Through the Catholic faith, God has revealed to us the mystery and meaning of our human nature. Our fundamental identity rests in our relationship with the One who created, saved, and sanctified us.
We are beloved children of the Father, purchased with the Precious Blood of Christ, and anointed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our dignity, sexuality, and purpose are gifts to us from the hands of God Himself, meant to be received, embraced, and lived in a relational love with the Lord and our brothers and sisters.
The moral law given to us through the Scriptures and Tradition guides us to respect and nurture the sacred dignity of every human being, including ourselves.
A culture divided
The fundamental arguments and evils which divide our culture today reflect a profound conflict concerning the definition of the human person.
If my life is not a gift and mystery, created and defined by God, if I am not oriented towards relationships of love and respect towards the Lord and others, then I am simply a malleable being.
In such an understanding (or misunderstanding) I define myself, declare my own truth, decide what is right and wrong, and proclaim my own sexual identity.
This primordial temptation, which has become the siren song of our society, goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and Original Sin.
This lack of respect for objective truth, and this profound distortion of the reality of things is tragically at the root of contraception, abortion, euthanasia, transgenderism, and the LGBTQ movement.
Our government leaders, both on the federal and state level, have become ever more radical in their advocacy and defense of abortion on demand with no restrictions, infanticide, the permanent genital mutilation of children, and the entire ideology of the sexual revolution, including transgenderism.
Anyone who opposes or even simply remains neutral in the face of these attacks on human life and dignity encounters vicious condemnation and even physical violence.
Our cultural landscape has so profoundly shifted in these evil directions in just the last ten years, that in many ways, this country has become a different place.
The indoctrination of these false ideologies in our public schools and through the majority of our media is significantly disturbing.
Because the Church loves everyone and seeks the salvation of the human race, She will always point out the errors which hurt and destroy so many lives.
Proclaiming dignity
In the face of this confusion and error, the Catholic Church continues to proclaim the dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God.
We Catholics see ourselves as servants of the human person.
That is why the Catholic Church does more for education, health care, and service to the poor and destitute than any other institution on the planet.
Serving on the executive board of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), I am inspired by the remarkable impact of this international agency of the United States Catholic bishops.
CRS serves 250 million people in 102 countries, providing disaster relief, agricultural development, and human progress to those who live on the margins of the world’s abundance.
I would love to organize a global project, asking millions of Catholics around the world to photograph events, activities, and encounters in one 24-hour period which capture the depth and breadth of what the Church does for the world on a daily basis.
On a far more modest plane, the pages of this week’s Catholic Herald showcase many examples of how our diocese lives and proclaims the Gospel of Life, as we seek to defend, protect, and nurture the human dignity of every single person created by God.
Answers to mysteries of life
For 2,000 years, the Church has reflected on the mystery and meaning of the human person, in the light of Christian revelation.
The answers given to us through Scripture and Tradition reflect the profound truth of God’s intention and plan for the human race.
When we understand and live the beautiful anthropology illuminated by the Church, we come to both know God and ourselves.
True human flourishing rests on knowing and living the answers to three important questions: Who am I? I am a child of God, created in the divine image. What is my purpose? I exist to know, love, and serve God and to help bring as many people as I can into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. What is my destiny? I am destined for eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Imagine how different the world would be if everyone knew, understood, and lived these answers to such primary questions.
Human history repeatedly shows the tragic implications of rejecting God and religious faith.
When a society walks away from the Lord and shuns the divine truth of things, the human person suffers disrespect, confusion, violence, and death.
We Catholics will always lift up human dignity with joy, courage, serenity, and love, wanting to serve and bless every person made in the image and likeness of God.