Life & Dignity of the Human Person - Part 3

So what are the most important connections between this central principle of Catholic social teaching and the lives of today's young adults? 

I leave you with three final thoughts on the subject.

1) The life and dignity of the human person begins with who we are. For better or for worse, much of Millennial/ Gen X culture focuses on the individual as well. Is it any surprise that a generation walking around with iPods and iPhones, blogging and Twittering and Facebooking all the details of their private lives, has been criticized as "me"-focused? But I would argue that this focus on the self may provide just the place for young adults to start thinking about the life and dignity of the human person. If I understand my own uniqueness, can I come to see that each human life is unique and worthy of the same respect I want to receive?

2) Building off this notion of self-reflection, young adults are often consumed with questions of identity. Who am I? What am I supposed to do with my life? What do I want to be "when I grow up"? The principle of the life and dignity of the human person is right in line with these questions that define young adulthood. If God has created a unique life within me, what am I called to do with this life? Get married, stay single, go to school, get a job? Young adults grapple with questions of identity and calling (even if the confusion is not always defined in such terms), and reflecting on the life and dignity of the human person raises the same questions that young people ask themselves every day. 

3) Finally, it's important to keep in mind BOTH aspects of this principle from Catholic social teaching: the life AND dignity of the human person. Here I have to speak a word about the uncomfortable divide that can creep into our churches, the division we don't like to name. I have heard passionate pro-life advocates tell me that "'life' is the only part of this that matters, because if you don't have life, you certainly can't have dignity." I have also heard Catholics who advocate for social justice talk about their fear that "the right-to-lifers will swallow up any notion of the dignity of the human person." Ouch. 

While it can certainly be true that one person might feel called to speak out on the sacredness of life while another witnesses to the inherent dignity of each human person, this principle has to remain a "both-and." We cannot have life without dignity, and we cannot have dignity without life. Young adults can fall on both sides of this "divide" within our communities of faith, but I am hopeful that a generation that seeks to build bridges, that has been raised to hear differences in opinion, that understands the notion of solidarity between peoples, might work to bridge this gap. We are called to be a church that respects the life and the dignity of each human person, and this teaching challenges us all to examine how the application of this teaching must grow ever wider, ever more "catholic" (meaning "universal"), in order to work towards the flourishing of God's peace and justice among us.

Next week: the call to family, community, and participation...