Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and this is the Central Presents.

Today's topic is really, is actually incredibly serious.

I want to talk about the question of like what happens when someone takes their own life?

Like what is it that the church teaches about those who commit suicide?

Is it their loss to God forever? Is it automatically go to hell?

What is it? And the thing is I really want to be sensitive to this question because I imagine in this day and age

there probably isn't one person who was watching this who hasn't been touched by either the temptation to commit suicide

has maybe even tried themselves or knows someone who has committed suicide.

I mean it's almost all of us are affected by this.

So what does the church teach with regard to suicide?

Well the first thing is that in the beginning of the day, middle of the day, end of the day

our lives are not our own, right? That we belong to another.

Whether you believe in God or not, I mean there is a creator, he exists.

And so our lives are not merely our lives that were responsible to another.

The answer to another, because of that my life is not my own and is not mine to take.

And that's kind of at the end of the day, that's it.

And so I may not take an innocent human life, whether that be someone else's innocent human life or my own innocent human life.

And so Scripture and the church teach that taking your own life, one's own life, is a grave sin.

So here's the thing about a grave sin.

If I know some things are grave sin and I've really choose to do it anyways, and I die in that state,

then that's separation from God, right? That's what we call hell.

I don't want him, I don't want his will, I don't want to belong to him and so I've turned away from him.

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