I.

MORAL AGENT: THE HUMAN PERSON

682. Christian moral life is simply the call to become loving persons, in the fullness of life-withothers-
in-community before God, in imitation of Jesus Christ. The key to moral life, then, is the
human person, considered in the light of both reason and faith. All human rights, personal and social,
all moral duties and responsibilities, all virtues and moral character __ all depend directly on the
answers we give to the questions: who am I as a person in community? as a disciple of Jesus Christ, in
his Church? In the words of PCP II: “How to live as Filipino Christians in our situation of lights and
shadows”? (PCP II 35)
683. This “sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply
on the consciousness of contemporary man” (DH 1). “The inviolable dignity of every human
person. . . is the most precious possession of an individual, [whose] value comes not from what a
person ‘has’ as much as from what a person ‘is’ ” (CL 37). “Hence the pivotal point of our total
presentation will be the human person, whole and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind
and will” (GS 3). But just who or what IS the human person according to reason and Christian Faith?
684. Persons in Christ. For Christians, the answer can only be grounded on Jesus Christ himself.
“In Christ and through Christ, we have acquired full awareness of our dignity, of the heights to which
we are raised, of the surpassing worth of our own humanity, and of the meaning of our existence” (RH
11). “For by his incarnation, the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every person”
(GS 22).
685. Christ reveals how the essential dignity of all persons is grounded directly on their origin,
meaning and destiny. We believe all persons are created by God in His image and likeness (cf. Gen
1:26) through our Lord Jesus Christ, “through whom everything was made and through whom we
live” (1 Cor 8:6). We believe all are redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), and are
sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14-16; 1 Cor 6:19). We believe all persons are
called to be children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3:1), destined for eternal life of blessed communion with the
Father, His Risen-Incarnate Son, and their Holy Spirit (cf. CCC 1692).
686. But, despite their firm belief in these basic truths of the Christian Faith, many Catholics do not
realize how these truths touch their day-to-day moral attitudes, acts and choices. Only if these credal
truths are linked directly with the Filipinos’ experience of themselves as persons, will they influence
their moral living. Hence, we have to relate these Christian truths to the common experience of “being a
Filipino
person.” Although we tend to take these characteristics of our own person for granted, we nevertheless need
to become more conscious of them to gain a true knowledge of self and of our relationships to others and to
God.
II. PERSONS IN EXPERIENCE
687. Persons are open and relational by nature. No man is an island; we grow into our full selves as
persons only in relating to others. We Filipinos are outstanding in this regard: it is said “Filipinos are
never alone.” We realize being a person means being by others (our conception, birth, upbringing),
being with others (our family, friends, neighbors, business associates), and being for others (love,
service). This is how we have been created by God __ as social beings. This is how we have been
redeemed by Christ __ as a people. This is how the Holy Spirit works not only within but among us as
the people of God, journeying toward our common destiny in God.
688. Persons are conscious beings, aware of themselves in their outgoing acts. We possess this selfawareness
through our knowing and free willing (cf. CCC 1704-7; GS 14-17). Thus we “image” in our
small way the Creator’s infinite knowing and loving. This is the basis for our moral life.
689. Persons are embodied spirits. This stresses the unity between our “body and soul.” Our bodies
are an essential part of our being human, not merely an “instrument” we “use” according to our
whims. Contrary to those who look down on the body, and make it the source of all evil, Christian
Faith regards the body as “good and honorable since God has created it and will raise it up on the last
day” (GS 14). Moreover, God the Son further dignified the body through his Incarnation __ “The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). And St. Paul admonishes us: “You must know
that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within __ the Spirit you have received from
God. . . . So, glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20). All our relationships with others and with
God are expressed through our bodies, which are the “natural sacrament” of our spiritual depth.
690. Persons are historical realities. We are pilgrims on-the-way, who gradually, through time,
become our full selves. In exercising freedom, we decide for ourselves and form ourselves; in this
sense we are our own cause. We develop as persons in discernible stages, described in great detail by
modern psychology. Salvation history narrated in the Bible shows the dynamic interplay between
good and evil, success and failure, within the lives of the great biblical figures. It recounts how God
progressively brought His Chosen People to a clearer understanding, and higher moral vision, of their
own being and of God Himself.
691. Persons are unique, yet fundamentally equal. Despite physical differences as well as differing
intellectual and moral powers, we instinctively realize that as persons, in some basic way, we are all equal.
This is
what our Faith explains: “All men are endowed with a rational soul and are created in God’s image;
they have the same nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling and
destiny; there is here a basic equality between all men” (GS 29). Yet, each of us is called to “image” God in
a unique way __ no one can “take our place,” as it were. To each of us Christ says: “Fear not, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine” (Is 43:1). Thus, within the fundamental
equality of all persons, we recognize the unique identity of each person.
692. This fundamental equality of all individual persons also grounds the participation and
solidarity of all peoples. “Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all people, we are all
called to be brothers. Therefore, if we have been summoned by the same destiny, which is both human
and divine, we can and should work together to build up the world in genuine peace” (GS 92).