UST THY1 | UNIT 1, Lesson C: Jesus As The One Who Sheds Light On The Mystery And Dignity Of The Human Person

[The Human Person in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Hierarchy of Beings] Hierarchy of beings (scala naturae)

Framework for understanding humans in relation to God and creation.

[The Human Person in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Hierarchy of Beings] Human beings are unique in the visible world because they:

• Possess rationality (intellect + free will).

• Share traits of lower beings: sensation (like animals), life (like plants).

[The Human Person in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Hierarchy of Beings] Man = “Individua Substantia Naturae Rationalis”

Man is an individual substance of rational nature. This makes the human person distinct from all other creatures — combining material and spiritual dimensions

[The Human Person According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics] 1. Open and Relational

• Human beings are born of relationships and live by, with, and for others.

• Trinitarian origin: created as social beings, redeemed as a people, Spirit works within and among us.

• “Being by others” (conception, birth), “with others” (family, community), “for others” (service, love).

[The Human Person According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics] 2. Conscious Beings

• Persons are self-aware through knowing and willing.

• By reason, man knows God’s order, discerns good vs. evil, and hears God’s law inscribed in the heart (CFC 688).

[The Human Person According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics] 3. Embodied Spirits (Hylemorphism = body-soul unity)

• Body: essential, not an instrument; good and honorable (GS 14). Dignified by Incarnation (Jn 1:14). “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19–20).

• Soul: the form/unifying principle of the body; needs embodiment to function fully.

[The Human Person According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics] 4. Historical Realities

• Persons = pilgrims in time, gradually becoming their full selves.

• Free to form themselves; integrating past and present for a coherent future (CFC 690).

[The Human Person According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics] 5. Unique yet Fundamentally Equal

• All share same nature, origin, and destiny (redeemed by Christ) → fundamental equality (GS 29).

• Each person is unique, irreplaceable, and called to “image” God in a personal way.

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 1. Created in the Likeness of God

• Theological foundation of human sacredness. 

• Man alone is willed by God for his own sake, called to share in God’s life by knowledge and love. 

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 1. Created in the Likeness of God

• As image of God: 

  • Man possesses intellect and free will, giving him self-determination, with freedom as the highest sign of this divine likeness. Through reason, he hears God’s voice, urging him to choose good and avoid evil.

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 1. Created in the Likeness of God

• Implications: 

  • Each person is irreplaceable and never merely a means, but is called to stewardship, sharing responsibility for creation. At the same time, each is called to communion, capable of self-giving love in imitation of God’s Trinitarian love.

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 2.Redeemed by the Blood of Christ

• Humanity’s communion with God was shattered by sin, but not abandoned. 

• God saves by gathering people again through Christ. 

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 2.Redeemed by the Blood of Christ | What does 2 Cor 5:21 say?

• Sin leads to death; Christ took on fallen humanity to make us righteous

• In Christ, we rediscover our dignity and the meaning of life. 

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 2.Redeemed by the Blood of Christ | What does CCC 602 say?

Redemption reveals the “surpassing worth of our humanity”

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 3. Made Holy by the Presence of the Spirit

Holiness is the grace of the Holy Spirit, who renews us within, heals sin, strengthens us to live as children of light, and even prompts our prayer. While man is free to reject this inspiration, he cannot attain justice without grace, for good works draw their merit first from God’s gift and then from human cooperation.

[Mystery & Dignity of the Human Person] 4. Christ as the One who Sheds Light on the Dignity of the Human Person

• The mission of the Church is to uplift human lives by pointing to Christ as the model, for it is only in the mystery of the Word incarnate that the mystery of man is made clear.

• Through the Incarnation, the Son united Himself with every person, showing how to be fully human and fully alive, and grounding human dignity in our origin as created in God’s image, our meaning as redeemed by Christ, and our destiny as called to eternal communion with God.