MAYNOOTH COLLEGE REFLECTS ON FACING LIFE’S END

Perspectives on Dying and Death

Edited by Jeremy Corley, Aoife McGrath, Neil Xavier O’Donoghue & Salvador Ryan £12.95 www.messenger .ie

This is a twentyessay volume on dying and death, written with great tenderness, clarity and compassion, along with deep pastoral and theological insight.

It revolves around four practical sections: facing with care; facing goodbye; facing challenging questions; and facing suffering with hope. The contributors all have experience in palliative care, healthcare chaplaincy, philosophy, theology, and pastoral care. They bring their rich experience together, knitting a rich pattern that enlivens and enlightens the significant issues surrounding death and dying.

I remember an undertaker once reminding me that an anagram of “funeral” was “real fun”, and this comes to life vividly in the chapter on the “wake”, tinged with gentle humour. There’s a beautiful humanity in the piece, which sets a delightful tone on the whole project. This contrasts with the delicate dealing of a stillborn or perinatal baby death, and the trauma involved for parents and staff alike.

This is a rich mine from many perspectives. The dignity and beauty of death is highlighted, as well as the profound mystery surrounding the death of each individual human person. It is a timely volume in our age which so often shuns the ultimate topic none of us can avoid.

Maynooth staff are to be congratulated on this excellent kaleidoscope, bringing light and hope to the process of dying and death.