Maynooth College Reflects on Facing Life's End

Jeremy Corley, Aoife McGrath, Neil-Xavier O’Donoghue, and Salvador Ryan are faculty members at Maynooth Pontifical University.

Foreword - Archbishop Dermot Farrell ........ 9



Introduction - Jeremy Corley, Aoife McGrath, Neil Xavier O’Donoghue and Salvador Ryan ................. 13



One: Facing with Care



1. Spiritual Care at End of Life –



Lessons from the Bedside - April MacNeill ....................... 25



2. An Approach to the Challenge



of Dying and Death - Brendan Corkery .................... 35



3. The Power of Story in



Accompanying People towards the End of Life - Anne Francis .......................... 47



4. Love in the Pastoral and



Professional Care of the Dying - Chris Hayden ......................... 58



5. Facing Life’s End:



Th e Transformative Power of Palliative Care - Sinéad Donnelly ..................... 67



6. Th e Art of Dying Well - Michael Shortall ..................... 77



Two: Facing Goodbye



7. Memento Mori: Reflecting on the Music of My Own Death - Salvador Ryan ........................ 87



8. Tea, Scones and Stories –the Liturgy of an Irish Wake - Bairbre Cahill ......................... 98



9. What Happens when We Die?



Reflections on the Order of Christian Funerals - Liam M. Tracey OSM .......... 107



10. Children and Death - John-Paul Sheridan .............. 116



Three: Facing Challenging Questions



11. Scriptural Perspectives on Our Mortality - Jeremy Corley ........................ 129



12. Perinatal Death: Complex and



Nuanced Life, Love and Loss - Daniel Nuzum ..................... 140



13. The Role of Prudential



Judgements in End-of-Life Decision-Making - Pádraig Corkery .................... 150



14. Death, Dying and Dignity:



A Philosophical Perspective - Gaven Kerr .......................... 161



15. Being’s Mystery: On Not



Belonging to Ourselves Philip - John Paul Gonzales .... 170



Four: Facing Suffering with Hope



16. Raising the Victim of the Good Samaritan Parable:



A Scriptural Reflection - Luke Macnamara OSB ......... 179



17. The Sacrament of the Sick and



Its Role in a Christian’s Sickness - Neil Xavier O’Donoghue ....... 190



18. ‘Go Forth, Christian Soul, from this World’: A Theological



Commentary on the Proficiscere - Andrew Meszaros ................. 200



19. From Death to Eternal Happiness - Thomas G. Casey SJ ............... 213



20. Facing Life’s End: The Life of the World to Come - Declan Marmion SM ............ 223



Frequently Cited Sources ............................................................ 235



List of Contributors .................................................................... 237



Select Index ................................................................................. 239