Q. My grandmother is in assisted living and has requested a DNR — do not resuscitate — order. Is it okay for a Catholic of advanced age to have a do not resuscitate order?

A.  This can be a difficult question and is quite general and brings forth the necessity to know your faith and understand and appreciate God’s gift of life to each person.

This question is definitely one that should be discussed with family and whoever will be in charge of details at the time of a person’s death.

Catholics are obliged to take care of themselves and do all that is necessary to maintain health and life for themselves and those in their charge and to do so until that life draws to its natural conclusion. Catholics are not obliged to use extraordinary means to maintain a life that God and nature has brought to its natural end.

There are many elderly people who need full or part-time assisted living arrangements. And there are many others who require the services of a skilled nursing facility.

If the Catholic you are talking about is a person of advanced age and lives in one of these arrangements and decides that if something should happen to them, like a heart attack for example, while in the particular facility and they do not wish to be resuscitated, then they are simply requesting to accept God’s will for their life.

This is a decision that should be arrived at with sincere personal reflection and honest discussion with family members. That apparently is the will of your grandmother.

If I were advising someone, I would say you have to go to the bitter end; however, Catholics are under no obligation to employ extraordinary means when the possibility of prolonging life is questionable even though these means are deemed to be useful and desirable. For the elderly, many times, that can certainly be the case.

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