Having read and understood the history of communist Europe, the idea that the State should have universal power or near universal power to regulate or administer health care is an idea contrary to the dignity of the human person - not because there is something inherently wrong with the State but because there is something "inherently" wrong with the human person. Concupiscence is what they call it in Theology class - it is the idea that original sin has left the human person inclined to evil. Only the practice of virtue and the humble submission to divine aid will allow one to overcome this threat. If a government filled with individuals believing the State to be above God (democrat or republican - it does not matter) is in power it will surely be subject to the very real consequences of concupiscence. The result has been, as in Europe, that policies and programs when implemented are writhed to fit the standards of some statesmen, bureaucrat, tyrant, or demagogue.
Nevertheless, inasmuch as we can battle against the threat of government regulated/imposed health care and fight to find ways to provide basic health care to all, we must ask a deeper question as Catholics. The question touches on principles that form the foundation for sound belief in God, but it also is a principle that can be understood with pure reason. Is it more important to take care of our bodies than our souls? Is the body more important than the soul?
What does it mean for Christ to say, "...do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna"? Who, or what, can kill the body? Besides the threat of murderers, our present discussion leaves us to recognize the threat of disease and catastrophe which are capable of killing our body. Is this the fear that drives the health care debate of our age? Is it, "Who will protect us from disease and catastrophe?" Or, "Who will save our bodies from cancer or colds or the swine flu?" Perhaps Christ with his words is reminding us how limited is our vision of life that we fear the things that can kill our bodies but not the things that can destroy our souls.
The reason, perhaps, that the health care debate is so overblown and emotional is because we have been convinced of the possibility that doctors, hospitals, and now governments, have the hidden potential to protect us from our greatest fear: that which can kill our body. Both our religious faith and our reason teach us quite the opposite. Your body will perish. No human being or government system or private insurance company can save you from death.
This is not to say of course that we should abandon health care or doctors. But it is to place the debate into a more Catholic context: we ought to fear the things that can kill our soul more than those things which can kill our bodies. We ought to be more aware of our spiritual health than our bodily health. Even the healthiest man, if overcome with sin, will lose both his body and his soul in hell (Gehenna). But even the sickliest man, if ennobled by virtue and the humble submission to the grace of the sacrament of Confession, will find life eternal for his soul and his body.
Nevertheless, inasmuch as we can battle against the threat of government regulated/imposed health care and fight to find ways to provide basic health care to all, we must ask a deeper question as Catholics. The question touches on principles that form the foundation for sound belief in God, but it also is a principle that can be understood with pure reason. Is it more important to take care of our bodies than our souls? Is the body more important than the soul?
What does it mean for Christ to say, "...do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna"? Who, or what, can kill the body? Besides the threat of murderers, our present discussion leaves us to recognize the threat of disease and catastrophe which are capable of killing our body. Is this the fear that drives the health care debate of our age? Is it, "Who will protect us from disease and catastrophe?" Or, "Who will save our bodies from cancer or colds or the swine flu?" Perhaps Christ with his words is reminding us how limited is our vision of life that we fear the things that can kill our bodies but not the things that can destroy our souls.
The reason, perhaps, that the health care debate is so overblown and emotional is because we have been convinced of the possibility that doctors, hospitals, and now governments, have the hidden potential to protect us from our greatest fear: that which can kill our body. Both our religious faith and our reason teach us quite the opposite. Your body will perish. No human being or government system or private insurance company can save you from death.
This is not to say of course that we should abandon health care or doctors. But it is to place the debate into a more Catholic context: we ought to fear the things that can kill our soul more than those things which can kill our bodies. We ought to be more aware of our spiritual health than our bodily health. Even the healthiest man, if overcome with sin, will lose both his body and his soul in hell (Gehenna). But even the sickliest man, if ennobled by virtue and the humble submission to the grace of the sacrament of Confession, will find life eternal for his soul and his body.
We have to abandon our health to the care of Divine Providence. This may sound all heady and ethereal and not at all practical or desirable. Isn't it true, however, that when we lose a loved one to a disease or catastrophe that that loved one still lives? Don't we believe in heaven and hell? Are we not Christians who believe in a risen Christ? Is "health" worthy of extraordinary expenditures of time, money, or worry?
I can think of three examples from our Catholic heritage that may encourage us on this issue. The first is from the book of Kings in the Old Testament, when Solomon asks the Lord for Wisdom and understanding (things which ennoble the soul) and not for a long life (health). God was pleased that he prayed for such a thing because God is concerned with our spiritual perfection as well as our bodily health. But the loss of bodily perfection - health - whatever its causes, are not to be feared or remedied without restraint. Yet the soul, that part of us which is often left to "die" - is to be nurtured, healed, and protected. Solomon knew this and when faced with the task of leading Israel he desired a noble soul rather than physical health.
The second example is from St. Theresa of Avila in her Way of Perfection. St Theresa warns her fellow nuns about overemphasizing the pains of the body, saying "for if once the devil begins to frighten us about losing our health, we shall never get anywhere." Her discourse on the subject goes on - but this quote can serve as our principle. We should not fear losing our health! How counter-cultural is the Christian life!
Lastly, in an old Christian document known as the letter to Diognetus, written around 100 AD, we can read the following description of Christians given by the author. Does this description of the Christian life sound like the way we view our lives today? Does it impel us to reconsider how we understand our bodily health and the importance of the things of heaven?
From the letter:
"...and yet there is something extraordinary about [Christians'] lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of [foreigners]. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children...They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven."
Let us pray that we renew our commitment to our homeland - our Patria - our heavenly home. We ought to focus on the care of our souls and limit the emphasis we place on our health in this world.
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