RESPECT FOR LIFE

Human life at every stage of development and decline is precious and therefore worthy of protection
and respect. It is always wrong directly to attack innocent human life. The Catholic tradition sees the
sacredness of human life as part of any moral vision for a just and good society.

Every person, from the moment of conception to natural death, has inherent dignity and a right to life
consistent with that dignity. Human life is sacred which must be absolutely respected and protected
from the moment of conception because right from the beginning, it involves the creative action of God
and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the
Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right
to destroy directly an innocent human being. 

Healthy Self Love

Respecting our lives is not being bounded by not just taking one’s life and committing crimes but also
loving ourselves. Showing yourself respect does not make you narcissistic or conceited. In fact, it does
quite the opposite. When we respect God and ourselves, we are more worthy of receiving love and, in
turn, giving love to others. You yourself, as much as anybody, deserves your love and affection.

We should love ourselves because …

 We are made in God’s image & likeness

Having a successful faith life is going to start with you learning to love yourself. God does not
want us to go through our lives filled with hate, disappointment, or insecurities about ourselves.
God has created us perfectly in His image. In this day and age, it is difficult not to compare
ourselves to others or the idea of what we should look like. God designed us and made us
perfectly the way you are, and He loves you just that way. And that’s what truly matters.

 We are loved by Jesus Christ, who forgives our sins and died for us on the cross
I’m not saying that loving yourself is entirely the answer to a negative self-image, feelings of
inferiority, or sense of failure. It is also to understand the depth of God’s love, mercy,
forgiveness, and grace. He demonstrated this love in the most powerful way possible when
he sacrificed Jesus on the cross to die for our sins.
 We have inherent dignity!

The idea that humans have inherent worth is one that is affirmed. God bestowed dignity upon
us when he created us in his image (Gen. 1:26-27). It is his image in us that gives us value—value
that exists apart from our appearance, life experience, or contribution to society. This is why it
clearly calls us to protect, defend, and care for all of life because all people are made in the
image of God.

 Your value in God’s eyes does not come from anything you’ve done or not done. It is
unconditional.
Nothing changes God's love for His children. God loves with agape, the love described in 1
Corinthians 13. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for us. His love is
not based on performance. Christ loves us so much that while we were yet a sinner, He still died
for us. God's love for you is unconditional and undeserved. He loves us in spite of your
 disobedience, your weakness, your sin and your selfishness. He loves us enough to provide a way
to abundant, eternal life. If God loved those who are sinners that much, can you imagine how
much He loves us -- His child through faith in Christ and who seeks to please Him?

Who Deserves Our Love?

 We must love each person as a unique individual, a person with dignity and worth
because that is how God loves us.

 We should ourselves as we love ourselves.

Once you have accepted and worked on the above, coming to accept God’s love and loving
yourself, only then will you be ready to be there for your neighbors. It is important to
understand that loving your neighbors is not just a simple task. Instead, it requires your
entire self to be selfless. It requires you to show compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and
provide service and meet needs to and for your neighbors. To honestly love your neighbors,
you must give compassion, kindness, sharing, and be forgiving.

Why can’t so many of us love ourselves as God loves us?

 Because we listen to voices other than God
 Voices that don’t know who we are on the inside

Loving ourselves doesn’t always come easily. Especially when you’re trying to love

yourself each day but the people around you and your support group say otherwise.
There’s a silent battle within us that we’re not usually aware of. There are two “voices,”
inside us, and they are at war with one another. One message is from the enemy of our
soul, satan. He tells us we are unworthy. The other voice is our Creator, God. He believes
in us and tells us that we are complete and fully accepted in Him. Unfortunately, most of
us believe the enemy’s lies that we’re not good enough, that we are unlovable. We need
wisdom and discernment from God to be victorious. We should learn to base my self-
identity off of what God thinks of me, and not people. God sees our heart, He knows our
character, and He loves and accepts us just the way we are. We should learn to see and
love ourselves the same way He does.

The virtue of self-esteem

 ‘Esteem’ (Lt.) = value – how we value ourselves

Esteem is a Latin word which means value or to estimate. How we give value to ourselves.
 Self-esteem is a virtue (a ‘habit of good’). A sense of happiness and contentment about who
you are as a human being.
It’s really ironic to say these words, coming from me who have low-esteem, we’ll never know
maybe it’s God’ will. Next is…
 We are challenged to accept ourselves as God accepts us - apart from achievements, talents,
the opinions of others.
 The Bible says, "…we know that all things work together for good to those who love God…"
Romans 8:28 Accepting ourselves as God made us sets us free. We do not have to try to
impress other people. We do not have to struggle for recognition. We do not have to try to be
somebody great. We are what we are. We are loved and accepted by the One who created the
universe. We do not have to be anxious or unduly concerned about what others think of us.
God has accepted us, and that is what really matters.

Growing in the Virtue of Self-Esteem

We should grow in the virtue of self-esteem. How? The following phrases being listed might help
you, us to achieve the love we're looking for together with accepting God’s unconditional love for
us.
First is…

 Pray for the gift of faith to know and believe that God loves you unconditionally.
 Look to the crucifix. Imagine Jesus whispering, “I love you.”
 Repeat these words from the Gospel of John: “As the Father loves me, so also I love you.
Remain in my love.”
 List all of the people who accept you as you are.
 Ask God to forgive your sins.
 Learn from mistakes and let them go.
 Laugh at yourself.
 Practice humility.
 Praise and thank God.

God does not want us to go through our lives filled with hate, disappointment, or insecurities
about ourselves. God has created us perfectly in His image. In this day and age, it is difficult not
to compare ourselves to others or the idea of what we should look like. God designed you and
made you perfectly the way you are, and He loves you just that way. And that’s what truly
matters.

Feeling good about ourselves is a good thing! God loves us and wants us to love
ourselves! So, what is the problem? The problem comes when these things become
our goals, and then we accomplish them and start to feel confident in ourselves
alone. We see less and less of our need for God. Then, when failures come (and they
will), we crash and burn–mentally, emotionally, but especially, spiritually.
What is the solution? If we are supposed to feel good about ourselves and
accomplish good things for others, but we aren’t supposed to focus on success, what
do we do? It’s not success that is the problem, it’s our focus on what makes
something successful. If our own successes, or even the successes of those around
us, are the goal, they become a block from Christ’s success. But, if in everything we
do our goal is to let Christ shine–no matter the success or failure of our own wants,
then we will become the Christians we are called to be.
MENCHIE

The Fourth Commandment

Honor your father and mother

 Self-love begins with knowing where we came from

 Care for aging parents varies by culture
 Ageism – age discrimination. Prejudice against old people.
 Euthanasia – an assisted suicide. Any “action or omission which of itself and by intention
causes death, with the purpose of eliminating suffering “ (Gospel of Life, 65).

 Importance of family values

 The family is the society’s foundational unit.

 Family
- Love between parents
- Procreation
- Pass on the faith
 Catholic understanding:
- ‘The Domestic Church’
 Religious liberty

Religious liberty

 The fundamental right of life

 The right to express faith freely
 Basic human rights:
- Employment
- Housing
- Nutrition
- Health Care
- Education

To honor …

 Esteem, value, privilege, respect, and admiration

 Recognition of another’s dignity

 Honor structures by role, title (parent, adult, child, military, law enforcement, etc.

 Honor goes two-ways – it must be both given and returned

Honoring parents …
  Greatest relationship of honor

 First teachers

 Honor is a two-way street – parents responsible for honoring their children

 Church extends this honor to the ‘spiritual’ family

JOEL

The Fifth Commandment Human life comes from and returns to God.
You shall not kill. - Exodus 20:13

 Human life comes from and returns to God.

 This commandment teaches respect for human life and condemns as gravely sinful any
direct, intentional killing.

Special Examples of Killing

Capital Punishment:
Criminals do merit punishment for their crimes.

Purpose of punishment:

 To set right the disorder caused by criminal offenses

 To preserve public order and personal safety

 To correct the offender

 Revenge can never be the motive for our actions.

Bishops oppose capital punishment …

 Not necessary to protect society

 Violates respect for human dignity

 Diminishes all of us

 Deeply flawed, irreversibly wrong, prone to errors

 Biased by outside factors (e.g. race)

 Other ways to punish criminals, protect society

War:

 The Catholic Church is against war, always promoting a peaceful settlement of disputes.

 The Catholic Church recognizes that governments have the right and responsibility to
pass laws to enlist citizens to help defend the nation.

The moral law hold in times of warfare. There must be no attacks on innocent
noncombatants; genocide; terrorism; or use of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons – all of
which indiscriminately destroy persons and property.

JHONNEL

Abortion …

 Deliberate killing of unborn human life by means of medical or surgical procedures

 A grave and unjustified attack on innocent human life

 It is human life from the moment of conception

 All human life is sacred

 Made in God’s image

 Possessing worth and dignity

 A violation of natural law

Suicide

 Taking of one’s own life

 We should not judge. We should pray.

 Suffering of grave psychological problems

Euthanasia …

 Allowing one who is suffering from incurable illness to die by painless measures, by
withholding ‘aggressive medical treatment’
  When natural death is imminent
 Ordinary means of care must be used on those who are not in process of natural death

Respecting Personal Health

The Fifth Commandment requires us to exercise the virtue of prudence to take care of our
health, one of God’s precious gifts to us. However, we should not make our bodies our god.

Cardinal virtues

 Prudence

 Justice

 Fortitude

 Temperance