Opening Prayer
For those wishing to begin with an opening song, I’d recommend this one.
A good Scripture passage would be 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.
For reflection
- How might my own life be a place of hospitality for others?
- Where in my life did you notice an image bearer this week? Was it a comfortable/uncomfortable experience?
- Have/how have the words of Matthew’s Gospel challenged me to think twice about ‘doing for others’?
- What would it look like to glorify God with my body?
Life & Dignity of the human person, continued
To pick up where we left off, we really need to continue on the track of humanity’s creation in the image and likeness of God, paired with a solid understanding of the Incarnation—God made flesh. We focus most closely on this theme during Advent/Christmas, but it is an essential piece of the human dignity conversation as well. It is precisely because God took on flesh in the person of Jesus that we, even in our brokenness, can hope for redemption. We were made in God’s image as described in Genesis; redeemed by God’s image as described in the Gospel accounts of the coming of Emmanuel in Jesus’ birth.
“What God has not assumed, God has not redeemed.” –St. Athanasius. Therefore, what God has assumed, God has redeemed.
You’ve likely heard the anecdotal story of the little girl who was afraid of monsters under her bed. Her parents come in to comfort her and to assure her that God is with her in the room, even though she can’t see him. The little girl responds that she really would prefer ‘God with skin on,’ right about now.
And that little girl is all of us.
This hardwiring for relationship both with God and those around us has tremendous ramifications. We cannot know God without relationship; without the Incarnation, relationship is really difficult. Likewise, we cannot love as God loves, without being in relationship with Him or those around us—and we don’t get to pick and choose who that is.
Temples of the Holy Spirit
Culturally we have become very comfortable with the idea of hustling to show our worth; to prove our worth even. And although that language might feel appropriate in a competitive line of work, it flies in the face of our in-born and God-given worth as human persons who don’t earn our worth, but simply enjoy it because of Whose we are.
St. Paul goes on to exclaim how our very bodies are tabernacles of the Holy Spirit. If you are of the Catholic persuasion, bells are likely ringing in your ears when you hear this phrase. The same word we use for the precious space in which the Eucharist is housed, describes each of us: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” -1 Corinthians 3:16. To really belabor the point, we genuflect on our way past the tabernacle out of reverence for Whom resides inside. The same could be said for all of us made in God’s image and likeness. There is a particular reverence due.
Every analysis must necessarily start from the premise that—although each person lives in a particular concrete social and historical context—every human being is endowed with a dignity that must never be lessened, impaired or destroyed but must instead be respected and safeguarded, if peace is really to be built up.” (Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations Oct. 2, 1979
A bad reputation
The Anawim were a group of people ever-present in Scripture. Anawin, in Hebrew, means ‘bowed down.’ Those bowed down were the ones dependent upon the charity and good will of others to meet their daily needs for survival. Throughout Scripture, the anawim would have been widows, children, immigrants—those without a voice in society, very often by virtue of their status without men (husband/brother/father) to provide for them. However, anyone without home, physical ability, or good health that prevented them from providing for themselves would have struggled to be recognized as one with autonomy. Though our current circumstances certainly look different than they did in the Old Testament or the New, assuredly God’s anawim are still among us. Not because our understanding of autonomy hasn’t evolved, but because there are still persons who are ‘bowed down’ by not being recognized as image-bearers, and therefore considered unworthy of care, respect, and opportunity to thrive.
As the Baptized, we have an inherent moral obligation to work toward a society that recognizes and upholds this dignity in all circumstances.
For this reason, the Church has a vested interest in remaining involved with affairs both public and private. Occasionally this has earned her the unfortunate reputation of being ‘nosy.’ ‘Sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.’ But it does belong! To see issues of life in this context, as Cardinal Bernadin described, is to have a consistent ethic of life—one that doesn’t regard one station of existence as more worthy of protection than another.
This is why in a very particular way, the Catholic Church has felt it her duty to voice concern around issues of immigration, human trafficking, orphans, widows, poverty, the homeless, unemployment, child labor, abortion, advocating for the disabled, euthanasia, racism, the death penalty, war, bioethics, abortifacients, reproductive technologies, living wages, etc. The point is not simply to decry these practices for its own sake, but to bring attention to the circumstances where a person’s inherent dignity is at stake for being overlooked—especially when that person is not ‘deemed’ worthy of protection for one reason or another—or not recognized as a human person at all.
At times we see an obsession with denying any pre-eminence to the human person; more zeal is shown in protecting other species than in defending the dignity which all human beings share in equal measure. Certainly, we should be concerned lest other living beings be treated irresponsibly. But we should be particularly indignant at the enormous inequalities in our midst, whereby we continue to tolerate some considering themselves more worthy than others.
Laudato Si’ (“Praised Be”), Pope Francis, 2015 #90.
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Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement had some harsh words for those of us who would pick and choose between the ‘deserving and undeserving poor.’ She’s famously quoted for reminding us that “I only love God as much as the person I love the least.” And because of this unfortunate human tendency to pick and choose among those worthy of a dignified life or not, the Church should always enter the arena advocating for the dignity of the human person. The thing that should merit a ‘bad reputation,’ would be anytime the Church is remiss in her obligation to do so, or fails to do so loudly enough.
Partakers of the divine nature
If the entire premise of the dignity of every human person hinges on our status as image bearers, it is essential that we are intimately familiar with whose identity we bear. Namely, that God is love. Consequently, very often love looks like mercy—particularly as shown by God to humanity, but also in numerous examples throughout Scripture: the Prodigal Son, the Woman caught in Adultery, the Good Samaritan, etc.
You will likely remember back to when Pope Francis declared 2016 as an extraordinary jubilee of Mercy. In the spirit of celebration and lavish mercy, for nearly an entire year extra invitations were extended to receive the healing of mercy of God, particularly through receiving and extending mercy:
“In Misericordiae vultus, Pope Francis emphasizes the need for the Church and all her members to live out the loving mercy that God has for us. Our response to God’s loving mercy towards us is to act in that same way to all those we meet. The Holy Father reminds us that ‘Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy. The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love.’ As members of the Body and (of) Christ, our lives should reflect this witness of mercy to those we meet on a daily basis.”…con’t.
“Love and sacrifice are closely linked, like the sun & the light. We cannot love without suffering and we cannot suffer without love.”
–Saint Gianna Molla
So it makes good sense that the Body of Christ be animated by the Spiritual & Corporal works of mercy, even to the extent that it requires something of us. It costs us something. It is the fabric of interaction both private and public, just as it was in Jesus’ ministry. Of course it isn’t always done perfectly, but that it is being done is essential. It is one way we measure up to our identity as sons and daughters of God.
Corporal Works of Mercy Spiritual Works of Mercy
Feed the hungry Instruct the ignorant
Give drink to the thirsty Counsel the doubtful
Clothe the naked Admonish the sinner
Give shelter to homeless Bear patiently the wrongs of others
Visit the sick Forgive Offenses
Visit the imprisoned Comfort the afflicted
Bury the dead Pray for the living and the dead
Because of this, the ministries of the Church historically formed the bedrock of communities from hospitals to schools, to homeless shelters, group homes, counseling centers, hospices. It is why Catholic cemeteries have plots for the patients who otherwise cannot afford a burial, and that each month Catholic hospital chaplains have burial services for infants who did not make it to full term. In each sphere of influence, the dignity of the human person is identified and upheld. And, this is how the Church maintains its status as the largest, non-governmental provider of education and medical services in the world; because of its unwavering commitment to each person’s inherent dignity.
His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.
2 Peter 1: 3-7
Questions for reflection
- What do God’s anawim look in my sphere of influence?
- What challenges do Dorothy’s words pose to me?
- How have you noticed the interplay between love/mercy/sacrifice in your own experiences?
- What lingering questions about human dignity and our responsibility to act accordingly do I sill have? What growing edges have I identified in myself?
Closing Prayer
Word made flesh, thank you for creating us to bear such resemblance to the love we see in your Sacred Heart; even when the responsibility to do so feels unbearable. Give us holy courage to seek and honor the dignity of all life, remembering that all of humanity are image bearers and temples of Your Holy Spirit.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.