Letters

Euthanasia

Brian Coman

Contents - Dec 2010 - Buy a copy now Homily: Christmas - Pope Benedict XVI Euthanasia: Australia's Christian churches unite in opposition - MIchael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Youth: Another successful Australian Catholic youth initiative - Br Barry Coldrey Call to Holiness: Facing life issues in love and truth - Babette Francis Congress for Life: Catholic orthodoxy: key to promoting the culture of life - Cardinal Raymond Burke Homily: Christus Rex Pilgrimage: Building God's Kingdom on earth - Bishop Peter J. Elliott Catholic origins: Psychology and Christianity: need they be at odds? - Wanda Skowronska Poetry: Euthanasia, the insidious escalator - Bruce Dawe Letters: Eucharistic faith - Anna M. Silvas Letters: Marriage - Arnold Jago Letters: Lay saint? - Eamonn Keane Letters: Euthanasia - Brian Coman Letters: Ecumenism - Kevin McManus Letters: Family breakdown - Peter Gilet Books: EDMUND CAMPION, by Richard Simpson, revised by Peter Joseph - Fr Anthony Robbie (reviewer) Books: THE LAST CRUSADER, by Louis de Wohl - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: FIVE SMOOTH STONES: A 40 Day WYD08 Journal, by Stephen Lawrence - Bishop Joseph Grech (reviewer) Fighting Fund: 2010 Fighting Fund progress Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: Messiah: the one anointed by God to reconcile sinners - Fr Dennis W. Byrnes

The brazen arrogance so strongly implicit in our giving even passing consideration to euthanasia as an available option, let alone placing it before parliament for incorporation into the law, is staggering in its full portent.

I used to wonder about how Lucifer who, by the way, is immeasurably more powerful than us humans anyway, came to his grief by thinking himself the equal of his Creator. Now I wonder whether we are seeing something similar in our own selves attempting to usurp a role which does not and cannot belong to other than the Author of life Himself.

We can advance all the secular arguments in the world either for or against euthanasia but none of them can possibly be conclusive unless we first recognise the primacy of the law of the One True God so unambiguously expressed in the Fifth Commandment.

Giving legal sanction to the deliberate killing of one person by another is to mount an attack on the authority of God Himself and this is just not on.

BRIAN COMAN
Mordialloc, Vic

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 23 No 11 (December 2010 - January 2011), p. 14