All Human Life is Inherently Sacred
OPENING PRAYER
Prayer for Human Dignity
Lord Jesus, ground of our being,
Guide us to recognize our vocation as responsible
builders of our human community, which your church
teaches is marked by continuity and renewal.
We are grateful for all your teachings and strive to
respond to them with our hearts, heads and hands.
We acknowledge that earlier hopes for the
development of all people, especially for those in poor
countries, have not yet been fulfilled; so many still
suffer the intolerable burden of poverty, hunger and disease.
We see the growing gaps between the wealth of some
and the poverty of the majority of people on this earth.
Forgive us for turning away from the abuses inflicted
worldwide on the human person.
Forgive the separation of ethics and morals
from economic policies.
Forgive us for making security more important
than cooperation.
We give thanks for the growing awareness of
human dignity and human rights.
We give thanks for understanding that
peace requires justice for all.
We give thanks for all those working to end hunger, to
end poverty, and to build peace in the world.
Let us realize that true development, centered on the
dignity of the human person is not simply about
economic growth and the wealth of corporations.
Let us realize that ‘having’ does not contribute to
human development unless it contributes to the
maturing and enriching of the human person.
In your name we pray for a more human life for everyone.
In your name we pray for the hope and energy to be
your presence to the poor, witnesses of your radical
love and its message of justice and peace for all.
Amen.
Source: https://www.devp.org/en
"ALL HUMAN LIFE IS INHERENTLY SACRED"
"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,
Jesuit priest, philosopher, and paleontologist
When do you experience the sacredness of your life?
Humans are a unity of a physical body and spirit (soul). According to Catholic teaching, each person’s spirit or soul is created by God at the moment of their biological conception.
We have spoken about the fundamental principle of CST that all humans are created in the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:26-27). Therefore, all human life is sacred, and this transcendent dignity, inherent in all humans, is the foundation of a moral vision for society.
As Christians, we are called to recognize, acknowledge, respect, and protect the inalienable dignity and goodness of being created in God’s image, that is inherent at the center, depth, and core of all humans, whether or not a person recognizes, accepts, or acts in accordance with that inherent dignity.
As Pope Francis reminds us, in being lovingly created in God’s image,
There is no human life more sacred than another, just as there is no human life qualitatively more significant than another….Human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on the dignity of another, I am trampling on my own" ("Selected Quotes of Pope Francis by Subject," pp. 122,123 (USCCB)).
However, persons or groups may fail to recognize, let alone acknowledge, respect or protect this God-given sacredness, inalienable dignity, and goodness inherent in all human life. Instead, they may measure a
person’s dignity, life, worth, and their relative importance by external standards, such as their physical appearance, gender, race, perceived power, status, prestige, rank, wealth, affluence, education, religion, utility, success, nationality, language, class or group membership, or their number of followers on Facebook or Twitter,
Experience shows that persons, groups, nations, or societies may ignore, discard, discriminate against, disempower, exploit, victimize, dominate, injure, and even kill those who do not measure up to these relative,
external standards. As Pope Francis warns:
When we speak of mankind, we must never forget the various attacks on the sacredness of human life. The plague of abortion is an attack on life. Allowing our brothers and sisters to die on boats in the Strait of Sicily is an attack on life. Dying on the job because the minimum safety standards are not respected is an attack on life. Death from malnutrition is an attack on life. Terrorism, war, violence; so is euthanasia. Loving life means always taking care of the other, wanting the best for him, cultivating and respecting her transcendent dignity. (Address given at meeting of Science and Life Assoc., May 30, 2015).
Please read this week The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Nos. 144–148VIDEOS
"Ten Principles of Catholic Social Thought"
"Catholic Social Justice - Choose Life"
"Catholic Social Teaching Movie"
"Human Dignity"
"What are the Universal Human Rights"
MUSIC
"Pieta"
"The Eyes and Hands of Christ"
"Christ in Me Arise"
OTHER RESOURCES
"Life and Dignity of the Human Person" (USCCB)
"All Human Life is Sacred"
"All Human Life is Sacred, Pope Emphasizes in Address to Doctors"
"Life and Dignity of the Human Person"
"Nature and Inherent Dignity of the Human Person"
Other Resources on Catholic Social Teaching
"All Human Life is Sacred"
"All Human Life is Sacred, Pope Emphasizes in Address to Doctors"