Gulf Pine Catholic

6 Gulf Pine Catholic • January 6, 2023 POSITION AVAILABLE PRINCIPAL St. Patrick Catholic High School 18300 St. Patrick Rd. Biloxi, MS 39532 Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, MS Six Hundred (600) plus Students Minimum Qualifications: • Practicing Catholic • Active Parish Life • 5 years’ experience in School Administration and/or Teaching • Master’s Degree in Administration/Supervision or Ability to Obtain Certification • Current Teaching Certificate/License • Effective Administration & Leadership Skills • Strong Interpersonal & Communication Relations Skills DEADLINE FEBRUARY 14, 2023 Access the application from the Diocese of Biloxi website at www.biloxidiocese.org . Send application, resume/vitae, current teaching certificate, and three letters of reference. One of the letters of reference must be from your pastor. Send electronically to: Attn: Dr. Mike Ladner Interim Superintendent Catholic Diocese of Biloxi 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 gladner@biloxidiocese.org Making Sense of Bioethics Fr. Pacholczyk Did I make the right choices as Dad was dying? Pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood, to the diaconate, and to the religious life, especially in the Diocese of Biloxi Sometimes people will contact the National Catho- lic Bioethics Center ( NCBC ) wondering if the decisions they made on behalf of a dying family member were the right ones. The NCBC provides a free Ethics Consulta- tion Service where individuals can ask questions and seek guidance about ethics and medical decisions. Some who call are interested in reviewing the de- tails of how a loved one died, along with the advice they were given by doctors, nurses, hospice workers, family members and friends. While their loved one may have died months or even years earlier, they may still be unsure or unsettled about the treatment decisions they made. End of life situations are not easy to sort out. Impor- tant practical details and medical facts may no longer be available or may have been forgotten with the pas- sage of time. Sometimes family members may have dis- agreed with each other or were feuding about how best to proceed, or may not have wanted to seek out expert advice or guidance, so the decisions they made might have been hasty or under duress. A friend once spoke to me about a young man who had shared with her some details about his father’s death. He told her that as he looked back on it, he had doubts that he had made the right decisions as his dad became more debilitated. He felt he had failed his dad because of the limited kinds of care he ended up autho- rizing on his behalf. My friend sought to reassure him that he really shouldn’t be troubled about it, because she couldn’t imagine that he would have done anything but his best under the circumstances, and so his dad likely had received very good care. When she recounted the story to me, I asked, “But how would you actually know that his dad received good care and that the son really did make the right choices? Objectively speaking, the son may be right that some of the decisions were poorly made or self- ish or otherwise flawed.” I asked her whether her first instinct may have been to try to soothe his feelings and emotions, rather than considering the specific medical and ethical concerns he was raising. I continued and offered: Maybe he really does need to discuss the facts of the case as best he remembers them. Perhaps he might benefit from bringing some of his concerns to the Sacrament of Confession. Assuming his concerns have some basis, even while acknowledg- ing the uncertainties in his own decision making, such a step would help him find needed healing. By turning to the infinite mercy of God, and “clearing the decks” with the Lord in this manner, he would be strengthened to move forward in a new way with- out continually having to look over his shoulder and wonder endlessly about whether he did right by his dad. Finding a sense of peace and resolution in this way is important, and his father, now long deceased, would, we could presume, want to see that kind of healing for his son as well. My friend was intrigued by my comments and acknowledged that her first inclination had been to try to palliate and calm the situation by mostly talking around the issues and concerns he had raised. On further reflec- tion, she could see the value of dealing more directly with those concerns so he could find a real measure of closure. Dying well, of course, is a profound grace, not only for the person who passes on, but for all who are left behind. To die well does not imply that we have to use every medical treatment that may be available. We are required only to use those medical treatments or proce- dures that are deemed reasonable or “ordinary.” In other words, we should avail ourselves of those treatments that offer us more benefits than burdens. It can be challenging to find useful and reliable sources of information to assist us as we try to make informed decisions about complex health care situ- ations that may arise as death approaches. I typically recommend these resources from the NCBC : (1) some of my writings on End of Life Decision-Making avail- able at Tiny.one/EOL- decisions, (2) a newly- released video, entitled The Gift of Dying Well , available at Vimeo.com/ bioethicsvideos, and (3) the NCBC’s Catholic Guide to End-of-Life De- cisions available at Tiny. one/NCBC-Guide. Our efforts to lovingly support our family mem- bers through the dying process and to make careful and morally correct deci- sions on their behalf as they decline in health are very important. Those committed efforts are signs of our de- sire to be faithful to the beautiful bonds of love connect- ing us to our dear ones and to the Lord of life. There- fore, we should never be afraid to seek counsel and to avail ourselves of the Church’s wisdom in these areas. Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctor- ate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadel- phia. See www.ncbcenter.org and www.fathertad.com .