PERSONHOOD

EXPERIENCE OF BEAUTY

1. We should reflect more on the meaning of joy. More than happiness, joy is an experience of beauty (all which delights the “pure of heart”)—first and foremost the enduring beauty of being human and graced by God.

2. Though our Lord’s human form “veiled” the fullness of his divine glory, Jesus Christ did not diminish himself by taking on a human body. By becoming a human like us in all things but sin, Jesus became the very thing he created in the beginning:  “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.  [Gen 1:26] 

ALL HUMAN BEINGS

3. In human form, our Lord sanctified—lifted up—humanity which had fallen in sin. He restored us to grace-filled communion with our heavenly father. Indeed, by becoming man, Christ glorified human flesh. To help us understand the mystery of how human flesh and glory coincide, we should consider the abundantly fertile word personhood—the unique spiritual and anthropological reality God reserves exclusively to human beings. 

4. Our human personhood is a reflection of God’s own divine personhood. Personhood makes possible a human being’s understanding of himself. The concept of “person” is almost exclusively Christian, for it developed as Catholic clergy and laity over the centuries have tried to understand more fully the mysteries of the Holy Trinity (divine persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and the incarnation (God becoming man). From these mysteries, we learn that all human beings are unique and irreplaceable.

SUBSTANTIAL FORM

5. Apart from all other creatures, rational man possesses the extraordinary gifts of community, self-reflection and memory, self-respect, empathy, remorse, and conversion for the better. It is through personhood that human beings are able to sustain life-long relationships. Persons have the capacity to make heroic sacrifices for the sake of fair love. Man is self-aware. He comprehends beauty. He knows that he knows! This is fundamental for man to be able to choose the good and shun evil.

6. For our understanding to be comprehensive, we must acknowledge that the immortal soul is the seat—intellect (knowing) and will (freedom)—of human personhood. Thus the immortal soul, not mortal flesh, is the substantial form of the human body. The mortal body depends on the soul, but the immortal soul is not dependent on the body. This is why we know that God’s image and likeness is more perfectly revealed in the soul of a human being than in his flesh.

INTIMATELY SHARED

7. Hence, human personhood and the soul must be understood together. Personhood is the very act of man’s existing! Children intuitively know about this. Our Lord said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."  [Lk 18:17]  We may confidently say that all discussions about human beings—politics, education, business, military, medical, religious, cultural—must take into account the concept of person—the most intimately shared divine-human reality in the whole cosmos!

YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL

8. How can our understanding of human personhood help us to experience God's grace to the full? Love all persons because they are human beings, not because of what they may do for you. Never treat any human beings as a disposable commodity or utility. Devote much more time to the good of your immortal soul (knowledge of God) and less time for the pleasure of your mortal body (senses and passions). Strive every day to image God’s holy personhood more perfectly.

9. Never judge another person’s intentions or eternal destiny—sin and error are never so dominant in any person as to spoil the whole good of his nature. Realize that you are truly a child of God. Defend human life from conception to natural death. Discover the beauty of your family life, care for it and cultivate it. For the sake of your immortal soul, resolve today to make a habit of frequent Confession!