Day 50: The Dignity of Man

"God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship. CCC 355

In today's reading, the Catechism focuses on the dignity of man. Of all of God's creations, we are the most unique, in being of spirit and body, made "in the image of God" (Gen 1:27). We are self-aware and have self-knowledge and self-possession. It is the combination of all these things that reveal the love of God at work, and our uniqueness in Creation. Not to angels or animals were all of these given, but to man it was as He willed. I'm reminded of this scene from Shakespeare's play, Hamlet:

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals. (Act II, Scene II)

In this Hamlet may be seen as boasting, and perhaps he is a little, but probably more in admiration of what God created. We also see this echoed somewhat in Psalm 8. Because of this dignity that God created in us, I would say that we are obligated to serve Him out of loving gratitude and treat one another with the respect such dignity placed within each of us deserves. How could we do any different without offending the Creator? Any action on our part which mars that dignity He gave us is sinful. From slavery, racism, and bigotry, to murder, all of these alienate us from the One who made us. There is no greater image of His love for us than the sacrifice and redemption through the Son of the Living God despite our sins (John 3:16). I like how the Catechism quotes from St. Peter Chrysologus on a related aspect of this:

St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ. . . the first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. the first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life... the second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. the first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. the last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the last." CCC 359

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City (c. 1512)