Lesson 2: THE MORAL AGENT: THE HUMAN PERSON

The Nature of the Human Person (CFC 682-92)

Christian moral life is simply the call to become loving persons, in the fullness of life-with –
others-in-community before God, in imitation of Jesus Christ. The key to moral life 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 the community?

*As a disciple of Jesus Christ, in his Church?

Persons In Christ:

For Christians, the answer can only be grounded in 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 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)
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;

*Redeemed by the blood of Christ,
*Sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit,
*Called to be children of God
*Destined for eternal life. (CFC685)

Nature of the Human Person (CFC 687-692)

1. Open and relational

The person is placed in the world with others. We need the world (family, country) in order
to live, to eat, and to be clothed, to shelter.

No man is an island; we grow into our full selves as persons only in relating to others. To be
a human person is to be directed toward others. We realize being a person means:
 being by others ( our conception, birth, upbringing),
 being with others ( our family, friends, neighbors, etc.)
 being for others (love and service)

‘Whatsoever you do to the least of your brethren, you do it unto me. .’

This is how God created us – 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.
1. Conscious beings
Persons are conscious beings, aware of themselves in their outgoing acts. We possess this
self-awareness through our knowing and free willing. Persons are conscious beings because
they are endowed with intelligence, will and power, capable of knowing and loving his
Creator.
Endowed with reason and will man too has the capacity for self-determination

“By his reason he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator.
By free will he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection
in seeking and loving what is true and good.” (CCC 1704)

By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him “to do what is good and
avoid what is evil. Man is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience
and is fulfilled in the love of God and neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the
dignity of the person. Thus we “image” in our small way the Creator’s infinite knowing
and loving. This is the basis for our moral life.

*Why do animals don’t laugh?

*Who has the capacity to love?

2. Embodied spirit
This stresses the unity between the “body and soul”. Man is a spiritualized body or an
incarnate spirit. Our body is essential part of being human, not merely an “instrument” we
“use” according to our whims. Man is integrally made up of body (an organized matter) and
soul (immaterial reality) that are united in one person. Contrary to those who look down 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).

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.

Man is open to Transcendence – because of man’s spiritual reality, man is open to the Infinite
(God) and to all created things.

Openness to God: With his intellect and will, man raises himself above all the created order
and above himself, he becomes independent from creatures, is free in relation to created things
and tends towards Total Truth and the Absolute Good. (CSDC # 130)
3. Historical

Every person has a personal, individual history from birth to death.

We are pilgrims on-the –way, who gradually, through time, become our full selves.
(conception – death) ex. Like bud of roses – process of growth or our personality development.
We develop as persons in discernable stages, described in great detail by modern
psychology.

Because the person is an incarnate spirit, man can know the reality of things, capable of new
realizations, new developments that we call “cultures” throughout the ages.

In exercising freedom, we decided for ourselves and form ourselves; in this sense we are our
own cause. (We become what we usually do). We must relentlessly be “temporal”, seizing each
opportunity as a progressive movement toward our full human development.

We must integrate the past in the person we are becoming so as to shape a future rather than to
settle into a static condition.

4. Unique yet fundamentally equal

In all men, there is a common, universal reality, human nature-“our common humanity”.
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 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. Each one has his own individuality. Each one of us is a unique reality, singular, distinct
from one another.
.
To each of us Christ says: “Fear not. For I have called you by your name and you were mine”
(Is 43:1).

We are all equal; we recognize the unique identity of each person despite of our color, race,
culture, beliefs, and status in life. etc.

The fundamental equality of all individual persons also grounds the participation and
solidarity/ unity of all the peoples.
“Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all people, we are all called to be
brothers/sisters. 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).