Is desire for death sinful?

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If someone was suffering from a very painful disease, and was drawing close to death would it be a sin for that person to desire that death come sooner rather than later in order that their pain be alleviated? I am not talking about taking direct action to end their own life (ie euthanasia or suicide), but rather just hoping that God will call them home soon.

Another example. Would it be gravely sinful for someone who is unmarried, has no children, and is not dying but just fed up with the trials of this earthly life to desire that God allow them to die soon, so that they can be free from the pain of this life and be with Him forever (hopefully)? Again, I am not talking about in any way taking direct action to end one’s life.

Would either of these be considered the sin of despair or something else sinful?

Thanks.
 
Good question. To me, it wouldn’t seem to be a sin as you are really saying you want to go home to God. How could wishing to be with Him be sinful?
 
Many a Saints have desired this… though always with the thought that God’s Will be done… so with that in mind no it is not wrong in the way you desrcibe it… since God would bring death at His appointed time.
St. Faustina prayed for people suffering at the end of their lives and the were relieved of the pain and died soon after.
 
Nick said:
If someone was suffering from a very painful disease, and was drawing close to death would it be a sin for that person to desire that death come sooner rather than later in order that their pain be alleviated? I am not talking about taking direct action to end their own life (ie euthanasia or suicide), but rather just hoping that God will call them home soon.

Another example. Would it be gravely sinful for someone who is unmarried, has no children, and is not dying but just fed up with the trials of this earthly life to desire that God allow them to die soon, so that they can be free from the pain of this life and be with Him forever (hopefully)? Again, I am not talking about in any way taking direct action to end one’s life.

Would either of these be considered the sin of despair or something else sinful?

Thanks.
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Insofar as i know there is no desire that is inherently sinful even though you can desire inherently sinful things. the fact is desire and will are two different things for example one could desire(to want something) premarital sex but will(to act on a conscious level) to abstain.

The sin of despair, as i understand it, is to believe that one’s sin is so great that God could possibly forgive it. Comprende vu?
 
I do not consider life a gift from god; over the years, I have developed a complex that my life is not worth living. However, I am a thanatophobe. I usually combat this sentiment by reading and try to remain optimistic about the future.

I wonder if the reverse is true: is the desire for physical immortality sinful. For example, Ray Kurzweil plans to live forever.

money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/14/100008848/
Kurzweil, who’s always careful to acknowledge the possibility that everything could go haywire, says his outlook is about math, not religion. And he’s not planning to go anywhere until he bears witness to humankind’s ultimate destiny, even if it takes him forever.
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Note that by “forever” we mean “forever”: The man literally intends not to die. With an acute memory of his father’s early death, he’s been getting weekly blood tests and intravenous treatments. He also takes pills - lots of pills, more than 200 vitamins, antioxidants, and other supplements every day. It’s all part of his effort to “reprogram” his body chemistry and stop growing old. “I’ve slowed down aging to a crawl,” he claims. “By most measures my biological age is about 40, and I have some hormone and nutrient levels of a person in his 30s.”
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Tuesday night in Newport Beach, after his talk at the Innovation Forum, Kurzweil is having dinner at an upscale seafood restaurant with one of his true believers, Peter Diamandis. The 45-year-old Diamandis is best known as the creator of the X Prize, a $10 million bounty for the first privately built, manned rocket launched into space. (Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s team won in 2004.)
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He’s developing a new X Prize for a 100-mile-a-gallon car, and considering others in cancer research and, with Kurzweil’s help, AI. Diamandis says he buys completely into Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns and everything that it implies. “The Singularity, for anyone who stops and thinks about it, is completely obvious,” he says.
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Diamandis, who has an MD, has also been profoundly affected by Kurzweil’s 2004 book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever and has adopted Kurzweil’s dietary guidelines. Diamandis pulls out a plastic bag of supplement pills and explains he’s up to about 30 a day. Kurzweil reaches into his jacket for some of his own supplements. “His pills are bigger than my pills!” says Diamandis.
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Then, more seriously, he asks Kurzweil if he ever gets nosebleeds from the supplement regimen. Kurzweil doesn’t. “I think it might be the memory pills,” says Diamandis. The conversation morphs into a debate on why earthlings have been unable to detect extraterrestrial civilizations, because with the billions of star systems out there, surely the Law of Accelerating Returns must have taken root somewhere…
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Inego_de_Loyola said:
Insofar as i know there is no desire that is inherently sinful even though you can desire inherently sinful things. the fact is desire and will are two different things for example one could desire(to want something) premarital sex but will(to act on a conscious level) to abstain.

The sin of despair, as i understand it, is to believe that one’s sin is so great that God could possibly forgive it. Comprende vu?
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Je comprends

It seems here that the words “desire” and “temptation” would be interchangeable. Yes?
 
Nick said:
Je comprends

It seems here that the words “desire” and “temptation” would be interchangeable. Yes?
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Not necessarily, because you can also desire good things such as the conversion of a sinner, the cure for cancer or just a nice dinner. However in the example you provided, yes this desire is a temptation.
 
Nick said:
Do you think that this question and answer on the AAA forum changes your opinion on the matter? Michelle Arnold seems to be saying that it is not a okay to pray for the death of someone else, so I take that to mean that it is not okay to desire death for yourself as well. What do you think?

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=157040&highlight=pray
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No it doesn’t change my opinion because praying for it to come about is an act of will which in this case violates the fifth commandment. I agree that it would be a terrible thing to pray for the death of anyone.Pray instead for relief of their suffering, or for their healing, or for the grace to bear that suffering and unite it to Christs. If someone is already that close to death pray more for the state of their soul than for the state of mind and body. And also pray for the intercession of our lady of sorrows.
http://www.cukierski.net/OurLadyofSorrows2.jpg
Take comfort in that heaven is not blind to your pain.
(that goes double for you ribozyme.)
 
Hi,
Didnt Paul desire death? I forget where in scripture that is. Something to do with dying and going home to be with the Lord or staying and continuing his ministry:confused:

I believe he was torn about it. I would venture to say it is not a sin.
 
ALLFORHIM said:
Hi,
Didnt Paul desire death? I forget where in scripture that is. Something to do with dying and going home to be with the Lord or staying and continuing his ministry:confused:

I believe he was torn about it. I would venture to say it is not a sin.
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Phillipians 1:19-24
Yes, and I shall rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
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20] as it is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22] If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
23] I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
24] But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
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In times past it was common to pray for A speedy recovery or happy death for one who was seriously ill.
 
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