Cornerstone 10-2-2011: Lesson 3 - The Life and Dignity of the Human Person

The Key Question:

What does it mean to be created in God’s image?

The Dignity of ManThe society that we live in today typically can’t agree on much, and perhaps by our seemingly constant infighting, one could say that the only thing we do agree on is the truth of our existence. We read in Genesis how we got here, but is that all we find there? Evolution aside, we were and are created, that much is clear in Sacred Scripture. Why we’re created, however, is sometimes a bit more of a mystery. The Church teaches that our inherent dignity, in itself our purpose, is not only from God, but a perfect recreation of His own image & likeness. Regardless of whether or not we notice His power and grace, He continues to bestow it upon us… all of us.

 CCC 1702 The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of persons, in the likeness of the unity of the divine persons among themselves.

Quite simply put, we are the spiritual “face” of God, in that we are given - by our very conception - purpose, love, and a place in His divine plan. The Catechism continues:

CCC 1703-1705 Endowed with "a spiritual and immortal" soul, the human person is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake." From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude. The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection "in seeking and loving what is true and good." By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image."

With Such Dignity We Have Great Responsibility
With the gifts of freedom, our will, and for the very sake of our being, we are then called to live up to a great responsibility. We’re given a tough task in seeing the dignity in every human being, but the Gospel compels us to live a life in the footsteps of Christ. Christ’s passion and death on the Cross is the ultimate example of service to our brother and the re-birth of the perfect human image.

CCC 1701 It is in Christ, "the image of the invisible God," that man has been created "in the image and likeness" of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God.

The graces of our creation and the gift of the cross call us to lead a life of reverence and respect for our friends, and our enemies. We are called to embrace everyone as Christ would embrace them. We are called to love one another as the Father has loved us by having created us. More simply, because the Father values every soul, so are we inclined to value everyone we meet… Even the folks we can’t stand sometimes.

Around the world, different societies have different ways of showing respect for one another interpersonally and among social groups. These ways of communicating are sometimes extravagant and sometimes very simple, but they point, on a deeper level, to the dignity inherent in us through our creation. When someone that we work or go to school with walks by and acknowledges us, in a way they’re saying that they regard our presence, and therefore affirm our existence as created beings. Likewise, when they don’t acknowledge us, they seem to downplay or outright deny that our existence is important.

We respect the dignity of our fellow man because he also is made in God’s ImageThe Church teaches social justice at the core of it’s ministerial and evangelical practices. We employ that in order to truly be an instrument of God’s wisdom and knowledge, you must first be an instrument of His kindness and charity. To practice God’s true justice in our daily lives we must regard all people with the same esteem and thoughtfulness that we would expect from them.

CCC 1929 Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. The person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him: What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt.

Any society - being the product of a group of people who share a particular group of morals or specific traits - must respect first that the individual is a product of creation. Societies must take the rights of individual people into account before they can be implement laws or even basic social norms.

CCC 1930 Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy.

Perhaps Christ’s most fundamental teaching, the love for a neighbor as self (Mk. 12:31), sums up both the beatitudes as the divine path, and Christ’s personal invitation to service as respect and love for Him. When we read of Christ assuming equality with us through the incarnation, and by His own words in calling us His brothers and sisters (Mt. 25:40), the weight of human dignity in every person cannot be denied.

CCC 1931-1932 Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that "everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as ‘another self,' above all bearing in mind his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity." No legislation could by itself do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitudes of pride and selfishness which obstruct the establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that finds in every man a "neighbor," a brother. The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged, in whatever area this may be. "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.

Despite our differences, we cannot deny the commonalities of our creation. Our common basic existence implores that we embrace our temporal differences. Those differences become the face of our humanity when we share them with one another. If we are truly being Christ to one another, that sharing pours forth as love.

CCC 1933 This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us. The teaching of Christ goes so far as to require the forgiveness of offenses. He extends the commandment of love, which is that of the New Law, to all enemies. Liberation in the spirit of the Gospel is incompatible with hatred of one's enemy as a person, but not with hatred of the evil that he does as an enemy.

Additional scriptures identifying human dignity: Genesis 3:18-24, Sirach 15:14-20, Matthew 25:34-40, Romans 8:16-21, 2 Corinthians 4:6-12, Colossians 1:9-14, 2 Peter 1: 4-11

Questions:

1. What is dignity?
2. How does the Church know that all people have the same dignity?
3. Can you think of people who are not treated with the respect they deserve? Can you name some reasons that they’re treated differently than everyone else?
4. Are you always treated with the dignity and respect that you deserve? Yes or no, how does that make you feel?
5. Are there people in your school who are not treated with equal dignity?
6. If so, what can you do to ensure that they are treated with equality?

Take Home Message:

We are made in the image and likeness of God!