Dante Q. Dela Cruz Jr.

BSA-III November 25, 2016

RE 6 MWF 9:30

“Human Person:
According to Natural Law”
A Human Person is:
Rational: Rationality is based upon reason or logic by its definition. First and
foremost we discover the truth that we are capable of thinking and thought processes.
Though this seems pretty obvious to a casual observer of human scene, it is the power of
rationality which enables us to figure out various problems, discover different laws within
nature, improve our humanity, and the like. It is this ability more than any other which has
helped men to progress. The mere fact that you can read, learn and comprehend from the
experiences of others, probably in a warm, sheltered environment, not worrying where
your next meal is coming from, is proof of this great gift of thinking in mankind, it is proof
that as rational human beings we continue to progress in this world.

Free: Being “free” is a fundamental human trait that no other animal species possess. It
is noted by social scientists as well as theologians as an individual’s ability to choose.
Unlike animals that are bounded by pure instinct to hunt, to eat, to survive, man has a
certain amount of liberty which enables him to revolutionize, to improve himself, to grasp
his future. In customary terms, this ability is known as “free will” and it is what enables
man to select between moral and immoral, good and evil, noble and foul. Without
freedom, man can hardly be considered as a living organism that is able to do right or
wrong.

Loving: Love is the highest form of choosing, it is because it is a choice for the good
of other people. Choosing “for others” means progressing their well-being, making sure
that they are capable of improving and growing, creating an ideal atmosphere for good
things to happen to them. This ability which is distinctive in man is dispossessed from
animal and plant life. One of the greatest evidence of humanities freedom is that he can
freely desire the good of another person or he can freely not desire the good of another
person. If he does desire the good of another, he loves. That is the concept of a human
being as loving.
An Embodied-Spirit: We are not mere thinking organisms and beings capable
of loving; we are an “embodied-spirit” as well. Possessing a body, which is part of the
“creation”, manifests a person’s relationship to the rest of the reality that was created.
Professionals and intellectuals debate that we are purely and simply “thinkers”, but the
reality of the situation is that we have bodies which was created like any other matter
which means we are interconnected. We become ourselves through the bodies we possess.
We express ourselves as we see fit. We experience the vastness of reality through our
emotions, longings, ambitions, feelings, our likes and dislikes. All of these make us who
we are.

Unique yet Social: One of the paradoxes that humanity is facing is that each of
us is a unique and identifiable person unlike any other individual in the past, present or
future yet we are unique only when we are in a relationship to a community. This means
we are all different like the squirrels, the worms and the trees in the forest, each organism
varies, and yet, despite the fact of our uniqueness like the squirrels, worms and trees we all
work together to continually push ourselves to progress in the environment we are in
because we are social beings. Our uniqueness becomes apparent only in community with
others. We individuals can only become who we are when relating to others in the great
human anatomy of a family.

Historical: Humanity has continuity with the past. In this context man is a
historical being. In connection to the previous statements humanities superiority to other
species is not limited to humanities ability to think, it also encompasses humanities ability
to think in continuity with the past. Man sums up in his humanity all that has preceded him.
If a man would develop total and immediate amnesia, his first question would be “who am
I?” He would not know himself because he would not know his past. Likewise, you are
your past. In the same way, the human race has memory in its being. To be human is to live
in openness to those who lived before you, just like your children’s children will live in
openness to those who lived before them.

Sexual: God designed procreation or sexual intercourse as a pleasant expression of

love between wedded couples to bind their relationship tighter together. It was also
intended so that children could be born into an affectionate and devoted family. Sexual
immorality is a temptation that is continually lingering around us. In most movies sex
outside of marriage is treated as ordinary, even a necessary part of life. While marriage in
movies are often depicted as restrictive and miserable. God does not forbid sexual
immorality. He knows its influence to destroy us physically and spiritually. It has shattered
countless lives and wrecked families. What God wants is to protect us from damaging our
self and others. We should address our loneliness and desires by putting God in the center
of our life because humans as sexual beings are natural.

HOWEVER: humans are not mere sexual beings, listed before this is what makes
every single human in this world humane. Let us always remember that.