Rest in Peace

Terri Schiavo has died.
The sky is blue. The butterflies are migrating past my window in streams.
A friend of mine wrote, saying that he thinks this will ultimately prove more significant than a thousand 9/11s.
I remembered a line from the generally forgettable movie Elizabeth, in which Geoffery Rush orders the execution of a lecherous Catholic noble. The noble spits out something like, “I’ll be hailed as a martyr. The people will remember me.” “No,” replies Rush coolly, “they will forget.”
I don’t know what will happen here. My heart is heavy. I wonder if someone will open her cause. I wonder if someone will attribute a miracle to her.
Lord have mercy.

Comments

  1. AnotherCoward says

    Perhaps I’m doing what I should not and conceding defeat on the political front. It seems to me that everything that could be done was done.

    Our Church needs to step up catechesis on the sanctity of life, the call to nurture and suffer with the sick, and understanding what are and are not extreme measures.

    But another piece of the American Heart has turned to stone in this I think. I see it in too many people, and certainly the media did very little to show compassion for Terri’s life as much as they did for her death.

  2. I don't know… I'd be interested to hear what people think now, years later, about Terri Schiavo. I think there is a danger in relying on technology to keep people alive, if we are going to protect life, that doesn't necessarily mean keeping people plugged into machines… or maybe it does?

  3. I guess what I am wondering is, if we disagree with allowing medical technology and its ability to support life outside of the womb to determine when life begins, why are we comfortable with allowing medical technology to decide when it ends?

  4. Matthew Lickona says

    Hi Laura,
    You're absolutely right that there are all sorts of distinctions to be made here. Let me get back to you on this. Happy Easter!

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