PHILOSOPHY coldly defines a person as
a “substance of a
rational nature.” I say, coldly, because the definition is actually
very pregnant with implications whose need for us to know and live out
has become urgent these days.
The prevailing understanding is quite inadequate and
potentially dangerous. Many people understand “person” almost
exclusively as an individual, with hardly any reference to his
essential dimension of relationability to others, especially to God.
Thus, when one uses the word, “personalized,' he usually
has in mind his individuality, complete with his distinctive
peculiarities, preferences, and uniqueness. There's hardly any
reference to the common bond that relates him to others.
A point in the Catechism of the Catholic Church says
something relevant. “Being in the image of God, the human individual
possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but
someone.” (357)
The Catechism explains further, shedding light on the
difference between a something and a someone.
The human person who is a someone and not just a something
is “capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving
himself and entering into communion with other persons.
“And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator,
to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can
give in his stead.”
A person is an individual who is always in relation with
others. He simply cannot be on his own. His life, his growth and
maturity, his capacity to resist temptations and to handle his
weaknesses well would depend on his relation with God and with others.
Since we are made in the image and likeness of God, we as
persons must somehow reflect also the perpetual relation within the
three persons in one God. We are meant to be taken up, with God's
grace, in that Trinitarian relation of knowing and loving one another.
That's why Christ told us in no unclear terms that the
greatest commandment we ought to follow is to love God with all our
might, and the second greatest is to love our neighbor.
We need to train ourselves to be always mindful and
thoughtful of the others. In this way, we avoid confining ourselves to
our own world which definitely will not be the real world, because it
would be a world of pure subjectivism, detached from the objective
world outside of ourselves.
We have to be both mindful and thoughtful, because this is
what is proper to us. If we fail to cultivate these traits, we
actually are harming our very own humanity, aborting our road to human
maturity, not to mention, the fullness of Christian life.
We need to be mindful because we have to know what’s going
around us. We should never be aloof and indifferent. We have to be
aware not only of things and events that are taking place, whether
near or far, but also and most especially of persons, starting with
the one right beside us.
And not only should we be mindful. We also need to be
thoughtful. We should think ahead of how things are developing and of
what we can do to help shape their evolution. Life is always a work in
progress, and there are goals, the ultimate and the subordinate, to
reach. We should not get stuck with the here and now.
We should learn to read the signs of the times and to
prepare ourselves for whatever indications or warnings they are giving
us. This way we put ourselves in condition to influence the flow of
things, and to somehow already fashion the future. In this way, we
extricate ourselves from our own subjective world and get to grapple
with the objective reality.
If we can only be true to our status as persons, we can
never afford to waste time in some self-indulgent activities. That's
simply because there are many and endless things that we need to think
about and relate ourselves with. People with varying needs will always
be around. Issues, concerns, challenges keep on coming. How to relate
them to God will always demand our attention and action.
Every night before going to bed, we need to examine
ourselves if indeed this is the principle that we tried to follow
during the day. We can always find some room for improvement.
This is actually a big challenge nowadays as we see
people, especially the young ones, trapped in their own world of
self-absorption, thanks and no thanks to our new technologies that, if
used indiscriminately, can ruin our need to be mindful and thoughtful,
undermining our status as persons.
rational nature.” I say, coldly, because the definition is actually
very pregnant with implications whose need for us to know and live out
has become urgent these days.
The prevailing understanding is quite inadequate and
potentially dangerous. Many people understand “person” almost
exclusively as an individual, with hardly any reference to his
essential dimension of relationability to others, especially to God.
Thus, when one uses the word, “personalized,' he usually
has in mind his individuality, complete with his distinctive
peculiarities, preferences, and uniqueness. There's hardly any
reference to the common bond that relates him to others.
A point in the Catechism of the Catholic Church says
something relevant. “Being in the image of God, the human individual
possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but
someone.” (357)
The Catechism explains further, shedding light on the
difference between a something and a someone.
The human person who is a someone and not just a something
is “capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving
himself and entering into communion with other persons.
“And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator,
to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can
give in his stead.”
A person is an individual who is always in relation with
others. He simply cannot be on his own. His life, his growth and
maturity, his capacity to resist temptations and to handle his
weaknesses well would depend on his relation with God and with others.
Since we are made in the image and likeness of God, we as
persons must somehow reflect also the perpetual relation within the
three persons in one God. We are meant to be taken up, with God's
grace, in that Trinitarian relation of knowing and loving one another.
That's why Christ told us in no unclear terms that the
greatest commandment we ought to follow is to love God with all our
might, and the second greatest is to love our neighbor.
We need to train ourselves to be always mindful and
thoughtful of the others. In this way, we avoid confining ourselves to
our own world which definitely will not be the real world, because it
would be a world of pure subjectivism, detached from the objective
world outside of ourselves.
We have to be both mindful and thoughtful, because this is
what is proper to us. If we fail to cultivate these traits, we
actually are harming our very own humanity, aborting our road to human
maturity, not to mention, the fullness of Christian life.
We need to be mindful because we have to know what’s going
around us. We should never be aloof and indifferent. We have to be
aware not only of things and events that are taking place, whether
near or far, but also and most especially of persons, starting with
the one right beside us.
And not only should we be mindful. We also need to be
thoughtful. We should think ahead of how things are developing and of
what we can do to help shape their evolution. Life is always a work in
progress, and there are goals, the ultimate and the subordinate, to
reach. We should not get stuck with the here and now.
We should learn to read the signs of the times and to
prepare ourselves for whatever indications or warnings they are giving
us. This way we put ourselves in condition to influence the flow of
things, and to somehow already fashion the future. In this way, we
extricate ourselves from our own subjective world and get to grapple
with the objective reality.
If we can only be true to our status as persons, we can
never afford to waste time in some self-indulgent activities. That's
simply because there are many and endless things that we need to think
about and relate ourselves with. People with varying needs will always
be around. Issues, concerns, challenges keep on coming. How to relate
them to God will always demand our attention and action.
Every night before going to bed, we need to examine
ourselves if indeed this is the principle that we tried to follow
during the day. We can always find some room for improvement.
This is actually a big challenge nowadays as we see
people, especially the young ones, trapped in their own world of
self-absorption, thanks and no thanks to our new technologies that, if
used indiscriminately, can ruin our need to be mindful and thoughtful,
undermining our status as persons.
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