Called

to Salvation in Christ

Jesus Christ as the One Who Sheds

Light on the Mystery and Dignity of
the Human Person

Thy 1 – Unit 1.C

In fact, it is only in the mystery of
the Word incarnate that light is
shed on the mystery of man. For
by his incarnation, the Son of God
has united himself in some
fashion with every person” GS 22
 “We can only come to know the meaning of
something once we get to know its origin and destiny,
beginning and purpose.“

a) created in the Image and Likeness of God

b) redeemed by the Blood of Christ

c) sanctified by the Holy Spirit

 1. CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD

“Of all visible creatures only

man is "able to know and love
his creator" He is "the only
creature on earth that God
has willed for its own
sake", and he alone is called
to share, by knowledge and
love, in God's own life. It was
for this end that he was
created, and this is the
fundamental reason for his
dignity:” CCC 356
 a) Faculty

² Intellect & Freewill

to recognize the voice of God
to “do good and avoid evil.”
² Moral Being

b) Irreplaceable and Non-substitutable

² ≠ object of use or means to an end

² to treat our fellow human being as equals
² Status & Gender distinctions
c) Responsibility & Stewardship
² both man and woman - equally
ordered to "subdue" the earth
² Laudato Si spirituality

d) Adopted children of God

² Conform mind and hearts to Christ
² Called by name
e) Destiny
² Pilgrims on the way
²To be in Communion with our Creator
 2. REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

"You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your
fathers. . .with the precious blood of Christ. Man's sins, following on
original sin, are punishable by death. By sending his own Son in the
form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin,
God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God. CCC 602
 2. REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

a) “Sapagkat ako’y tao lamang”

²Unacceptable justification

b) being redeemed by Christ implies living a new life

²Rescued – Share – Task (CCC 1691)
 3. SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit
is conversion, effecting justification in
accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the
beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." Moved by
grace, man turns toward God and away from
sin, thus accepting forgiveness and
righteousness from on high. "Justification is not
only the remission of sins, but also the
sanctification and renewal of the interior man.
(CCC 1989)

a) Empowerment
- initiative belongs to God
- Moved by the Holy Spirit

b) False Assertion
- Independence from the
assistance of the Holy Spirit
 HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE
(CFC 687-692)

- HUMAN PERSON – most appropriate springboard in any moral

discourse
- Human Person vs Human Nature
- Personalistic perspective – take into account experience of
people
 HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE

a. Open and Relational by Nature

- Social and gregarious by nature

- We are being by, with and for others
- Trinitarian in origin
- Social well-being and Common Good
- God - the source and fulfillment of all human persons’ relationships
 HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE

b. Conscious Beings

- possess self-awareness through our knowing and free willing

- we “image” in our small way the Creator’s infinite knowing
and loving.
- Reason - understands the order of things and recognize the
voice of God
 HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE

c. Embodied Spirits

- stresses the unity between our “body and soul.”

-BODY - essential part of our being human, not merely an
“instrument” we “use” according to our whims
-“good and honorable”
- SOUL - the FORM (the nature or essence of a thing
- the unifying principle and forms one unique human being
 HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE

d. Historical Realities

- Pilgrims on-the-way
- We are our own cause
- Live in the middle of “Now and Here”
- Dynamism in moral reflections
 HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE
e. Unique yet Fundamentally Equal

- Despite differences in physical, intellectual and moral powers, we

are all equal
- same nature and origin and, same divine calling and destiny;
- each of us is called to “image” God in a unique way
- “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name:
you are mine” (Is 43:1).
- within the fundamental equality of all persons, we recognize the
unique identity of each person.