Person and Community

Lesson 5
Introduction
The concern of this chapter is to be able to highlight the inextricable
truth between person and community. This exclusive realization that
finds expression in the Christian faith saves us from the folly of
contemporary society that reduces the human person either to
individualism or totalitarian collectivism. Individualism condemns us
to selfishness and self-absorption while collectivism as a totalitarian
project rids the human person of her uniqueness and depth. Christian
reflection awakens us to the truth that the human person is always
more than what she thinks of herself.
Introduction
As a unique and original she may be, her relationship are never just an
adds-on or an extra to herself. The truth of the human person is
always a realization of the self within a community relationships. One
finds meaning according to the Christian tradition, not in burning
bridges or clamming up within the very interiority of who we are. The
fullness of what it means to be a human being is in faithful to
commitments one gifts others. The fullness of the human being is not
in self actualization but in the very transcendence of the self in service
and loving. We find ourselves by giving of ourselves in community.
A. Person
Inviolability of Every Human Being
The word person has ifs roots in the Greek word “Prosopon”.
Originally prosopon refers to the mask that is worn by actors in a
theater play. A Catholic thinker by the name of Max Scheler points out
the very depth and expanse of the birth of the "notion of person“ by
highlighting the effect that is accomplished by the prosopon mask.
OPEN SECRE
T
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BLIND UNKNOWN
1. The Human Persons are Rational Beings

Human beings can think over a situation before making a

decision and choose their action.
2. The Human Person is Relational

This relatedness implies togetherness.

The human person looks for someone of his/her likeness. The

person is involved in a concrete relationships with his / her
family, friends, co-workers and God.
3. The Human Person is Embodied Spirit

By the virtue of creation, the human body is good and

honourable.
Jesus, the son of God, dignified his body through his incarnation.
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
4. The Human Person is Historical

The historicity of the human person is the conglomeration of

his/her past, present, and future dimension.

This historical person is a pilgrim on-the- way who, gradually,

through time, becomes full self.
5. The Human Persons are Unique

Human persons are unique, BUT FUNDAMENTALLY

EQUAL.

When God creates the human couple, male and female, in the
divine image, no such discrimination is made.
Equal Worth of All Human Beings
Every human person is awakened her being who she is always as a
member of human community. The depth of this dialogue is kept in
the interpersonal encounter between an "l and you" relationship. In
the very depth of this encounter, the self is surprised by the fact that
she not only sees but is seen deeply and intimately by an other.
Looking at another set eyes that looks back at us, decenters us;
which means we are not the center of the whole world.
Equal Worth of All Human Beings
A personal encounter with another human being awakens us to the
truth that the dignity of both are equally inherent, inviolable and
inalienable.

To live in fidelity is to stand before an other who is also as an

inherent value.
B. Community
 Community as a Complex of
Relationship
Community – means a group of people with a common characteristic or
 

interest living together within a larger society. (Merriam webster)

Community - where we are to come alongside each other to grow and mature
in our faith. Whenever people come together in biblical community, it is an
opportunity to show each other, and a watching world, the love of God.
Community is also where the enemy tries to plant seeds of division. (Biblical
definition)
Community as a Complex of
Relationship
Knowing the close and inextricable unity that is true of persons-in-community, we better
understand that relationships are not secondary to the value of the individual. St. John Paul
Il consistently tells us that a human person only finds fullness in her network of
relationships. The self finds the best version of herself in full participation in community.
The self then is not only a center of agency in her ability to initiate. act, govern and even
give shape to herself. St John Paul 2 is telling us that more than being a Center of action,
the human being is also a person of responsiveness. She lives as able to respond before an
other. She is fully herself in being responsible towards others.
Community as a Network of
Communication
The self of the human person is mediated by her use of language. She is able to
better understand herself through reflection or discursiveness that is the
function of her thinking. We can say that she better understand herself by
"talking to herself, “ that is thinking/reason. She is reasonable if she can think
straight or her actions match her words. Communication therefore is very
important in the stewardship of the self. The virtue of self-care therefore is
promoted by the practice of reflection that is also reason or thinking for oneself.
Activity
Answer activity on page 121 – 122, CLF textbook.
 Performance Task:
Short Movie Analysis
(The Prodigal Son)
August 28, 2023

SAMPLE FOOTER TEXT 20XX 20