Humility: Respecting Human Dignity in Everyday Life

Every person is a galaxy of parts and mystery: traumas and joys, virtues and vices, all bound together in the same struggle toward Heaven. We are shaped by our upbringing and by critical moments of development, yet often burdened by despair when the path seems too difficult. In every circumstance, we carry our cross and confront our finitude, recognizing our need for God’s love, grace, and providence—His forgiveness, guidance for the future, and knowledge of His past mercies. Our specialized education may make us superior in one area but inferior in many others; we are at once beautiful and broken. We perceive reality sometimes as it is, sometimes as we wish it to be, shaped by both opinion and orthodox belief. We strive to love, yet fail frequently, perpetuating wounds in ourselves and others, for we are social creatures. Ultimately, Christ will separate the wheat from the chaff and the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31–46), dealing with each according to our deeds—leading either to fuller communion with God and His Church or to perpetual separation and a “dying that is never quenched” (Mark 9:43–48). In our sins and in our evangelical efforts, in encouraging virtue or echoing the Enemy’s voice, we play a role in each other’s destiny. Although we have many dimensions—emotional, intellectual, moral—our true dignity lies in being made in God’s image and restored to Divine Sonship by Christ’s saving action.

Created “in the image and likeness of God,” each person possesses inherent dignity that no trauma or triumph can eclipse[1]. Our finitude and susceptibility to sin echo St. Paul’s warning that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Mortal sin, if unredeemed, excludes us from Christ’s kingdom and brings eternal death[2]. Yet Christ’s mercy endures, calling us to repentance (Matthew 4:17) and promising “shadows of good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1). The Parable of the Sheep and Goats portrays the final judgment: works of mercy toward others determine our fate (Matthew 25:35–40). This eschatological hope bids us turn from lesser ways to greater, acknowledging the cost of our choices and seeking restoration where we have harmed our neighbors.

Every person is sacred and worthy of love. True restoration does not come from rote actions but from a shared pilgrimage in grace: we walk together, supported by God’s strength and our neighbors’ compassion. To honor another’s sacredness, we must see them as they are—beyond our frustrations or preconceptions—and will their good in each moment. Sometimes that means offering correction, at other times patient acceptance or deeper engagement. As St. Paul teaches in his discourse on charity, “so faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). And as the Catechism affirms, charity is the bond of perfection, the form of all virtues, and the fulfillment of the Law[3]. Even the choice to respect another’s freedom, however painful, reflects their sacred dignity and preserves the possibility of mutual healing[4].

In conclusion, the sooner we accept our broken state, the sooner we can love authentically. We are always in need of repentance—turning from lesser ways to greater by admitting our errors, seeking restoration, and embracing the present will of God. This ongoing conversion is not a burdensome law but the path to our true destiny: communion with God and one another. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, the ultimate end of human life is union with God, which requires both grace and our free cooperation[5]. The Magisterium calls the Church to be leaven in the world, transforming every human structure with Gospel truth and charity[6][7]. Thus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we embrace our role in each other’s journey—eager to be corrected, ready to change, and committed to willing the good of every person—as we seek the “unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” for the renewal of all creation (Eph. 4:13). This is the ideological consistency we are called to. [8]

Written by Carter Carruthers (with Help from Magisterium AI and Chat GPT)

FN:

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 1700.
2. CCC, 1861.
3. CCC, 1822–1829.  
4. Second Vatican Council, Ecumenical Council Declaration on the Right of the Person and of Communities to Social and Civil Freedom in Matters Religious Dignitatis Humanae (7 December 1965), §2.
5. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I-II, q. 1, a. 8, at New Advent, www.newadvent.org.
6. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation on the Mission and Vocation of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World Christifideles laici (30 December 1988), §44.
7. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World Evangelii gaudium (24 November 2013), §273.
8. Carter Carruthers, "Responsibility of Belief", Vivat Agnus Dei, February 18, 2024.