Question and Answer with Fr Job:
Question: May I ask God for a speedy death, if things are very bad (sickness, circumstances of life) and there’s no solution?
Answer: Man should not ask for death. God alone determines the span of one’s life, and desires salvation for all and knows exactly when someone’s earthly life should end. Holy Scripture teaches us to bear patiently, in a Christian manner, life’s difficulties and illnesses. In this is the perfection of faith. According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, in the furnace of sickness and affliction, if they are born in a Christian manner, uncleanness is burned up, just like fire is cleaned in the flame. The holy Apostle James calls us to fortify ourselves in example of the righteous: Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord: that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy (James 5: 10-11).
I would guess it is fair to assume that one cannot pray for God to take a family member then - like one who suffers from Alzheimer's - if one cannot pray for one's own speedy death?
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to live according to God's will.