On Human Dignity
Sunday Mass Readings
Consider the following news worthy events that hit the news papers this week:
First on a humour note: There is a new online dating website that promises to only let beautiful people obtain membership. The aptly named hotenough.org functions like a regular dating website with pictures and profiles, but members must maintain an 8 out of 10 rating to continue their membership. Well, I guess the rest of us should spend lonely, pathetic lives.
On a more serious note: This year, 2007, Britain is commemorating the 200th year of the abolition of British slavery. Over the centuries, 12 million people from Africa were captured, sold, bought and enslaved. While European countries have paid millions of dollars for the holocaust, for some reason countries are apprehensive about either apologising for slavery or talking about reparation. Finally, Tony Blair said sorry for the slave trade, months after his statement of "deep sorrow" was criticised by some for stopping short of a full apology. In America, this is a highly contentious issue. What do these two events tell us about the “dignity of the human person?” The book of Genesis tells us that the source of the human dignity comes from the fact that God has imprinted God’s own image and likeness on every human person (Gen 1:26). God did not put his image only on the beautiful and did not forget Africans. Every single person is in the image and likeness of God. Because of this every person has a certain privilege and merits a certain kind of treatment. The Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life – from conception until natural death – stems from this belief in the sacredness of every person.
What do these two events tell us about the “dignity of the human person?” The book of Genesis tells us that the source of the human dignity comes from the fact that God has imprinted God’s own image and likeness on every human person (Gen 1:26). God did not put his image only on the beautiful and did not forget Africans. Every single person is in the image and likeness of God. Because of this every person has a certain privilege and merits a certain kind of treatment. The Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life – from conception until natural death – stems from this belief in the sacredness of every person.
We see human dignity violated in multiple ways in the gospel reading today. First of all, the adulterous woman had violated her own sacred dignity. She allowed a stranger to violate not just her body, but rather her entire personhood. Second, the Pharisees violated her dignity. They dragged the woman caught in adultery before Jesus and put her on death row. If, as the scriptures tell us, she was caught in “very act of adultery”(Jn 8:4), then she probably did not have much clothing on her. She stands exposed before a mocking, bloodthirsty mob. Third, she was dragged before Jesus so that they could test him. These men had constructed an ingenuous case to get Jesus into trouble with the Law. That these men would make a spectacle of a vulnerable human person to test another was a gross violation of the dignity of both these human beings. And in succumbing to such low tactics, they violate their own dignity.
In his wisdom, Jesus acts to restore every person in the story their sacred dignity. First of all, he claims his own dignity. He refuses to become a pawn in their hand or their plotting and scheming. Secondly, he restores the dignity of his enemies. Instead of allowing them to taint their hands with blood, he leads them to introspection. Not a single person threw a single stone. Jesus keeps the possibility of conversion open for them. Thirdly, he takes this violated, abused and battered woman and restores her to God given dignity. “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and do not sin again.” Here was God, restoring a weak, sinful, abused woman her human dignity. And then he encourages her to value her own sense of worth by not sinning again.
Three practical implications.
1. The hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees lay in the fact that they had made the woman a pawn in their game. Jesus’ reply to their craftiness was equally ingenuous. He led them to reflect on their own actions first. When they realized that their lives were not very different from the woman “caught in the very act of adultery,” they walked away. So often, we like to make a spectacle of either those who do not respect themselves. The media loves Brittany Spears and Anna Nicole simply because it is easy to prey on vulnerable people. Society thrives on showcasing the degradation of those in prison and those on death row. How often at work and at other social events we end up talking about other people’s pathetic lives. The psychology behind our actions is simple. Introspection is hard. If we look inside ourselves we will discover much filth. And that is not pleasant. Truth hurts. It is easier and more entertaining to focus on other people’s lives. It is easy to make a spectacle of other people’s misfortunes. Just as Jesus led the people to drop the stones, Jesus is asking us to drop our judgements, our condemnations and our prejudices.
2. I want us reflect on the crucifixion of Jesus for a moment. Just like the adulterous woman, at the crucifixion, Jesus stood before a mocking crowd – naked. Unlike the woman, Jesus was innocent. Yet they stripped him in front of his mother, his closest friends, and his enemies and they violated his human dignity. I believe that through his stripping, Jesus was paying the price for every human person whose dignity has been violated and will be violated in the future. However, Jesus’ stripping continues today in evils that are contrary to human dignity. Racism and reverse racism destroys human dignity. In the immigration debate, the Church encourages Catholics to respect the dignity of human beings. While world leaders vowed “never again,” genocide continues in Darfur. My friend, who is doing her masters thesis on the topic says that pornography is a $ 60 billion industry. Society has made the beginning and the end of life contentious issues. To the extent that we participate in any of these evils we act contrary to the will of God. To the extent that we become passive bystanders we shirk our responsibility to truly value the God given dignity of each person. To the extent we intervene in restoring someone’s dignity, we cover the nakedness of Jesus.
3. In the first reading from the book of Isaiah, we hear about God’s promise to restore an entire people to their dignity as God’s chosen people. While in exile in Babylon, the people had found themselves without a God, without a temple, without priests for sacrifice, without a homeland – indeed without any dignity. To this people God would give his healing. This healing continues in the Sacrament of reconciliation. In fact, Jesus’ interaction with the adulterous woman is exactly what the Sacrament of reconciliation is all about. “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Before Easter comes, please make it to the sacrament of Reconciliation and let us allow God to restore us to his own image and likeness. And having been healed, let us ourselves step out to reconcile ourselves with others, especially those who human dignity we may have violated.
In this Eucharist, Jesus comes to us with his divine love so that our humanity can become divine. As we receive the Lord, let us decide that we will both treasure our own dignity and the dignity of others as the “image and likeness of God.” Amen.