62. The soul is what makes every individual person a man.

The soul is what makes every individual person a man.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 62

Ave Maria series

62.  What is the soul?

The soul is what makes every individual person a man:  his spiritual life-principle and inmost being.  The soul causes the material body to be a living human body.  Through his soul, man is a creature who can say “I” and stand before God as an irreplaceable individual.  [362-365, 382]

James (Jimmy) Earl Carter, Jr., 39^th president of the United States, Baptist, and a man off great integrity.  .....62

In 1982, Jimmy Carter founded the Carter Center, which has played in active role in human rights and disease prevention issues globally. The Carters helped publicize Habitat for Humanity. Carter received his Nobel Prize in 2002. He received the award "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Harry Truman was Carter’s favorite President. Carter told The Guardian in 2011 that he admired Truman for not trying to profit off his presidency. –National Constitution Center

Men are bodily and spiritual creatures.  A man’s spirit is more than a function of his body and cannot be explained in terms of man’s material composition.  Reason tells us that there must be a spiritual principle that is united with the body but not identical to it.  We call it the “soul”.    Although the soul’s existence cannot be “proved” scientifically, man cannot be understood as a spiritual or intellectual being without accepting this spiritual principle that transcends matter.  153-154, 163

“He became what we are, so that he might make us what he is.”  St. Athanasius the Great (ca. 295-373, Father of the Church)

“Man is truly himself when his body and soul are intimately united.  …Should he aspire to be pure spirit and to reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity.  On the other hand, should he deny the spirit and consider matter, the body, as the only reality, he would likewise lose his greatness.”  Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas est

[362-365, 382]

"BODY AND SOUL BUT TRULY ONE"

362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."( Genesis 2:7.)²²⁹ Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

363 In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person.( Compare Matthew 16:25-26; John 15:13; Acts of the Apostles 2:41.)²³⁰ But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him,(  Compare Matthew 10:28; Mt 26:38; John 12:27; 2 Maccabees 6:30)²³¹ that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies the spiritual principle in man. --CCC

364 The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit(Compare 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Cor 15:44-45.)²³² --CCC

Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day. (Gaudium et Spes 14 § 1; compare Daniel 3:57-80.)²³³ --CCC

365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body(Compare Council of Vienne (1312): Denzinger-Schonmetzer 902. )²³⁴ i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature. --CCC

IN BRIEF

382 "Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity" (Gaudium et Spes 14 § 1). The doctrine of the faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immediately by God. --CCC

Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2018

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

Sacred Heart of Jesus by Pompeo Batoni, 1767.

Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2018
Lectionary: 56

Reading 1  ACTS of the Apostles 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.  Peter, however, raised him up, saying, "Get up. I myself am also a human being."

Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.  Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him."

While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.
The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit
should have been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God.  Then Peter responded, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?"  He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

 Responsorial Psalm  PSalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4

R. (cf. 2b) The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. 

Reading 2  1 JohN 4:7-10

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.  Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.  In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.  In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Alleluia  JohN 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,
and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel  JohN 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you.  Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.  This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing.  I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.  It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.  This I command you: love one another."

61. All men have the same origin in the one creative love of God.

All men have the same origin in the one creative love of God.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 61

Ave Maria series

61.  In what does the equality of all men consists?

All men are equal inasmuch as they have the same origin in the one creative love of God.  All men have their savior in Jesus Christ.  All men are destined to find their happiness and their eternal blessedness in God.  [360-361]

A banana laborer in Haiti. .....61

Hence all men are brothers and sisters.  Christians should practice solidarity not only with other Christians but with everyone and forcefully oppose racist, sexist, and economic divisions in the one human family.  280, 517

He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation…All things were created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:15, 16b

360-361

 "IN THE IMAGE OF GOD"

360 Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for "from one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth"(Acts of the Apostles 17:26; compare Tobit 8:6.)²²⁶

O wondrous vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God. . . in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.( Pius XII, Enc. Summi Pontificatus 3; compare Nostra Aetate 1.)²²⁷ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

361 "This law of human solidarity and charity",(Pius XII, Summi Pontificatus 3.)²²⁸ without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men are truly brethren. --CCC 

60. Jesus, the true ideal of man

Jesus, the true ideal of man

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 60

Ave Maria series

60.  Why is Jesus the greatest example in the world?

Jesus Christ is unique because he shows us not only God’s true nature but also the true ideal of man.

  

[358-359, 381]

Christ and the Samaritan-woman at Jacobs well by Simon Dewey. …..60

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,^* and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” –Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus was more than an ideal man.  Even seemingly ideal men are sinners.  That is why no man can be the measure of humanity.  Jesus, however, was without sin.  We cannot know what it means to be a man, and what makes man infinitely loveable in the truest sense of the word, except in Jesus Christ, who “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning” (Hebrews 4:15).  Jesus, the Son of God, is the authentic, true man.  In him we recognize how God willed man to be.

In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear. Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes

358-359, 381

Man

I.  IN THE IMAGE OF GOD"

358 God created everything for man,( Compare Gaudium et Spes 12 § 1; GS 24 § 3; GS 39 § 1.)²²² but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:

What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honor? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.( St. John Chrysostom, In Gen. Sermo 2,1: Patrologia Graeca 54,587D-588A.)²²³ –Catechism of the Catholic Church. Second Edition

359 "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear."( Gaudium et Spes 22 § 1.)²²⁴

St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ. . . The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. The first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life. . . The second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. The first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. The last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the last."( St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 117: Payrologia Latina 52,520-521.)²²⁵ --CCC

IN BRIEF

381 Man is predestined to reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15), so that Christ shall be the first-born of a multitude of brothers and sisters (compare Ephesians 1:3-6; Romans 8:29). --CCC

59. Man was created in order to be blessed.

Man was created in order to be blessed.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 59

Ave Maria series

59.  Why did God make man?

God made everything for man.  Man, however, who is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake”, was created in order to be blessed.  This happens when he knows, loves, and serves God and lives in gratitude toward his Creator.  [358]

Family time between Don L. Bragg and grandson Stephen. I was telling Steve about the beaver I once had as an educational tool during my conservation work. ....59

Gratitude is love that has been acknowledged.  Someone who is grateful  turns freely to the giver of the good and enters into a new, deeper relationship with him.  God wishes us to acknowledge his love and even now to live our whole life in relationship with him.  This relationship lasts forever.

“God loved men.   For their sake he created the cosmos; he subjected everything on earth to them; he gave them the ability to speak and understand; he permitted them alone to look up to heaven; he formed them after his likeness; he sent his Son to them; he promised them the kingdom of heaven, and he will give it to those who love him.”  Letter to Diognetus, second century

358

Man

"IN THE IMAGE OF GOD"

358 God created everything for man,( Compare Gaudium et Spes 12 § 1; GS 24 § 3; GS 39 § 1.)²²² but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:

What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honor? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.( St. John Chrysostom, In Gen. Sermo 2,1: Patrologia Graeca 54,587D-588A.)²²³ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

58. Man is capable of tasting God’s eternal good.

Man is capable of tasting God’s eternal good.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 58

Ave Maria series

Man the Creature (continued)

58.  What does it mean to say that man was created “in God’s image”?

Unlike inanimate objects, plants, and animals, man is a person endowed with a spirit.  This characteristic unites him with God more than with his visible fellow creatures.  [355-357, 380]

St.  Joseph Catholic church in Menomonie, WI.  The celebrant of the Mass is seated between the two acolytes dressed in white.  The epistle for the Sunday Mass is being read by the reader at the podium. .....58

Man is not a something but rather a someone.  Just as we say about God that he is person, so too we say this about man.  Man can think beyond his immediate horizon and measure the whole breadth of being; he can even know himself with critical objectivity and work to improve himself; he can perceive others as persons, understand them in their dignity, and love them.  Of all the visible creatures, man alone is “able to know and love his creator” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et spes [GS] 12,3).  Man is destined to live with him in friendship (John 15:15).

Love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.  1 John 4:7

“If the only prayer you said in your life was ‘I thank you’, that would be enough.”  Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260-1328, Dominican, mystic)

“Man is God’s image and likeness, in which God wants to be honored for his own sake.”  St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

355-357, 380

Man

355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."( Genesis 1:27.)²¹⁸ Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

"IN THE IMAGE OF GOD"

356 Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator".(Gaudium et Spes 12 § 3.)²¹⁹ He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake",(Gaudium et Spes 24 § 3.)²²⁰ and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity: --CCC

What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good.(  St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue 4,13 "On Divine Providence": LH, Sunday, week 19, OR.)²²¹  --CCC

357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead. --CCC

IN BRIEF

380 "Father,. . . you formed man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his creator, and to rule over all creatures" (Roman Missal, EP IV, 118). --CCC