during the bloodiest century in human history, that it seemed almost anti-climactic. 

So much so that a whole industry has grown up around the idea that the entire Third Secret has not been revealed, in spite of Sr. Lucia's categorical statement in 2001 that there are no more secrets.  It doesn't make sense, it is argued, that the vision of the Holy Father being shot refers to the attempt on the life of John Paul II on May 13, 1981, as asserted in the theological commentary on the Third Secret.  But that is a gross oversimplification of then-Cardinal Ratzinger's remarks.  The vision, he said, contains the whole bloody history of the 20th century, "a century of martyrs," as well as the special role of the Pope in "the Via Crucis of an entire century".  And, in view of the Communist connections of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Pope's would-be assassin, Ratzinger's reference to a comment Sr. Lucia made to John Paul II in a letter in 1982 should not be overlooked: "The third part of the 'secret' refers to Our Lady's words: 'If not, [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.'"

Which brings us to part two of the July 13th controversy: whether or not, in spite of Sr. Lucia's statements to the contrary, the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has ever taken place.  On December 2, 1940, Sr. Lucia wrote to Pope Pius XII, asking that he consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart, and order all bishops to do the same in union with him.  She stated that Our Lady came to ask for this in 1929, and described the efforts that had been made to have it done.  On October 31, 1942, Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate heart.  On July 7, 1952, he consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart, but without the participation of the world's bishops.  Further acts of consecration follow in 1964, 1982 and 1983.  John Paul II finally made the consecration as requested on March 25, 1984, yet it is still alleged that the consecration has not been properly made.   Perhaps the strongest argument they have is the moral and economic mess that Russia is still in today, which seems to counter-indicate a change of heart on the part of the Russian people. 

Concerning the consecration controversy, some observations:


-- The 1984 consecration is criticized for not having explicitly mentioned Russia.  Yet it is plain from the text of the act of consecration that the 1952 act of Pope Pius XII, which does mention Russia by name, is incorporated by reference.  That would be good enough in a legal document; it was clearly good enough for heaven, as subsequent events attested.

-- Our Lady promised that Russia would be converted, but she neither said when this would take place, nor promised that it would take place instantaneously.  God is not on our schedule.

-- There is a danger of expecting too much.  Our Lady never promised that the consecration of Russia would eradicate all evils from the earth.  That will not happen this side of the Last Day.  Furthermore, she did not say how long the "period of peace" that would follow the conversion of Russia would last.

-- Our Lady's promises at Fatima were conditional.  God made His promised blessings dependent upon our repentance and conversion, which has not generally been forthcoming.  The fact that we have not promptly heeded Our Lady's requests for repentance and conversion must be set down as a factor in the present state of world affairs.

-- We must not forget that more than half a century elapsed between the time Our Lady asked for the consecration (1929) and the time it was actually done (1984).  That was more than half a century that Russia had to spread her errors throughout the world.  The late date at which the consecration was done, coupled with the amount of damage done in the world by Russia's errors, has to have had an effect on the timetable.

-- Yet the cataract of disasters in the Communist world that led to the removal of the Soviet Union as a threat to world peace began almost immediately after the 1984 consecration.  It's hard to believe that there is now a generation of adults who are not old enough to remember the Cold War; perhaps this is part of the reason for the disappointment over the "failure" of Russia to be converted.  It is true that the seeds of failure had been sown in the Soviet system from the beginning.  Nevertheless, the Soviet Union persisted for generations: by the time the Soviet era came to an end, one had to be quite old to remember back behind it.  For those who do not remember the collapse of Communism, it is hard to overstate how breathtakingly sudden, swift and unexpected it was.   I recall very clearly that late in 1989, one of my German language professors, who was from Germany and still had family stuck in the GDR, declared her belief that the Berlin Wall would never come down; just a few weeks later, down it came.  In a few months, Germany would reunify, East Germany having voted itself out of existence; the following year, the Soviet Union would be no more. All of this was unimaginable just a few short years before, yet it all happened within seven years of the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.

-- The words of Our Lady concerning the conversion of Russia make clear that it is not merely for the benefit of Russia that that nation must convert, but for that of the whole world.  There can be no doubt that the implosion of the Soviet Union which immediately followed the 1984 act of consecration was of considerable benefit to the world and to the cause of world peace, whatever else might come after.  As for the change of heart of the Russian people, surely the breaking of the shackles of Communism was a necessary first step.  The Communists had to experience the failure and collapse of their precious system.

-- We do not know what calamities have been averted because of the 1984 act of consecration.

But we do have an inkling, 93 years later, of how three small shepherd children were drawn into the maelstrom of human history and, by means of their generosity of spirit and heroic sufferings, became instruments in God's great intervention.  More suffering lay ahead.

Blessed Is the Wood by Which Righteousness Comes

Borrowed from Fr. Powell, O.P., who borrowed it from Taylor Marshall:

Seven Reasons Why Christ Died on a Wooden Cross

First, Augustine observed that crucifixion is not only painful, it is painful and public. The public nature of Christ's death inspires us to face death heroically.

Second, Augustine observed that since Adam brought death through a tree, it was fitting that the New Adam destroy death by hanging on a tree.

Third, John Chrysostom and Theophylact observed that by being lifted up on the cross, Christ sanctified the air.

Fourth, Athanasius observed that by being lifted up on the cross, Christ shows that He has prepared the ascent into Heaven.

Fifth, Gregory of Nyssa observed that the shape of the cross was fitting for because it extends in the four directions and is therefore universal. Also, Athanasius wrote that the one outstretched arm sanctified the those in the past and the other arm as outstretched to the future. So we have both a spacial and temporal universality signified in the crucifixion.

Sixth, Augustine says the parts of the cross signifies the following:

* Breadth – This pertains to Christ’s hands and thus "good works"
* Length – This pertains to the upright nature of a tree and thus "longanimity".
* Height – This pertains to the top and Christ’s head and "the good hope" of the faithful.
* Base – The base is the root and it is hidden, thus it signifies "grace".

Seventh, Augustine observes that wood is salutary in the Old Covenant. Wood saved Noah in the Flood. Moses divided the sea with a wooden rod; purified water with wood, and brought forth water with his wooden rod. Also, the Ark of the Covenant was made of wood.

It is Thy will that works of Thy wisdom should not be without effect; therefore men trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood, and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land.  For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing, the hope of the world took refuge on a raft, and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation.  For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.

Wisdom 14:5-7

Time Despised During Life

With the battle over end-of-life issues widening and intensifying, the pro-life movement is giving more and more attention to euthanasia and assisted suicide; and so, the keynote speaker at the March for Life rally in Boise last Saturday was David Gibbs, the attorney who fought to save Terri Schiavo.  I can recall that as the war over Terri Schiavo's life raged, her husband Michael -- with his baby-mama and his big, fat malpractice settlement -- alleged that his unfortunate wife had previously expressed a wish never to be maintained in a condition such as that which eventually provided a rationale for her judicially-sanctioned murder.

I, like everyone else, pray that I never become a helpless prisoner in a paralyzed body or a profoundly damaged brain.  On the other hand, I do not want anybody playing God and cutting the thread of my life before its time.  So, lest a time should come when somebody pretends to be complying with my purported wishes to be euthanized in the event of serious illness or injury, I wish to state now and for the record that:

-- I do not want to be put out of my misery.

-- I do want to be hooked up to as many machines as it takes to keep me alive, for as long as necessary.

-- I do want whatever procedures my situation indicates, and to have the risks and benefits of such procedures weighed by myself or my designated representative.

-- I do not want to spare others the trouble and expense of caring for me.  I do want to spare them the folly of murdering me out of a sense of misguided compassion.

In short:

-- I want to make as much noise as I can, take up as much space as I can, and make as much trouble as I can, for as long as I can, because I will never get back the time I have to do these things in.

And neither will you.

O time despised during life! you will be ardently desired by worldlings at the hour of death.  They will then wish for another year, another month, another day; but they will not obtain it: they will then be told that time shall be no longer.  How much would they then pay for another week, or another day, to settle the accounts of their conscience?  To obtain a single hour, they would, says St. Laurence Justinian, give all their wealth and worldly possessions.  But this hour shall not be given.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Preparation for Death

Dies Irae

November 8th is the day on which the Order of Preachers remembers and prays for its deceased members. Today at 7:00 p.m. the Bl. Margaret of Castello chapter will recite the Office of the Dead (Vespers) for deceased Dominicans in the day chapel at St. John's Cathedral in Boise. We will begin by chanting Dies Irae (though we don't expect to sound anything like the men and boys' choir in this video).

Dies Irae is the traditional sequence of the Requiem Mass. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece of Latin poetry; its beauty is apparent even to those of us who have very little Latin.

St. Thomas More teaches that meditation on the Four Last Things (Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven) is a first-class remedy against sin. Dies Irae, rich in food for such meditation, has unfortunately been squelched in the Ordinary Rite by those who (unjustly) consider it morbid; but since it survives in the 1962 Missal, the door is open for its comeback.

Goodbye, Billie Jean?

A monster vigil for Michael Jackson is scheduled for July 13th at the O2 Arena in London, where Jackson was to have performed. A celebrity tribute show is planned for September. Wait for the unmitigated hysteria, melodrama, and general absence of dignity utterly unbecoming the final disposition of a fellow human being's mortal remains.

And I'm waiting for a repeat of one of the tackiest aspects of the exceedingly tacky aftermath of Princess Diana's death. Will Elton John again recycle "Candle in the Wind"?

Michael Jackson Inundation

These are the times when it's good not to have TV. The internet coverage is bad enough. From what I saw while dog-sitting at someone else's house yesterday, television is wall-to-wall Michael Jackson. And if my memory of the months-long schmaltzfest following the death of Princess Diana is anything to go by, we can expect more of the same for some time to come.

While he was alive, Michael Jackson was an unmitigated freak, fodder for the tabloid press, a weirdo who swung his infant child out over a fourth-floor balcony rail, a black man looking more and more like a white woman with a nose chiseled to the thinness of tissue paper. Now that he is dead, he is a saint, and crowds flock to his haunts as to shrines, to place flowers and pictures. For weeks and months to come, we will be glutted with Michael Jackson and his melodramatic mourners, and snowed under with praise for his legacy. His legacy: there, the hagiographers have a point, at least to the extent they are talking about his feats in the entertainment industry. Few people are as accomplished in their field of endeavor as Michael Jackson was in his.

And yet Michael Jackson was one of the most pathetic human beings that ever walked the earth. He manifestly had a desire to love, to be loved, to do good works, and to place his time, talent and treasure at the disposal of those less fortunate than himself. But where was his spiritual compass? His over-the-top extravagance and ultra-flamboyance were not normal. His relationships with wild animals, like the chimpanzees he kept and dressed up, was not normal. His relationships with little boys were not normal, and may even have been criminal, even if no charges actually stuck. His gender-bending was not normal. His Peter Pan syndrome was not normal. His constant recourse to cosmetic surgeons -- are there no ethics governing multiple nose jobs? -- was not normal. His drug use -- who were the doctors that supplied him with all those drugs? -- was not normal. Michael Jackson was about as far from normal as you can get without ending up in an institution. He was, in fact, a shining example of what a grace it is not to be able to indulge one's every whim, and what a tragedy it is to be able to have one's own way in everything.

Michael Jackson needs to be prayed for. There is hope for his soul; nevertheless, he was not a saint, and should not be taken for one. The extent to which he is taken for a saint should serve to warn us how far off track we are.

On the Murder of George Tiller

Late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller, age 67, was gunned down at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas at about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday the 31st. Based on witness descriptions, police tracked down and arrested Scott Roeder, about whom the media are, at this writing, furiously speculating. Meanwhile, Wichita police Detective Tom Stoltz has stated: "We will investigate this suspect to the Nth degree -- his history, his family, his associates -- and we are just in the beginning stages of that."

The murder of George Tiller is just that: murder. There can be no justification for it, regardless of what he has done. Murder is murder, whether committed by an abortionist or a cold-blooded shooter; the murderer needs to prosecuted and, if found guilty, punished accordingly. If the motive here is because Tiller was an abortionist -- and it is universally assumed that that was the motive -- then, besides incurring eternal punishment for himself, (failing repentance) the shooter has accomplished nothing more than the false martyrization of Tiller and, under the present political circumstances, has let the pro-life movement in for an era of persecution.

But there is another lesson in this: the lurking possibility of sudden death that could strike any of us at any time. We are prone to entertain the notion that we have all the time in the world, and that we can do whatever we want now and repent on our deathbed; but how do we know we are going to get a deathbed, or any sort of warning? The thread of our life may suddenly be cut, without any chance to settle our affairs, or make up for the smallest misdeed, or even to say we are sorry to God; then, without warning, we are stripped of everything and standing before Him in judgment. What will we then say to the One Who sees everything, hears everything, knows everything? What are the odds George Tiller expected to be gunned down while ushering at his church on the feast of Pentecost? What are the odds any of us expects the time and manner of death that are in store for us?

One can only hope that George Tiller was given, and took advantage of, the opportunity to repent of his evil deeds before his death, even though to our eyes it appears he had no such opportunity. But we dare not presume on such a grace for ourselves. This is why Scripture warns us that if today we hear His voice, we had better not harden our hearts.

"You Could Go to Mass Once More."

It seemed like the last call of Love.

Clear and resolute, my 'NO' cut off that train of thought.

Read the rest of it here.

Decreasing the Surplus Population

Everybody agrees it wasn't okay for Scrooge to hate the poor and the helpless. It wasn't okay for him to be in favor of prisons and workhouses. Most of all, it wasn't okay for him to be in favor of decreasing the "surplus population" of the suffering poor.

But what is unacceptable for a character of fiction is apparently acceptable for the people's elected representatives. And so we have the under-the-radar, blandly-named S1114, which passed unanimously in the Idaho Senate on March 3d. This bill would allow the withholding of treatment in cases where such treatment is deemed "medically inappropriate" or "futile" -- notwithstanding the directive, advance or otherwise, of a patient or his representative. Consider the following new language proposed to be added to existing law (emphases added):

WITHHOLDING OR WITHDRAWING HEALTH TREATMENT – VOLUNTARY ETHICS COMMITTEE REVIEW.

(1) If the attending physician believes that the treatment requested by a patient, the patient’s advance directive or the patient’s surrogate decision maker is medically inappropriate or futile, the attending physician or health care facility in which the patient is admitted may request that an ethics committee of the health care facility review the facts and circumstances to determine if the requested treatment is medically inappropriate or futile.

(2) The ethics committee shall be comprised of at least two (2) physicians, and such other persons as the health care facility shall appoint. The attending physician may appear at the ethics committee meeting to explain the facts and circumstances of the case but may not participate as a member of the ethics committee.

(3) The patient or his legally authorized surrogate decision maker shall be given the opportunity to attend the ethics committee meeting and explain the basis for his or her request for treatment. The patient or surrogate decision maker shall be given prior notice of the ethics committee meeting at least twentyfour [sic] (24) hours before the ethics committee meeting unless the patient or surrogate decision maker waives such prior notice. The patient or surrogate decision maker shall not be entitled to be present during the ethics committee’s deliberations. [Sounds rather like a criminal proceeding, doesn't it?]

The ethics committee shall provide to the patient or surrogate decision maker a written explanation of the ethics committee’s determination.

(4) If the ethics committee agrees with the attending physician that the treatment requested by the patient, the patient’s advance directive or surrogate decision maker is medically inappropriate or futile, the attending physician and health care facility shall take reasonable action to assist the patient or surrogate decision maker to arrange the patient’s transfer within fifteen (15) days to another health care provider selected by the patient or surrogate decision maker who is willing to assume the treatment of the patient. The health care facility shall provide reasonably necessary lifesustaining [sic] treatment within the capacity and capability of the health care facility until the patient is transferred or until the expiration of the fifteen (15) day period described above, whichever occurs first. Following the patient’s transfer or upon expiration of the fifteen (15) day period described above, whichever occurs first, the attending physician and health care facility shall not be obligated to provide additional treatment that has been determined to be medically inappropriate or futile by the ethics committee. The patient or his surrogate decision maker shall remain responsible for the costs incurred in transferring the patient to another health care provider in addition to the cost of any health care provided prior to the transfer.

(5) If the patient or surrogate decision maker disagrees with the ethics committee determination, the patient or surrogate decision maker shall cooperate with the health care facility to arrange the transfer of the patient to another health care provider within fifteen (15) days following the ethics committee determination. The patient or surrogate decision maker may petition the district court in which the health care facility is located to lengthen the time to effect an appropriate transfer; provided however, that the district court shall extend the time only if the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that there is a reasonable probability that the patient or surrogate decision maker will be able to transfer the patient to another qualified health care provider who is willing to provide the treatment requested by the patient or surrogate decision maker within the extension requested by the patient or surrogate decision maker.

(6) If an ethics committee has determined that the requested treatment is medically inappropriate or futile, but the patient is later readmitted to the health care facility within six (6) months following such ethics committee determination, the attending physician may rely on the prior ethics committee determination and withhold or withdraw treatment consistent with the prior ethics committee determination if the attending physician and one (1) physician member of the ethics committee determine that the patient’s condition either has not improved or has deteriorated since the prior ethics committee determination and that the prior ethics committee determination still applies to the patient’s condition, and they document their conclusion in the medical chart.

Notice, however, the ease with which patients may be -- shall we say -- permitted to die. A "surrogate decision maker" -- that is, a person empowered to make care decisions on behalf of a patient who is incapable of making decisions for himself --

shall not have authority to consent to or refuse health care contrary to the patient’s advance directives or wishes expressed by the patient while the patient was capable of consenting to his own health care[.]

Furthermore, a court-appointed guardian of a patient MAY consent to the withholding or withdrawal of treatment ("other than appropriate nutrition, hydration or medication") where:

(b) The respondent [patient] is chronically and irreversibly comatose;
(c) The provision of such treatment would merely prolong dying, would not be effective in ameliorating or correcting all of the respondent’s lifethreatening [sic] conditions, or would otherwise be futile in terms of the survival of the respondent; or
(d) The provision of such treatment would be virtually futile in terms of the survival of the respondent, and the treatment itself under such circumstances would be inhumane.

Notice, too, that although a court-appointed guardian may not withhhold "appropriate" nutrition and hydration; and although the bill in its terms purports not to legalize or condone euthanasia, the bill clearly contemplates that "artificial nutrition and hydration" -- defined as "supplying food and water through a conduit, such as a tube or intravenous line, where the recipient is not required to chew or swallow voluntarily, [not including] assisted feeding, such as spoon feeding or bottle feeding" -- may be withdrawn:

Individuals caring for a patient for whom artificial lifesustaining [sic] procedures or artificially administered nutrition and hydration are withheld or withdrawn shall provide comfort care as defined in section 39-4502, Idaho Code.

"Comfort care" is defined as "treatment and care to provide comfort and cleanliness" as well as "dignity. It is not clear how this is possible for persons who are dying of hunger and thirst, but then can we expect the legislature to think of everything?

For the moment, let's pass over the utter moral bankruptcy of this proposed legislation and turn to some practical matters. Is this proposed legislation less likely to create more problems than it solves, or more likely? Is it less likely to spawn endless litigation -- notwithstanding the immunity clauses, which are not set forth here -- or more?

The late Fr. Richard Neuhaus once made the point (in Death on a Friday Afternoon) that a mark and effect of our fallen nature is that we make things so much harder than they need to be, or should be. Couldn't we take most of the complications out of these issues by just simply hewing to the Natural Law that has been handed down to us, rather than trying to force the square pegs of life and death and their attendant realities into the round holes of our whims?

Wouldn't it be much, much, much easier to just restore LIFE as the default setting?

H/T The Redoubtable One.

Lincoln's Birthday

Also the birthday of my grandmother, Lisa Botti, who died 32 years ago tomorrow. R.I.P.