Dear Marcella:

I praise God that you did not kill yourself. You are a valuable person in the eyes of God. He will bless you.

You are mistaken, however about God and "chances." God gives everyone Tens of Thousands of chances to avoid hell. God, in his love and mercy, gives people so many chances to accept Him and be in His friendship that there is really no excuse for anyone going to hell.  But, there will be people going to hell because they either ignore or refuse the chances that God gives them.

God will not force us to do anything. He gives us the chances to be with Him and to live a good life, but we must accept that grace; God does not force it.

Therefore, we must accept the responsibility for the consequences of our actions. If we attempt suicide, the consequence may be that we are successful in that attempt and die.

Those who do kill themselves, however, are not necessarily going hell.

The Church teaches that if a person's mental state is impaired at the time they commit a grave sin then this "diminished capacity" may indicate that the person is not responsible for their actions. If indeed a person is in a mental state that he cannot make a genuine voluntary and free decision of will, then he may not be culpable for the sin he commits.

Paragraph 1860 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.

Those who kill themselves fall under the sentence highlighted in red.

Hell is a choice that is made without any impairments. Those who commit suicide are mentally impaired. The fact that they wish to kill themselves proves that.

Thus, while the Church affirms that suicide is a objective grave sin, she also affirms that those who find themselves wanting to kill themselves are not in the mental state necessary to make a proper decision. Thus, they are most likely not responsible for their actions.

Only God knows for sure where the lines are drawn between full culpability and an impaired state that reduces culpability. But, we do know that God is perfectly loving, merciful, and just. No one goes to hell unjustly. No one trips into hell. No one goes to hell by mistake. No one goes to hell if they are not responsible for their actions in some way.

With this said, do not presume that one can kill himself and go to heaven. Such presumption is yet another sin. Heaven is possible for a suicide only if he is in a mental state of diminished capacity and thus cannot truly make a voluntary and free decision to kill himself. Only God knows for sure if that is the case.

Thus, one better not risk his soul. He may lose.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary