Maynooth College Reflects on Facing Life’s End: Perspectives on Dying and Death

This volume of essays adopts a multi-faceted approach to questions surrounding dying and death. It features contributions from those working within the areas of palliative care, healthcare chaplaincy, philosophy, and theology. Among the topics covered are: the transformative power of palliative care; spiritual care at the end of life; a philosophical perspective on dying, death, and dignity; prudential judgment in end-of-life decision making; perinatal death; compassionate accompaniment of the bereaved; honoring the sacred story of the dying; reflecting on the Order of Christian Funerals; scriptural perspectives on mortality; the significance of music in the funeral liturgy; how the afterlife has been imagined within the Christian tradition; and the ‘liturgy’ of the Irish Wake.

With questions for further discussion and reflection at the end of each chapter, all who wish to think more deeply about issues surrounding dying, death, and the care of the terminally ill, will find this collection timely and thought-provoking.