The pandemic has highlighted how vulnerable and interconnected everyone is. If we do not take care of one another, starting with the least, with those who are most impacted, including creation, we cannot heal the world.
Commendable is the effort of so many
people who have been offering evidence of human and Christian love for
neighbour, dedicating themselves to the sick even at the risk of their own
health. They are heroes! However, the coronavirus is not the only disease to be
fought, but rather, the pandemic has shed light on broader social ills. One of
these is a distorted view of the person, a perspective that ignores the dignity
and relational of the person. (la sua refers to person, not his or her) At
times we look at others as objects, to be used and discarded. In reality this
type of perspective blinds and fosters an individualistic and aggressive
throw-away culture, which transforms the human being into a consumer good (cf.
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 53; Encyclical Laudato Si’, [LS], 22).
In the light of faith we know, instead,
that God looks at a man and a woman in another manner. He created us not as
objects but as people loved and capable of loving; He has created us in His
image and likeness (see Gen 1:27). In this way He has given us
a unique dignity, calling us to live in communion with Him, in communion with
our sisters and our brothers, with respect for all creation. In communion, in harmony, we might say. Creation is the
harmony in which we are called to live. And in this communion, in this harmony
that is communion, God gives us the ability to procreate and safeguard life (see Gen 1:28-29),
to till and keep the land (see Gen 2:15; LS,
67). It is clear that one cannot procreate and safeguard life without harmony;
it will be destroyed.
We have an example of that
individualistic perspective, that which is not harmony, in the Gospels, in the
request made to Jesus by the mother of the disciples James and John (cf. Mt
20:20-38). She wanted her sons to sit at the right and the left of the new
king. But Jesus proposes another type of vision: that of service and of giving
one’s life for others, and He confirms it by immediately restoring sight to two
blind men and making them His disciples (see Mt 20:29-34). Seeking to climb in life, to be superior to others, destroys
harmony. It
is the logic of dominion, of dominating others. Harmony is something else: it
is service.
Therefore, let us ask the Lord to give
us eyes attentive to our brothers and sisters, especially those who are
suffering. As Jesus’s disciples we do not want to be indifferent or
individualistic. These are the two unpleasant attitudes that run counter to
harmony. Indifferent: I look the other way. Individualist: looking out only for
one’s own interest. The harmony created by God asks that we look at others, the
needs of others, the problems of others, in communion. We want to recognise the
human dignity in every person, whatever his or her race, language or condition
might be. Harmony leads you to recognise human dignity, that harmony created by
God, with humanity at the centre.
The Second Vatican Council emphasises
that this dignity is inalienable, because it “was created ‘to the image of
God’” (Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 12). It lies at the foundation of all
social life and determines its operative principles. In modern culture, the
closest reference to the principle of the inalienable dignity of the person is
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Saint John Paul II defined as
a “milestone on the long and difficult path of the human race”, [1] and as “one of the highest expressions of the human
conscience”. [2] Rights are not only individual, but also social; they
are of peoples, nations. [3] The human being, indeed, in his or her personal
dignity, is a social being, created in the image of God, One and Triune. We are
social beings; we need to live in this social harmony, but when there is
selfishness, our outlook does not reach others, the community, but focuses on
ourselves, and this makes us ugly, nasty and selfish, destroying harmony.
This renewed awareness of the dignity of
every human being has serious social, economic and political implications.
Looking at our brother and sister and the whole of creation as a gift received
from the love of the Father inspires attentive behaviour, care and wonder. In
this way the believer, contemplating his or her neighbour as a brother or
sister, and not as a stranger, looks at him or her compassionately and
empathetically, not contemptuously or with hostility. Contemplating the world
in the light of faith, with the help of grace, we strive to develop our
creativity and enthusiasm in order to resolve the ordeals of the past. We
understand and develop our abilities as responsibilities that arise from this
faith,[4] as gifts from God to be placed at the service of
humanity and of creation.
While we all work for a cure for a virus
that strikes everyone without distinction, faith exhorts us to commit ourselves
seriously and actively to combat indifference in the face of violations of human
dignity. This culture of indifference that accompanies the throwaway culture:
things that do not affect me, do not interest me. Faith always requires that we
let ourselves be healed and converted from our individualism, whether personal
or collective; party individualism, for example.
May the Lord “restore our sight” so as
to rediscover what it means to be members of the human family. And may this
sight be translated into concrete actions of compassion and respect for every
person and of care and safeguarding of our common home.
[1] Address to the General Assembly of the United
Nations (2 October 1979).
[2] Address to the General Assembly of the
United Nations (5 October 1995).
[3] Cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the
Church, 157.
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