Life and Dignity of the Human Person |
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art by Brother Mickey McGrath |
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All people are sacred, created in the image and likeness of God.
Each person’s life and dignity must be respected
from beginning to end.
A person’s dignity is not affected by disability, poverty,
age, race or gender.
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We invite you to spend five minutes meditating on this piece of art by Brother Mickey McGrath, thinking about what Jesus taught, thinking about your own life. You might also like to listen to Louis Armstrong sing It’s A Wonderful World as you reflect.
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Life and Dignity of the Human Person Prayer
(from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
God of all life,
Help us to appreciate the great gift that is human life
formed in your image, a reflection of your holiness.
Help us to recognize you
in all whom you have created:
children not yet born,
families affected by poverty and war,
people of different abilities,
people from other lands, and
all who are victims of hatred and racism.
Help us to bear witness to the dignity of all whom you have created,
regardless of stage of life,
or wealth,
or ability,
or color, or creed,
for every person is fully equal in your loving eyes.
Share with us your holy knowledge
that we are all your children,
each bestowed with inherent dignity.
May your justice reign forever! Amen.
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Reflection Questions
Black theologian and professor Fr. Bryan Massingale writes in Racial Justice and the Catholic Church that beyond sympathy, (or sorrow for), and empathy, (or identification with), lies compassion, which involves action to meet the other’s need.
- In the Scriptures, where do you see Jesus showing compassion to those who are marginalized?
- How do we develop the courage for compassionate action?
Massingale quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in his last major text of 1967,
“The great majority of Americans are suspended between…opposing attitudes. They are uneasy with injustice but unwilling yet to pay a significant price to eradicate it.”
- What price are you willing to pay for a society where each person’s life and dignity are respected?
- How could we promote civil rights and equality for everyone?
Further questions:
How did you learn the value of respecting others and recognizing their dignity? How does one teach children about the sacredness and dignity of each life?
How do you habitually show respect to others and acknowledge their dignity? … your neighbor, the person you encounter on the street, the “peripheral ones” in your communities? Are there ways you have advocated for the life of every human being, the unborn, the immigrant, the criminal, the elderly, the addicted, the disabled?
What laws do you know of that have helped protect life at all stages and the dignity of each person? Do you feel Jesus would view access to healthcare a mandate of our Catholic belief in the life and dignity of each person?
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Resources from the Catholic Church
(3 minutes, with Bro. Mickey drawing)
Click HERE for Grade 1-8 lesson plans on Life and Dignity of the Human Person. Country Spotlight: Vietnam.
Click HERE for Strong Catholic Family Faith Resources from the USCCB. This site includes many resources on Combatting Racism; including writings, podcasts and actions.
Click HERE to read Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, A Pastoral Letter Against Racism, from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Exhortation of Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego 02/06/2020
Presented on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, 10/4/2020
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From Pope Francis
“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion.”
“It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. “Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together”.[6] Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”
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Anyway
(a poem loved by Mother Teresa which hung in a Calcutta orphanage)
People are unreasonable, illogical, self-centred
… love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives
… do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies
… be successful anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow
… do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable
… be honest and frank anyway.
People love underdogs but follow only top dogs
… follow some underdog anyway.
What you spend years building what may be destroyed overnight
… build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you try to help
… help people anyway.
If you give the world the best you have, you may get kicked in the teeth
… but give the world the best you have
… Anyway.
by Dr. Kent M. Keith – The Paradoxical Commandments.
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