280. The Dignity of the Human Person

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 280

Ave Maria series

What reasons do Christians give for human dignity?

Every person, from the first moment of his life in the womb, has an inviolable dignity, because from all eternity God willed, loved, created, and redeemed that person and destined him for eternal happiness.  [1699-1715]

President  Obama and a child admirer. I often wonder about our American behavior toward people of other races. Might they be prophets of God given to us in this life whose dignity and needs were blessings we failed to heed? …..280

CALL OF JEREMIAH:  The word of the LORD came to me:  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. Jeremiah 1:4-5 

If human dignity were based solely on the successes and accomplishments of individuals, then those who are weak, sick, or helpless would have no dignity.  Christians believe that human dignity is, in the first place, the result of God’s respect for us.  He looks at every person and loves him as though he were the only creature in the world.  Because God has looked upon even the least significant child of Adam, that person possesses an infinite worth, which must not be destroyed by men.  56-65

“So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him.” Genesis 1:27

 “When God disappears, men and women do not become greater; indeed, they lose the divine dignity, their faces lose God’s splendor.  In the end, they turn out to be merely products of a blind evolution and, as such, can be used and abused.  This is precisely what the experience of our epoch has confirmed for us.”  Pope Benedict XVI, August 15, 2005

[1699-1715]

LIFE IN CHRIST

MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

1699Life in the Holy Spirit fulfills the vocation of man (chapter one). This life is made up of divine charity and human solidarity (chapter two). It is graciously offered as salvation (chapter three). –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1700 The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude (article 2). It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfillment (article 3). By his deliberate actions (article 4), the human person does, or does not, conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral conscience (article 5). Human beings make their own contribution to their interior growth; they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means of this growth (article 6). With the help of grace they grow in virtue (article 7), avoid sin, and if they sin they entrust themselves as did the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)¹ to the mercy of our Father in heaven (article 8). In this way they attain to the perfection of charity. --CCC

1701 "Christ, . . . in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation."(Gaudium et Spes 22.)²  It is in Christ, "the image of the invisible God,"(Colossians 1:15; compare Corinthians  4:4.)³ 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.(Compare Gaudium et Spes 22.)⁴--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 (compare chapter two). --CCC

1703 Endowed with "a spiritual and immortal" soul,(Gaudium et Spes 14 § 2.)⁵ the human person is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake."(Gaudium et Spes 24 § 3.)⁶ From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude. --CCC

1704 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 towardhis true good. He finds his perfection "in seeking and loving what is true and good."(Gaudium et Spes 15 § 2.)⁷--CCC

1705 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."(Gaudium et Spes 17.)⁸--CCC

1706By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil."(Gaudium et Spes 16.)⁹ Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person. --CCC

1707 "Man, enticed by the Evil One, abused his freedom at the very beginning of history." (Gaudium et Spes 13 § 1.)¹⁰ He succumbed to temptation and did what was evil. He still desires the good, but his nature bears the wound of original sin. He is now inclined to evil and subject to error: 

Man is divided in himself. As a result, the whole life of men, both individual and social, shows itself to be a struggle, and a dramatic one, between good and evil, between light and darkness.(Gaudium et Spes 13 § 2.)¹¹--CCC

1708 By his Passion, Christ delivered us from Satan and from sin. He merited for us the new life in the Holy Spirit. His grace restores what sin had damaged in us. --CCC

1709 He who believes in Christ becomes a son of God. This filial adoption transforms him by giving him the ability to follow the example of Christ. It makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good. In union with his Savior, the disciple attains the perfection of charity which is holiness. Having matured in grace, the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of heaven. --CCC

IN BRIEF

1710"Christ . . . makes man fully manifest to man himself and brings to light his exalted vocation" (Gaudium et Spes 22 § 1). --CCC

1711Endowed with a spiritual soul, with intellect and with free will, the human person is from his very conception ordered to God and destined for eternal beatitude. He pursues his perfection in "seeking and loving what is true and good" (Gaudium et Spes 15 § 2). --CCC

1712 In man, true freedom is an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image" (Gaudium et Spes 17). --CCC

1713 Man is obliged to follow the moral law, which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil" (compare (Gaudium et Spes 16).). This law makes itself heard in his conscience. --CCC

1714 Man, having been wounded in his nature by original sin, is subject to error and inclined to evil in exercising his freedom. –CCC

1715 He who believes in Christ has new life in the Holy Spirit. The moral life, increased and brought to maturity in grace, is to reach its fulfillment in the glory of heaven. –CCC

People  President Obama  child admirer