Antonio María Domenech Guillén, a priest of the Spanish diocese of Cuenca, offered a message regarding hope in God and his mercy, following the suicide of a wealthy executive in New York.
As reported CNNat noon on Friday, September 2, Gustavo Arnal, 52, committed suicide by launching himself from the 18th floor of his apartment, located in a luxurious 57-story building in the Tribeca neighborhood.
Arnal was financial director of the company Bed Bath & Beyond, who expressed their condolences for the unexpected death, which the wife of the executive witnessed, according to the police.
Bed Bath & Beyond is currently going through a severe crisis, for which it will lay off 20% of its workers and close 150 stores. The company recently raised $500 million to deal with its financial problems.
A lawsuit was filed on August 23 in which Arnal and other shareholders were accused of inflating the company’s share price.
Hope in god
“Gustavo’s suicide is one more in the endless list of people who lose hope and don’t know how to recover it,” said Fr. Domenech in statements to ACI Prensa on September 5.
After commenting in recent weeks that he has had to preside over the funeral of three acquaintances of his friends who committed suicide, the priest said that “at the level of the encounter with God I understand, as the Cure of Ars said, that ‘between the bridge and the river ‘ the space of God’s Mercy is infinite. This is how he answered the wife of a man who had thrown himself down a bridge”.
“After having been on the front line in 17 suicide attempts, I feel that in three I did not arrive on time, but that the Lord has given me the grace to prevent the others from dying,” he continued.
The priest then said that in this type of situation it is important to take into account the need to “be close to your friends and show enough confidence so that they know you are there, to have a word of supernatural hope for whoever asks you.”
“Much of many people may depend on you. Let us not be afraid to help or to be helped. And if you need something, tell someone close, don’t get overwhelmed, ”she assured.
“God loves you,” he concluded.
