The J-O-Y of Lent-fullness...

Fast, pray, give away. 

Lent. Be lent-ful. Focus on God. Be good. Don't gossip. Don't get angry. Curb the road rage. Curb all rage. Mustn't be mean to (very) silly siblings. Must retract two words from previous sentence. Fine, conscience, they're retracted - I wasn't at all being Lent-ful. Eat less flesh, more musical fruit (makes you do something that rhymes with "Bart..."), speaking of eating - must do more dishes, complain less about doing aforementioned dishes... Why don't we use plastic plates again? Oh yes, wasteful. Can't be wasteful... not in Lent. 

Fast, pray, give away. 

... Until Easter. Oh man, Easter is awesome. Jesus rises ANDDDDD to celebrate, all those Lenten promises I made and did my best to stick to can go jump. I can eat meat, don't have to fast, can stop doing all those *excess* prayers, and can stop giving money to every homeless guy I run in to (read: almost trip over) on the way to work.

Excellent. 

Fast, pray, give away. 

... Be transformed.

I was always taught to give up a favourite treat during lent. Soft drink? Chocolate? McDonalds? I would consider it miraculous just HOW GOOD Coke tasted on Easter Sunday, when I was finally 'liberated' from the yoke of self-mortification and free to drink as I pleased. 

If only I was taught earlier just how transforming the practices of Lent are. Then maybe I would have witnessed a true miracle - the cleansing of a soul that has reconnected with itself, God, and others. Fast, pray, give away. 

FAST, that you may master your will and be able to practice self denial. Grace comes next - spiritual baby steps soon become leaps of the soul. 

PRAY, that your soul may understand the language of the Lord. In this way, you may become one. (Ahem, Eucharist junkie reporting for duty... mass is the highest form of prayer, Holy Communion the surest way to become one with God - His blood beats through your veins!)

GIVE AWAY, that you may be reconciled to the community. Let your interior transformation manifest itself in good deeds. Make the world that little bit shinier. 

The Maronite Church focuses on the miracles of Christ during this season. Odd, right? Why not focus on His preaching? The prophecies about His death and resurrection? 

I kinda came upon this answer over the course of a few days. Not only do these miracles make us journey with Christ to the end of his public ministry, but their message is very lent-ful (Kylie, stop trying to make 'lent-ful' happen, it's not going to happen)...

Let's take a quick look at just one gospel extract. Jesus healing the blind man. Why talk about him in Lent? Because he is a model of faith for us. Turns out the Church kinda knows what She's doing (I'm not shocked either)...

The blind man, in his eyes at those of society, had a spiritual ailment (curse) that manifested itself into a severe physical ailment (blindness). Through declaring Him Lord and petitioning the King of Kings ("Son of David, have mercy on me!"), and recognising Him as Lord, he was made clean. 

This is why we FAST, because we need to rid ourselves of interior dispositions which often manifest themselves into sin and make ourselves clean by PRAYER - throwing ourselves into the arms of the Saviour. 

The key to the story is this: Bartimaeus didn't just go back to his normal life after he was healed. Quite the contrary. He recognised what the Lord had done for him and allowed this to have an impact on his life! He followed Jesus to the Cross. 

We are on the same path as Bartimaeus. When we are healed, we are then able to follow Him to the Cross. Should we heed this lesson, our reward will one day be to rise and reign with Him and the Church Triumphant in the kingdom prepared for us from the beginning of time. 

Don't just do Lent, be lent-ful. Be transformed. 

J-O-Y

Jesus-Others-Yourself

Pray-Give Away-Fast

P.S. When getting down or feeling unmotivated, think about this. Allow me to quote a wonderful priest who spoke about Lent last week. 

"What is the difference between fasting and feasting? One letter: "E" for "Emmanuel." When we have Emmanuel in our lives we are not fasting, we are fEasting."

Sportsmanship: don't let it die...

I read an article today about the most recent Nadal v. Smyczek Australian Open tennis match (pronounced smee-check if I know anything about European dictation, which I don't)...

In a best of 5-set match, the scores were quite close in Nadal's favour. During the world no. 1's ball toss, a spectator allegedly yelled very loudly, causing him to fault. His opponent, seeing the injustice in this, called for the point to be replayed rather than allow a fault be declared, resulting in quite a display of appreciation from Rafa, who referred to him as a "gentleman" for his show of sportsmanship. 

The Spaniard went on to win the match after such a crucial moment was dealt with such class. When questioned about why he did this, Smee-Check downplayed the action, even praising his opponent: "You know, I thought it was the right thing to do... I thought I had him for a minute... But he turned it up to another gear. That's why he's been one of the best for years and years."

Lovely. But why should this be inspiring? It's not often I feel struck to enough to blog about sport. In fact, despite my fanatical family's best efforts, I am not really a massive sport person, but I do think that acts of sportsmanship should be the usual. The real shame here is that this is even newsworthy. It should be considered noble (because it is), but it should also be normal. 

See, often despite my best efforts, I watch quite a bit of sport for somebody who couldn't care less about most games. 

I see children who idolise their favourite players. I am not naive to the point of saying "kids shouldn't be idolising players, they want to play, not be role models," because being in the public eye doing what you love comes with a particular responsibility. What's my issue with this? Watch a game of NRL and the game is rife with men whose weekend antics are nothing short of disgusting. Their actions on the field should often be anything but glorified. Watch the NBL and the commentators have more to say about the players' lack of fidelity to their wives and sneaky fouls than their skill on the court. 

Why should it be this way? Sport should be a community building activity. It should be fun, competitive (in a healthy way) and should inspire children and adults alike to push, train, practice and persevere at their chosen art. It's not impossible. 

I read an article years ago about the American baseball great and devout Catholic as well as JPII-junkie, Stan Musial. In fact, American Cardinal Dolan praised him quite rightly as "one of the best baseball players ever, an inspiration to generations, whose very name stands for integrity, professionalism, loyalty and championship." This was a man who had a stellar career, and yet when asked what his most memorable moment was, cited Wojtyla's election as pope - blitzing even his 3000-hit milestone. He was good friends with the late (great!) Holy Father, and spent his retirement frequenting Rome. 

Cardinal Dolan even said that meeting Musial at 10 years old was one of his best childhood memories - he remembered the love and attention he was shown and how good it felt to have his idol treat him as a friend. 

Imagine sport was full of characters like this! Imagine when we watched our favourite game, we watched a display of teamwork, physical fitness, sportsmanship, talent and class. How different our newspaper headlines would look! 

Phillip Rivers is a modern day example of a sportsman to be admired. As an NFL quarterback (Aussies who know nothing about NFL - that kinda means he's the captain, playmaker and main man all wrapped up into one), he never misses an opportunity to be a role model to those who idolise him. Just look at this interview with life teen if you don't believe me. 

Passion for your art never gives you an excuse to act like a barbarian. Living 'on the road' shouldn't mean you abandon the sacraments and any vows (spoken or otherwise) that you make to your loved ones. In fact, sport being a public spectacle should be considered even more of an opportunity to showcase grace. 

Holiness can be found in the most unlikely of places, and no matter what our calling, nobody is exempt from the commandment to "make disciples of all nations." We've all been given the graces - we just have to use them. 

One can't help but wonder what kind of Cardinal he liked more... 

holiness comes with many faces, all of which are 

faithful to truth, goodness and beauty.

Wisdom from the Mouths of Babes...

I love kids. I’m that girl that is constantly being forwarded or tagged in clips of kids doing funny, weird, or downright adorable things.

I’ve loved kids forever – my friends often tease me and imitate the faces I make at random children. That girl cooing over your child at the shopping centre? That’s me. The girl holding your baby (and yes, we’ve probably only just met)? Me. The psychopath describing your baby to you as ‘edible,’ ‘squishy’ or telling you they want to take a bite out of your child’s fatness? Me. Yes, I’m not being literal (it’s sad I have to clarify that), but the point is this: I love kids.

Until today, I’ve never really thought about it that much. Yes, kids are awesome, but why do they have this effect on us? Why can we watch them for hours on end, seem to have infinitely more patience for them and just want to be around them?

I think I’ve figured it out: at least for me. Joy. The uncontainable, beautiful, unhinged joy children possess and emanate in their every action. There is nothing more amazing to watch.

They remind us that no matter how bad things are, a smile can light up the room. Laughter is a song that can often make your soul remember how good life can be. It’s funny – the littler the person, the bigger the soul, the more beautiful their joy appears to those around them.

We were given a commandment to “be fruitful and multiply.” God knows what He’s doing – children teach us love, patience, hope, service. They show us to be pleased with the littlest things in life, a fun song, a colourful something, a ball, our parents, our carers. Watch the way a mother cares for her child, or how much she goes through to bring a child into the world and you’ll suddenly be grateful for both the big and small things our mothers do and endure for us. If we were all like that, don’t you think we’d all be happier?

If we were like children, little and innocent, grateful and trusting – would not most of our troubles simply dissipate?

St. JPII **The Great** (yes, I’m a junkie – let’s not dwell too much on this point) told us: “we need to make a bigger deal out of ordinary love.” Isn’t this what mothers have been saying for generations? We can’t forget the monotony and unremarkable everyday actions exhibited every day that rather than frustrate us, should show us how to love one another.

Uncle Fults clarifies to us: “a mother is a double benefactor to humanity: its physical preserver, and its moral provider. Through life, and through the high personal qualities of her children, she is the universe's constant challenge to death, the messenger of cosmic plenitude and the bearer of eternal realities.”

When we rejoice in children, when we spend time with them and love them with a Christlike love, we can not help but be struck by how much we learn – little people are wiser than we give them credit for!

"She's not heavy, she's my sister..."

I am the manger of the Lord…

He’s coming!

The Messiah, whose coming was awaited and prophesied for generations, is coming! The psalms speak of Him as “… more beautiful than the children of men,” (Psalm 45). They venture that "... In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more. He will rule from sea to sea... He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no-one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death...  and they will call him blessed" (Psalm 72).

This was the King of Israel, the mighty God, prince of peace, wonderful counsellor, Father forever, God with us. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Resurrection and the Life – He was even mocked and abandoned for calling Himself the Bread of Life!

Yet, He did not come down into a palace, but a lowly inn. He wasn’t born of a righteous King, but a virgin orphan girl who said “yes” to God in the simplest yet most spectacular and magnificent fashion.

On the day He chose to take our lowly human flesh, the whole of creation was quiet. Angels and demons as well as all created things on Heaven and on Earth were awaiting her answer: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). I can just picture Heaven (well, I can’t picture it) – I can imagine shouts of jubilation and dancing. Imagine Abraham and the righteous forefathers and the glee they knew would soon be theirs. I can imagine St. Michael rejoicing with the Angels – she who would “crush the head of the serpent” (Genesis 3:15) had said yes!!!

Thus, God was conceived. The Word – the very “light of our path and lamp unto our feet” (Psalm 109) has become… a baby.

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen (otherwise known as 3amou Fulty) tells us that “once He appeared, He struck history with such impact that He split it in two, dividing it into two periods: one before His coming, the other after it.”

A baby did all of this? God could have chosen any way to come down, but He became a baby? Yes. He did. He became a baby. He came down, took our flesh – our flesh that shall one day return to dust – in order that He may raise us up on the last day.

What other faith can claim that their God is this recklessly loving? This humble, this BEAUTIFUL?

See, when we look at nativity sets we generally think of a neat little room covered in hay and this beautifully built little wooden cradle. We imagine light either coming from the ceiling leading to the Godchild or light emanating from Him. We see Our Lady, all pretty and clean-looking, with the incredible St. Joseph looking on. Even the animals are glorified. This is all well and good if we’re talking Christmas decorations, because who would actually display the reality?

Jesus came to get messy. The room would have been full of poo. It would have stunk. The manger was a feeding trough – dirty and just as smelly as that tiny room. Our Lady had just come off a long journey with the man who was entrusted with her dignity as well as protecting the life of the Son of God. I definitely don’t claim to be a mystic, but I don’t think she would have been all white skinned and pretty after an ordeal like the one she had just gone through. They had knocked on every door in Bethlehem and been rejected. There had been "no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7).

St. Joseph went through the turmoil of not being able to find a place for his beloved bride to give birth to the Redeemer of the world, the long awaited Messiah. The Prince of Peace was about to become flesh and Joseph couldn’t even find a simple room for Him to lay. Eventually, they resorted to a little stable, the lowliest of places. God did not come to glorify things of the flesh. He did not want to come and give honour to temporal or earthly things.

We do the same thing to Our Lord every time we put sin ahead of our love for Him. Christ is knocking on the door of our hearts and we tell Him there is no room for Him there either. But, if only we knew the glory that will be ours should be accept our Emmanuel in the room of their hearts, we would no sooner give him everything, including our lives. We would live for Heaven alone.

How do we accept Him into our hearts? How do we reincarnate Him into our souls everyday in order to give Him honour?

Peter Kreeft tells us:

“If we speak Mary’s word, then the Word of God is born in our souls just as really as He was in Mary’s body and just as really as He is in the Eucharist. What happened in Bethlehem, what happens in our souls and what happens when we receive the Eucharist is the same event under three different modes… When you look at your Nativity set, at this most natural and ordinary thing in the word, a mother and a newborn baby, you are reading a pictorial newspaper headline that announces the most extraordinary event in the history… the Creator consented to come into His creature because she consented to have Him… Every time we consent to His perpetual proposal, every time we make an act of faith, and every time we receive the Eucharist, we redo Mary’s fiat and make Christmas happen.”

Our bodies, once a dirty stable, smelly and unworthy, are infinitely more honoured than that little stable we have seen for generations since, once we consume He who was born in a feeding trough. He signified the most humble of all His endeavours by coming into the world and laying in a manger, so that every time we consume the Eucharist, our body, once a little inn, becomes His palace. 

One day, when we reach our Heavenly destiny, we can, in imitation of the humility of Christ and His Blessed Mother, also attribute all our good gifts to God the same way Our Lady did: “my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour… for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” (Luke 1:46-49)

Welid el Masi7! Halleluia!

Reflections on the Feast of Christ the King...

I know, I’m Maronite. In my rite, today is not the Feast of Christ the King. However, beautiful weather dictates I sit by my pool and work on my tan. This meant early morning Roman rite mass. But, before I apply my tanning oil, I’m in my office writing this.

Reason being? Well, I felt inspired.

First I’ll tell you where the feast came from, then I’ll tell you why I was shocked in the best-kinda-Catholic-way when I heard the gospel reading.

Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in his 1925 encyclical letter Quas Primas. The title of the feast was "D. N. Jesu Christi Regis" (Our Lord Jesus Christ the King). Pope Paul VI gave the celebration a new title: "D. N. Iesu Christi universorum Regis" (Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe). He also gave it a new date: the last Sunday in the liturgical year, before a new year begins with the First Sunday in Advent and assigned to it the highest rank, that of "Solemnity".

Why did Pius XI institute this feast? He wanted it to impact the laity.
"… If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God." ?

- Quas Primas (Pius XI)

He rules our minds, our wills, our hearts, our bodies. He is Christ the King. So what was the gospel reading today?

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 

- Matthew 25:41-45

I love the Church. He is the King, but on the feast that commemorates His kingship, when we’re meant to reflect on Him reigning our hearts, wills, minds and bodies, we speak of him as a vulnerable servant. WEIRD…

Contrary to what the world thinks, His being a servant is what makes Him the ultimate King. 

Why? Christ did not come to glorify the flesh but the spirit. He did not live a life of riches, but because of this – because, and not in spite of it – His life was one of distinction. What did the world see? His palace was an inn, later a simple home in Nazareth. His birth was celebrated only by shepherds and animals. He was born in the feeding trough of donkeys and sheep. His Mother was a young girl of no notable birth. He didn’t dine with royalty, but tax collectors. His own people hated Him. His crown? Thorns. His vestments? Sackcloth. The only scarlet cloak He wore was given to Him in mockery then savagely torn from Him in His passion. His followers were mere fishermen and merchants, and yet even they betrayed him.

What does Heaven see? His palace is in the hearts of those who love Him. His birth was celebrated by shepherds and animals, as well as all the hosts of Heaven. It was foretold for thousands of years by the prophets. The angels sang endless chants of “Hallelujah!” This was the long awaited Messiah. He was born in the feeding trough of donkeys and sheep, to foretell His new temple: our feeding trough, the tabernacle. His Queen Mother was a virgin, born without sin – God’s greatest creation. He dined and came for those who needed to be saved. He came to call sinners! And for these sinners, he wore a crown of thorns and endured hatred, and eventually His passion. The world could not take away His kingship, because Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. "My kingdom is not of this world… but now my kingdom is from another place" (John 18:36).

His kingdom is not temporal. It is spiritual. His Kingdom cannot be overcome by its enemies, the enemies of love. Christ’s kingdom is in our hearts. We see his spiritual Kingdom in the hearts of those around us, and know that we reflect a microcosm of Heaven in the Church, made up of us – living stones.

THIS IS THE TRUE KINGDOM.

God: the not-so-cruel comedian…

God doesn’t just laugh at your plans, He discards them.

We tell God our plans, our deepest desires and deepest dreams. We share our disappointments and sorrows and ask Him – “why?” We cry and call out desperately to a God who we think forgets us. Psalm 63 expresses our feelings of abandonment: “my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.” We think He is distant, that He wants us to realise our own strength.

How wrong we are.

We are being stalked by the love of God. When we read in Psalms 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,” what we are actually reading is “God is hunting us down to give us His gifts, and not because we deserve them!” Following is a subtle, submissive action, but the Hebrew word King David used for ‘follow’ here is the same word as ‘stalk,’ or ‘hunt down.’ Nothing subtle about it!

God is love. He is who made our hearts and who our hearts were made for. He is everything we need. God loves us so much He couldn’t stand to just be an observer of our lives. God doesn’t sit back! He walked with Adam. He talked with Moses. He became a man, to share our humanity and give us His divinity. He suffered that we may understand just how much He loved us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” What this is actually saying is “God loved the world *like so*.” It is not simply a declaration of how much He loved us, but more HOW He loved us.

Then, He left the Earth and wasn’t content to simply be a God who was among us when He was incarnated. He is now within us. Every time we consume Him in the Eucharist, His adorable blood pulses through our veins. Does that scare you a little? Good. God likes to get personal, especially when we don’t deserve it.

We read in Stephen Chbosky’s ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ that “we accept the love we think we deserve.” Yes. Yes, we do. This is the exact reason why God disregards our plans. We accept the love we think we deserve, but He knows what we deserve. He laughs at our dreams for ourselves and says ‘is that it? Just wait – wait and see what I have planned for you!’ His plans are unimaginable, inexplicable. They make our wildest human reveries look like fairy tales written by Ebenezer Scrooge.

Why? Because only He that made you knows you and knows your value. He knows what will make you happy, if only you put your life in His hands and allow Him to show you the way: and more than that, to have the courage to do what He wants, not what will merely keep you in your comfort zone.

We are not ‘stuck’ where we are at the moment. We are not here by coincidence or as a part of some cruel divine comedy God designed for His own entertainment. Our situation now is meant to prepare us for the place God wants to bring us into tomorrow. Trusting His plan is not contingent on understanding it!

See, as impatient as we are, God’s timing is not ours. He doesn’t operate on our schedule or when His plans suit us. His way is infinitely greater. He is never too early and never too late.

Maybe some of you can relate to this: I know sometimes in my life, I give God my struggles. I tell Him I want to trust Him, and to accept that I’m trying. I tell Him that at least for now, trying to trust him completely has to be enough until I can let go. Not long after this (often dramatic) resolution and promise, I get impatient. I tell God He’s too slow. He isn’t fixing it the way I want Him to. *He* isn’t enough. I snatch back my baggage only to hand it back not long after, when I realise how weak I am. On my own I am powerless, because I don’t rely on the grace from He whose “power is made perfect in weakness.” Then I pray for perseverance and the cycle starts over. Soon comes discouragement.

I’m learning - let go, let God. How can he fix me if I never relinquish control???

I am trying, as we all are. For encouragement, allow me to channel JPII: “you are not who they say you are, let me remind you who you are.”

We are children of the King, the ultimate Father who denies His children no good gift. Our King is not moved by the world. He walks with us. He knows our every step and, as we walk, He lays down the gifts of grace along our path. Have no fear, we are His. Maybe one day, in Heaven, we will join with St. Augustine in telling Our Lord: “You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me… I burned for your peace.”

Yahweh promised His bride Israel, as Jesus promised His Bride, the Church (us!): “… I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” We spoke of Psalm 63 putting into words how neglected we often feel. The psalmist later reassures us in the same stanza: “you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

If that’s not enough, nothing will ever be. 

... Jesus, I (want to!) trust in you.

The pressure to die, and why we want to institutionalise it…

I’ve read a few articles the past couple weeks about the death of Brittany Maynard, who took her own life in order to escape her suffering. She had terminal brain cancer.

Let me start off by saying I pray God has mercy on her through the merits of His son, who loved Brittany so much he died for her. I pray we meet one day in the land of no pain and no goodbyes.

Some of these articles have been great, some have missed the point, and others have been so far off they have condoned her ‘taking control of her own life.’ How does one take control of something that they completely give up on?

Taking control of your life is about MASTERING, not escaping suffering. Far be it from whiney-old-me to judge how much pain she’s in (I get a headache and demand all but morphine cos I’m ‘dying’), but I don’t see what is glorious about condoning one euthanising themselves and escaping an opportunity to show the world just *how precious* life is. I am not judging her, for all I know she was in so much pain that she wasn’t thinking straight. This post isn’t about judging her, it is about condemning the ideology that if one wants to kill themselves, we should allow and even legalise it.

Yes, it’s easier to say these things from where I’m sitting, an over-cynical, conservative keyboard warrior, but let’s look at euthanasia objectively.

Forget the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God and our lives are a gift. Forget that suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to us (I won’t mention that I once heard it said that “suffering for God is the only joy Heaven does not have.”) Forget that suffering is salvific, forget – for goodness’ sake, if we must – that Jesus Christ Himself suffered unimaginably, an innocent man, in order to show us how to suffer and to show us that when we struggle, He is there with us. Please, let’s not bring up that out of that suffering, out of the greatest act of Evil ever committed, came our salvation – the greatest good.

Forget all the “God stuff.” It’s great, but I don’t think it is essential to the euthanasia debate. I believe all moral issues can be argued simply using logic. In other words, you don’t have to be a Christian to believe euthanasia is wrong.

We’ve decided to forget the “God stuff” here. If I may, let’s forget the ‘slippery slope’ too. Let’s forget that in countries where euthanasia has been legalised there is a push for children as young as 8 or 12 to decide whether they want to live or die. Seems like a decision a pre-pubescent only-just-reached-the-age-of-reason child can make, right? Let’s not mention that where the euthanasia movement is strong, there has been a greater push for eugenics, where *we* decide what kind of people should live or die or even be conceived in the first place.

Let’s talk about what euthanasia is not: euthanasia is not compassion; it is a way for us to tell people they are a burden. They are no longer ‘powerful,’ as the euthanasia advocates wish to have us believe, they are useless and weak. They are ‘dragging us all down with them.’ Euthanasia is an attack on the vulnerable, plain and simple. Healthy ‘strong’ people are not at risk, only the most needy, fragile and defenceless are. Those that need protection and nurturing will simply be told “if you want, you don’t have to do this anymore.” Then, we are bombarded by statistics about how much money we would save if we didn’t have to look after the disabled or the elderly. What a sad world we live in. Even the Neanderthals had enough humanity in them to care for people and not simply leave them behind when we decide they are too burdensome.

A poll taken in the Netherlands in 2010 found that almost all of those living in nursing homes opposed euthanasia. Is this a shock? It shouldn’t be. They have a lot to fear. What’s to stop a frustrated relative or nurse convincing somebody they consider so burdensome they have the audacity to *live* they are no longer needed? What is to stop one of these victims submitting in what is nothing but a moment of weakness? Further, in countries where it has been legalised, countless cases of euthanasia occurring without the consent or request of patients should be enough evidence that this is a force for evil.

Why should somebody be forced to justify their own existence, especially at the most vulnerable time of their life? Rather than looking after one another, we are feigning compassion by telling people their life is no longer worth living.

C. Everett Koop, former surgeon general of the United States, brings up another point of note:  “It is very easy to slip into moral deception in a discussion of euthanasia… Euthanasia opens up the opportunities at this early stage of the game for almost inconceivable fraud, deception, and deceit. Think of the burdensome elderly people, economically burdensome, whose rapid demise could be looked upon as an economic blessing for their family. Think of the temptation to hasten a legacy. Think of how easy, when there are ulterior motives, to emphasize the surcease from suffering and anxiety that comes with painless death.”

People speak of a ‘right to die,’ but what about the ‘right not to be pressured to die?’ What about the right not to have it suggested to you that we would all be better off, that life would be easier without you? The "right to die" becomes an expectation to die, then a duty to die, then euthanasia - outright murder. Legalising euthanasia results in institutionalising the idea that a person’s existence has pros and cons. The will to live is human; it is a sign of that divine spark in all of us that makes us fight for good, for progress. To annihilate that would be catastrophic in more ways than we can imagine.

Who knows though? Maybe Brittany’s decision will spark a debate. Maybe the good that’ll come out of this evil is that people will talk about the issue enough to realise that life is always worth living.

I had to refrain from mentioning that to know 

of your impending death is a gift. 

One can only pray for the opportunity to die in a state of grace.