by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
During these Carnival days of joy and merriment, CCSJ urges everyone not to lose sight of their inherent, inalienable, and inviolable dignity. It is when we forget who we really are that we throw caution to the wind and fail to protect our dignity.
Each year CCSJ encourages citizens and visitors to our blessed T&T to exercise self-control and modesty in dress and behaviour during the Carnival season. A lack of modesty creates fertile ground for individuals to rid themselves of social responsibility or ethical standards. If we don’t accept our own worth as individuals and pursue personal excellence, how will we build positive relations with others?
This Carnival, do not let the “liquor conquer” you! Practise self-respect, respect for others and responsibility for all your actions. And if such action requires us to swim against the tide, then let us be strong and determined not to model ourselves on the behaviour of the world around us; let our behaviour change, modelled by our new mind (Romans 12:2).
To live truly human lives, we must reject behaviour that diminishes our dignity; we must rise to the challenge of revitalising our culture and identity. St Theresa of Avila urges: “Be modest in all your words and works.” Our young people look to us for leadership. We adults must model modesty so that our youth will be inspired to follow our lead.
For the 2015 Lenten period, CCSJ has produced some reflections on the key principles of the social teaching of our Church (see our website). If we are to draw closer to God and deepen our faith during Lent, then we should develop our awareness about what our scriptures and our Church’s teaching tell us about the following principles: the Sanctity of life & the Dignity of the Human Person; the Common Good; the Fundamental Option for the Poor and Vulnerable; Family & Community; Participation in the economic, political, social and cultural life of society; Rights and Responsibilities; Economic Justice; Environmental Stewardship – Care for God’s Creation; the Role of Government & Subsidiarity; Global Solidarity & Development; Social Justice, Commutative Justice, Restorative Justice, Distributive Justice; the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers; the Promotion of Peace and Disarmament; and the Universal Destination of Goods.
Our vocation is to be holy. Our Church provides us with a framework of morals and values. Let us live our lives within this framework. The principle of human dignity is the bedrock of all our justice and peace work. If there are little or no morals in society, we will soon find ourselves going down the slippery slope.
Human dignity extends from the moment of conception to natural death – at all stages and in all circumstances. Our Catechism (CCC 1700) reminds us that: “The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God; it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude. It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfilment. By his deliberate actions, the human person does, or does not, conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral conscience.”
Although human dignity is a permanent part of our character, given by God, it is also a goal, an achievement. This means that we must constantly be seeking to realise our human dignity. Dr J Brian Benestad rightly says in his essay on Gaudium et Spes: “Christians continually achieve or perfect their dignity by seeking the truth, resisting sin, practising virtue, and repenting when they succumb to temptation.” He also noted Pope Leo XII’s statement in Rerum novarum: “True dignity and excellence in men and women resides in moral living, that is, in virtue.”
In our world today, human life and dignity seem to be devalued, denigrated and degraded. We have much work to do to create communities that value and promote the dignity of each human person, communities that respect life and that work to create conditions that will enable each person to realise his/her potential.
On Friday, February 20, remember to observe the World Day of Social Justice which aims to “support efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all.” May the Holy Spirit help us to live our faith so that our concern for social justice will be transformed into constructive action as we spread the Good News in T&T and the world.
