Suicide and the Communion of Saints

Content warning: discussion of suicide

Rhonda Mawhood Lee is a priest, spiritual director, and daughter whose mother died by suicide. She knows about complicated grief. Having grown up in a family haunted by self-inflicted death for multiple generations, Rhonda has asked and re-asked the questions for which there are no easy answers. With clarity and candor, she reflects on the unintended consequences of many traditional Christian teachings around suicide. In search of a better way, Lee turns to the communion of saints—a theologically rich concept that Christians can draw on to reframe their relationships with people who have died by suicide, and with those who are at risk of ending their own lives.