Issued also in French under title: Guide d'ethique de la sante.
Previously published under title: Health Care Ethics Guide.
Includes bibliograpical references and index.
Bibliography: pp. 104-111.
Contents: Acknowledgements -- Preamble -- Introduction -- The Communal Nature of Care -- Dignity of the Human Person -- Human Reproduction -- Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation -- Care of the Dying Person -- Research on Human Subjects -- Governance and Administration --Appendix I : A Framework for Ethical Discernment -- Appendix II : The Principle of Legitimate Cooperation -- Appendix III : Glossary of Terms -- Appendix IV: Selected Bibliography -- Index.
"As a way of responding to our new situation, the following materials are presented as a guide through a difficult time of decision, possibly one of the most difficult and painful decisions we may have to make in our entire life; the decision to remove a life support system. The material is offered, first, as a way to think through what we are doing. The following questions and discussions are offered as a way of examining our options, to clarify what we are doing, to help us get a sense of our responsibilities and our limits. Second, we offer a Family Prayer Service which can be used before the life support system is withdrawn." -- Intro., p. 3.
Contents: Introduction -- What Should I Do ? -- Conclusion -- The Family Prayer Service -- Readings.
"Illustrated and conceived by William Hart McNichols, SJ".
Contents: Foreword / Sr. Patrice Murphy -- Introduction -- Seeking and Longing for God -- Sickness: Darkness and Loneliness -- Persecution, Injustice, Oppression -- Sin and Suffering -- Forgiveness -- Love -- Healing and Hope -- Comfort and Strength -- Death -- Resurrection -- Prayer and Adoration -- Notes on the Drawings.
Author "is a Jesuit priest and Jungian psychotherapist. He holds advanced degrees in French literature, theology and psychology. In October of 1987 he was diagnosed with lymphoma and AIDS". -- back cover.
The author "has been holding the hands of the dying for years, and he knows how to help. Whether you are the one with diagnosis, or the one who is caring for the dying, this book will offer support, encouragement, and some helpful tips. From dealing with medical staff to talking with family and friends who are in denial, [this book] is an ideal companion for perhaps the most important journey of all". -- back cover.
Contents divided into three parts.
Contents: Introduction -- Defining a "good and blessed death" -- Meditating on the psalms -- Admitting that you know -- Releasing control -- Asking your questions -- Dealing with privacy -- Grasping the present tense -- Crying -- Saying "no" or "NO!" to heroic measures -- Partnering with physicians -- Putting choices into writing -- Living until dying -- Dealing with the physical changes -- Embracing God -- Expressing anger -- Forgiving -- Befriending your fears -- Deciding how you want to be remembered -- Reviewing your life -- Making room in your dying for some living -- Making Doxologies -- Making life easier for your survivors -- Making a valid will -- Giving it to them now ! -- Guarding the gate -- Offering hospitality -- Making visitors comfortable -- Ignoring the well-intentioned -- Dealing with strugglers -- Leaving an ethical will -- Composing your goodbyes -- Food for the journey -- Requesting and receiving the gifts of prayer -- Embracing the silences -- Accepting the mystery -- Telling your stories -- Holding on for special red-letter days -- Making room for humor --Clinging to hope -- Enjoying dessert -- Choosing the time to die -- Finishing the race -- Endnotes.
Author "is an adjunct professor in the doctoral program at Northern Baptist Seminary and has taught courses at Nazarene Theological Seminary. He is a public speaker who frequently leads workshops for hospice training events and pastoral leadership conference. He is the author of many books on bereavement." -- p. [222].
"[T]he debate about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is more a debate about competing and conflicting moral visions and values than anything else. This book tries to identify the main features of the visions and values shaping the debate, especially those upheld by the Catholic moral tradition.. .... The final chapter tries to 'walk the talk', as it were, by sketching a pastoral response to the euthanasia movement. It will identify the virtues, personal and corporate, which witness to the kind of moral and spiritual life we need to live if our arguments against euthanasia are to be credible". -- Intro.
Contents: Introduction -- The Debate -- Autonomy -- The Prohibition Against Killing -- Beneficence -- Pastoral Response -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Declaration on Euthanasia -- Notes.
"Allow me, as an agnostic Anglican, to congratulate the Rev. Lee Lambert on his heartfelt and beautifully written reflection ['Notes from a funeral', Oct. 2011, p. 6]. I once went to the funeral of the child of a friend, and the (Catholic) priest won my heart by quoting these words, 'We aren't here to explain this terrible tragedy or to ask God why. We're here because we don't know what else to do'. He too had the good sense to get out of the way". [Text of entire article.]