Module Two

Our Personhood is the Key to Christian Moral Life

Lesson 1: Our Essential Nature as Human Persons

LESSON OBJECTIVES – The lesson is ordered to enable the students to:

Doctrine: demonstrate through the Sternberg Triarchic the true essence of a human
being;
Morals: describe the Moral Character of the human person according to the four
qualities mentioned by William Cosgrave;
Worship: implore the salvation of souls and ask for forgiveness in the sacrament of
Penance.

Opening Prayer

Reading Psalm 8:5-10

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,    

  the moon and the stars that you have established;
    what are human beings that you are mindful of them,     
mortals that you care for them?
    Yet you have made them a little lower than God,     
and crowned them with glory and honor.
    You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;    
  you have put all things under their feet,
    all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
    the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,     
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Context

Sternberg Triarchic (This activity will be given as an assignment.)

Each student will choose to answer one situation at his/her convenience. Then, they will be grouped
according to their chosen activity: practical, analytical, or creative.

Practical

In the movie entitled “Indecent Proposal”, Demi Moore and her husband was offered with a huge amount
of money by a wealthy man so that Demi Moore will sleep with him for one night. At first, Demi Moore
and her husband refused but later Demi Moore said, “Anyway, it’s only my body.” What can you say
about what Demi Moore said?

14
Analytical

GS 14 asserted, “The Essential Nature of Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity....Through him
they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the
creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as
good,…”

What are the instances wherein man despises his/her bodily life? What are the instances wherein man
regards his/her body as good?

Creative

Tear out magazine or newspaper photos, headlines, and articles to create a collage depicting both the
goodness and the evil of the human condition.

Group Presentation will follow after few minutes of finalizing their assigned tasks.

Exposition

A. Sacred Scripture

Romans 8:9

But [man is] not in the flesh, [he/she is] in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in [him/her].

Human being is essentially created by God as good. Therefore, it is innate in man to do

what is good and right as the Spirit leads. What then, is human person’s higher calling?

B. Church Teaching

GS 14

The Essential Nature of Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity....Through him they are
thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the
creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his
body as good,...nevertheless man has been wounded by sin.

GS 15

The intellectual nature of man finds at last its perfection, as it should, in wisdom, which gently
draws the human mind to look for and to love what is true and good.

Activity

15
 William Cosgrave, in his article Moral Character, cites four different ways in which we speak of
the good moral character or the person who has grown significantly in moral goodness and virtue.
Comment on the following ways:

Being Fully Human

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Being a Loving Person

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Being a Virtuous Person

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Being a Morally Mature Person

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Integration

Our experience of personal disharmony within ourselves challenges us to do good all the more.
We have to respond to our human nature’s inclination and destination to a higher form of life. This is
what our very nature as persons calls us: to consistently do good and avoid evil. Consequently, we form
our character which makes us more human. By so doing, we will realize to live morally not as a burden
imposed by the Church, State or God. Simultaneously, we also implore the salvation of our souls and ask
for forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.

Lesson 2: Our Essential Dignity as Human Persons

16
 LESSON OBJECTIVES – The lesson is ordered to enable the students to:

Doctrine: define and describe what is dignity in relation to Jesus Christ;

Morals: differentiate dignity from reputation and consequently identify oneself

based on one’s dignity rooted in Jesus Christ;

Worship: recognize that the Sacrament of Baptism gives us our dignity by making us
sharers in the divine nature and children of God.

Opening Prayer Sino Ako?

Hiram sa Diyos ang aking buhay

Ikaw at ako’y tanging handog lamang
Di ko ninais na ako’y isilang
Ngunit salamat, dahil may buhay

Ligaya ko na ako’y isilang,

‘Pagkat tao ay mayroong dangal
Sino’ng may pag-ibig, sino’ng nagmamahal
Kundi ang tao
Diyos ang pinagmulan.
Kundi ako umibig
Kundi ko man bigyang halaga

Ang buhay kong handog

Ang buhay kong hiram sa Diyos
Kundi ako nagmamahal, sino ako?

Context – Tom and Jerry Tale

There’s a man who considers himself a rat. So, when he sees a cat, he has to run for his life. One
day, he consulted the psychiatrist regarding his psychiatric problem. The psychiatrist simply advised him
to look at himself in a mirror and say, “I am not a rat,” for one whole day. The man followed the
instruction faithfully. He looked himself intently to the mirror and said, “I am not a rat, I am not a rat...”

The next day, he went back to the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asked the man, “How are you?”
The man excitedly replied, “I am not a rat, I am not a rat”. 1 The psychiatrist answered, “Well and good”.
You are now healed. Congratulations!

1
In Psychology, this is auto-suggestion or self-affirmation.
17
 As the man opened the door, he cowed himself and went back to the doctor. The doctor asked,
“Why are so terribly afraid”? The man said, “There’s a cat at your doorstep”. “Then, why are you
scared?” asked the doctor. “You have just told me that you are not a rat.” “Yes Doc, I told you that” the
man replied. “But the cat didn’t actually know that I am not anymore a rat.”

Like the man in the tale, each of us suffers a psychiatric problem in many different ways. We
consider ourselves a “rat” when we succumb to others’ expectations. The “cat” symbolizes the modern
world’s expectation at us. Bo Sanchez, once wrote, “Who would say that you should be 36-24-36? By
these very standard the world has distorted how you and I look at ourselves and one another.”

Ask yourself momentarily:

“Who am I really”?

What is my identity as a human person?

Rate Yourself
4 – Most of the Time
3 – Some of the Time
2 - Rarely
1 - Never

Honestly, this is me... Most of the Time Some of the Time Rarely Never

1. I identify myself with my body.

So I feel insecure if I am thin or fat.

2. I identify myself with my external

appearance like my clothes.

3. I identify myself with my talents and

abilities.

4. I identify myself with my grades and

other academic achievements.

5. I identify myself with my project or

work done.

6.I identify myself with my possessions

(like car or house).

7. I identify myself with my positions.

18
8. I identify myself with my parents’
occupation and status.

9. I identify myself with my peers.

10.I identify myself with the

technological gadgets (like cellphone
model, laptop or tablet)

My Total Score

1. How do you see yourself in this activity?

2. Do you feel insecure because of some of the above-mentioned items? Can you say that you are
inclined to base your identity to external things like possessions and positions? How will you
redeem your self-identity from the world’s expectations?

3. What are other items or aspects that you tend to identify ourselves to and feel better or
insecure because of those items/aspects?

4. If it happens, that your batchmates in high school will agree to have a reunion after 10 or 20
years. What is the usual stereotype that your batchmate is considered successful?

5. Using the lens of Christian faith, how do you look at your self-identity, your dignity?

6. What does our Christian faith tell us who we are as human persons?

Exposition

A. Sacred Scripture

Gen 1:26; 1 Cor 8:6; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Rom 8:14-16; 1 Cor 6:19; 1 Jn 3:1

Christ reveals how the essential dignity of all persons is grounded directly on
their origin, meaning and destiny. (CFC 685)

19
 What then is our identity in relation to Christ? How then does Christ reveal our essential dignity?
How does our Christian faith tell us who we are as human persons? The universal and national
catechism for Catholics affirm, teach and believe that we, as human persons;

“are created by God in His image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) through our Lord Jesus Christ,
“through whom everything was made and through whom we live” (1 Cor 8:6). We believe
all are redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), and are sanctified by the
indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14-16; 1 Cor 6:19). We believe all persons are called to be
children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3:1), destined for eternal life of blessed communion with the
Father, His Risen-Incarnate Son, and their Holy Spirit (CFC 685 cf. CCC 1692).

B. Church Teaching

CL 37

“The inviolable dignity of every human person. . . is the most precious

possession of an individual, [whose] value comes not from what a person ‘has’
as much as from what a person ‘is’ ”.

GS 14

His very dignity therefore requires that he should glorify God in his body, and not
allow it to serve the evil inclinations of his heart.

Our Church teaching asserts that our most precious possession as human persons is our dignity.
The value of our dignity as human persons comes not from any material possessions and external
identities but from what a person “is,”. This means that our very dignity lies in our being created by God,
redeemed by the blood of Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, called children of God and destined to
eternal life.

Integration

After knowing in this lesson, that man’s dignity is rooted in Christ and not to anything else, the
man in Tom and Jerry Tale realizes and knows that he is not anymore a “rat”. But the cat (the world) still
sees him and expects him to be a “rat”. This is man’s dilemma in this materialistic and consumeristic
world. Because of the dictates of this modern world, we tend to identify ourselves to many worldly
things, pleasures and allurements. Yet, the key to Christian moral life is our dignity as human persons.
Our human identity does not rest on these things but to our essential dignity rooted in Christ. This is our
higher calling as we affirm what St. Augustine said, “My heart is restless until it rests in Thee, my God.”

The Sacrament of Baptism gives us our dignity by making us sharers in the divine nature and
children of God. Through the Spirit we receive in Baptism, we are given the strength and guidance to live
a Christian moral life.

20
Assignment:

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this

world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I
was made for another world. If none of my earthly
pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe
is fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to
satisfy it, but only to arouse it,
to suggest the real thing.

C.S. Lewis

1. Comment on the adage of C.S. Lewis. How does this saying

relate to our essential dignity as human
persons against what the world dictates on who we are as human persons?

2. Ponder the moments when you feel worthless or unloved or rejected. How could this lesson on the
essential dignity of man console or pacify your inner being – that in God’s eyes you have infinite value,
that as Christians we can make a marked difference?

21
Lesson 3 Our Experiences as Human Persons

LESSON OBJECTIVES – The lesson is ordered to enable the students to:

Doctrine: explicitate the five characteristics of the human person through

Cooperative Group Learning;

Morals: image God (Imago Dei) guided by the five characteristics of the human
person which lead us to live a moral life;

Worship: adore God in the Eucharistic celebration as they continue to live

expressing their love for God and others.

Opening Prayer Psalm 139:13-14

You formed my inmost being;

you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
    
Context

Fr. Joel Jason, in his book entitled “Free Love, True Love”, relates the 2002 film Frida.

I cannot forget a line from the 2002 film Frida which depicted the life of the surrealist
painter Frida Kahlo played by Salma Hayek. Painter Diego Rivera, Frida’s lover who
eventually became her husband, was a womanizer. Frida caught him in bed with one
of his nude models and she confronted him. He retorted, “What’s the matter with
you? It’s just a fuck. I give more meaning to a handshake.”

In this moral situation, you can relate the experiences of the human person which are
actually the characteristics of the human person namely: open and relational, embodied
spirits, conscious beings, historical realities and unique yet fundamentally equal. If we are to
discern in this moral situation, the most fitting characteristic is embodied spirit because
Diego Rivera exploits his body and others body as mere instruments to satisfy his lustful
desires. As human persons, we are not only composed of a body but we have a soul. What
we do to our, we do to our spirit, as the Church Teaching asserts. Mr. Rivera even gives more
meaning to a handshake than to sexual intercourse which is only intended to married
couples.

Exposition

22
A. Sacred Scripture

1 Cor 3:1-3

Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly

people, ....Indeed, you are still not able, even now, for you are still of the
flesh. While there is jealousy and rivalry among you, are you not in the flesh
and behaving in an ordinary human way?

B. Church Teaching

CFC 686

But, despite their firm belief in these basic truths of the Christian Faith, many Catholics
do not realize how these truths touch their day-to-day moral attitudes, acts and choices.
Only if these credal truths are linked directly with the Filipinos’ experience of themselves
as persons, will they influence their moral living. Hence, we have to relate these
Christian truths to the common experience of “being a Filipino person.”

GS 14

[Man] finds by experience that his body is in revolt.

CFC 687-692 Persons in Experience

687. Persons are open and relational by nature. No man is an island; we grow into our
full selves as persons only in relating to others. We Filipinos are outstanding in this
regard: it is said “Filipinos are never alone.” We realize being a person means being by
others (our conception, birth, upbringing), being with others (our family, friends,
neighbors, business associates), and being for others (love, service). This is how we
have been created by God __ as social beings. This is how we have been redeemed by
Christ __ as a people. This is how the Holy Spirit works not only within but among us as
the people of God, journeying toward our common destiny in God.

23
 688. Persons are conscious beings, aware of themselves in their outgoing acts. We
possess this self-awareness through our knowing and free willing (cf. CCC 1704-7; GS
14-17). Thus we “image” in our small way the Creator’s infinite knowing and loving. This
is the basis for our moral life.

689. Persons are embodied spirits. This stresses the unity between our “body and
soul.” Our bodies are an essential part of our being human, not merely an “instrument”
we “use” according to our whims. Contrary to those who look down on the body, and
make it the source of all evil, Christian Faith regards the body as “good and honorable
since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day” (GS 14). Moreover, God the
Son further dignified the body through his Incarnation __ “The Word became flesh and
dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). And St. Paul admonishes us: “You must know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within __ the Spirit you have received from God. . . .
So, glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20). All our relationships with others and with
God are expressed through our bodies, which are the “natural sacrament” of our spiritual
depth.

690. Persons are historical realities. We are pilgrims on-the-way, who gradually,
through time, become our full selves. In exercising freedom, we decide for ourselves and
form ourselves; in this sense we are our own cause. We develop as persons in
discernible stages, described in great detail by modern psychology. Salvation history
narrated in the Bible shows the dynamic interplay between good and evil, success and
failure, within the lives of the great biblical figures. It recounts how God progressively
brought His Chosen People to a clearer understanding, and higher moral vision, of their
own being and of God Himself.

691. Persons are unique, yet fundamentally equal. Despite physical differences as
well as differing intellectual and moral powers, we instinctively realize that as persons, in
some basic way, we are all equal. This is what our Faith explains: “All men are endowed
with a rational soul and are created in God’s image; they have the same nature and
origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling and destiny;
there is here a basic equality between all men” (GS 29). Yet, each of us is called to
“image” God in a unique way __ no one can “take our place,” as it were. To each of us
Christ says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are
mine” (Is 43:1). Thus, within the fundamental equality of all persons, we recognize the
unique identity of each person.

692. This fundamental equality of all individual persons also grounds the participation
and solidarity of all peoples. “Since God the Father is the origin and purpose of all
people, we are all called to be brothers. Therefore, if we have been summoned by the
same destiny, which is both human and divine, we can and should work together to build
up the world in genuine peace” (GS 92).

Jigsaw Activity and Creative Role Play through Cooperative Group Learning

1. Break the students into five groups. Assign each group to a particular characteristic of the
human person.

24
 2. Have group members become experts. Gather the students who read the same segment
and direct them to discuss the main points of their assigned portion of the reading. They
need to become “experts” on their section.

3. Form jigsaw groups. Create new groups by combining experts from each original group.
Each new jigsaw group should include at least one expert on each segment of the reading.
In these new groups, the experts present their segment to the group.

4. After each segment has been addressed, the group will compose a moral situation
wherein they will relate the characteristics of the human person. The group will decide to
relate one or all of the characteristics depending on the moral situation they create.
Unlike the moral situation above, the group may opt to choose a morally good situation
which upholds the characteristics of the human person.

5. The group will then creatively portray their moral situation before the class.

Integration

Authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image of God in man. As human
persons, we are challenged to image God (Imago Dei) guided by the above-mentioned
characteristics which lead us to live a moral life.
Thus, with the Psalmist we will say, “will I bless you while I live; lifting up my hands, I
will call upon your name,” and adore God in the Eucharistic celebration as we continue to live
expressing our love for God and others.

Assignment

Whoever follows after Christ, the perfect man, becomes himself more of a man (GS 41).
Elaborate this line using the lesson on the experiences of a human person.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

25
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

26