Senarlo, Maria Guilka R.

JD3 LS Form MIDTERM EXAM

In the first six chapters of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the two of

the best insights I learned are:

(1) HE IS OMNIPRESENT.

The presence of God is something that is still a puzzle to people. Some believe that He

cant be in different places at all times, but most of us believe otherwise. We can say that God is

omnipresentthat he can be found in anything, anyone, at any time in any place. We all know that

this sounds impossible, but this is God we are talking about. Whenever we wake up in the morning,

He is there. He is in every clothing that drapes our body, in every meal that we take, and in every

prayer that we utter. As surprising it may seem, God is everywhere.

Knowing that God can be found anywhere, it is just right to say that He is in every person

you meet. He can be in the guy you sat beside with in the train, or the girl next in line to you at a

coffee shop. No matter who it is, God can be found in him or her. This just goes to show that we

are made in likeness of God. Not that we actually look like him, but our humanity is based on how

He was back in His time. Because of this likeness, we get to enjoy several rights and privileges

that work around a grander scheme of things. These things might be enshrined in a legal document,

or practiced through tradition, but no matter what, humans are known to have rights and privileges.

However, we all know there are limits to these and fundamentally, these rights should not give

way for us to harm others. Due to our likeness to Him, it is our obligation to act accordingly to His

will. It would be a disrespectful thing to do otherwise. This is the main reason why in everything

we do, we should always think of the common good.

 Acting in the premise of showing goodness is not actually difficult to do. Humans have

innate goodness in them ever since the day of their birth. However, as time progresses, we develop

a sense of self-centeredness and it leads us to wrongdoings. This is unavoidable because we are all

sinful in our own ways. But this doesnt mean that we should stop considering the welfare of those

around us. It is an imperative of God for us to promote common good and stop spreading evil.

After all, it is goodness that brings happiness and harmony in our world. This goodness is what

gives us the sense of humility. Several generations of people have gone by, each having someone

who thinks he or she is better than the other, but this has just caused clamor in the world. As human

beings, we should know that we were created equally, and we will die as equals. No amount of

money, power, and fame will make us greater than anyone else. In the eyes of God, we are all His

children, and technically speaking, we are siblings with everyoneand siblings do not fight.

Instead, they always make sure that everyone is well-off.

Ultimately, it is how we perceive others that will determine how we treat them. It is true

that different people have different attitudes, but this should not be a problem when doing good to

them. Showing goodness does not need qualifications; its either youre good to everyone or youre

good to no one. We must always remember that we are men among equals and that our deeds are

a reflection of who God is. We were created in His image, the least we can do is live up to it.
(2) LOVE IS ALL WE NEED TO DO GOOD AND SEE GOOD IN EVERYTHING

Love can never be learned but can only be felt. It is not something one is capable of

teaching nor learning but one that is innate with us and it is through everyday living that we let

love grow.

Love is something that we first understand at home. It is our family that gives us the first

feeling of genuine love. Those moments of actually having someone we trust is first felt in the

family. A home is where love is cultivated, and the funny thing is, it never stops to grow.

When we leave our home, we start meeting new people and thats when we start knowing

how to love others. Meeting new people gives us sense of animosity, but bridging the gap will

actually make you realize that the love we feel from our family can also be given by us to our

friends. But when it comes to strangers, love is still present no matter how little. We might not

know others personally, but respecting them despite everything is showing love to them.

It is through love that we show goodness to everybody even to strangers and it is through

it that we see goodness in them despite different culture, status, race, religion, gender, or

nationality. There goes different sayings such as, Love has no gender; Love has no race; Love

has no age; Love has no religion; etc. It goes to show that love makes us more capable of

understanding the presence of diversity in life. It is through love that we do not discriminate, that

we do not shame some people because we think they are different and inferior than most of us. It

is through love that we accept flaws and imperfections. It is through love that we see more of God

than evil.