Sharing Life & Dignity: A New Frame
In late May, Tricia Hoyt of the Diocese of Phoenix offered a webinar for Roundtable members and partners on approaching the teaching of Respect for Life so that it can expand the vision of those who consider themselves pro-life but who struggle nevertheless with Catholic Social Teaching.
More than 30 social action directors enthusiastically joined the webinar. Tricia shared the format for presentations she has been offering for the past few months in her own diocese on respecting all life.
Tricia begins her presentations with discussion questions that break into the participants’ personal experience, asking them to share a time in which their human dignity was respected unconditionally, based not on achievements or talents but valued “simply for breathing air, for having life.” She then asks participants to recall a time in which their dignity was not respected – a time they have been judged and categorized, discriminated against, or dehumanized. Beginning with our shared human experience of unconditional dignity frames the conversation on Respect for Life in a way that expands beyond innocent life to include all human life.
When the dignity of life is recognized, Tricia offered, life is respected “for no good reason,” and a person is valued beyond his or her mistakes – a counter-cultural idea!
The challenge of caring for human life from conception until natural death manifests itself in numerous realms; spiritual, political and social. The spiritual challenges include understanding and interpreting scripture and Church tradition.
The biblical texts provide us with a rich vision of how to live and respect all of life. Tricia enlightened participants to a deeper understanding of the frequent call in the Hebrew Bible to care for the widow. In Israelite society, ‘widow’ was a term reserved for women who had lost not only husband, but also brother, son and any other male relative who could represent them publically. Widows had no one to be the voice for their voicelessness.
Tricia also recalled Micah 6, reminding participants that the verses that precede the oft-quoted verse 6:8 is a discussion on what constitutes proper worship of God. Micah 6:8 provides the answer – the way to worship and honor God is to care for all of humanity.
An additional example that Tricia shared to highlight the way in which the biblical texts can form us in this world is by examining the Semitic concept of personhood. People of the biblical world thought about skin as something that wrapped around all people, flowing from one to another. Personhood did not consist of divided individuals but rather a one-skinned-ness, each possessing mutual responsibility to the other.
The webinar highlighted some of the many texts from Catholic tradition which teach the expansiveness of the call to promote life in a multiplicity of ways. Tricia reminded us of the Compendium’s teaching that “the right to life includes religious and political freedom and the ability to exercise these rights for the common good” (164). The right to life includes the opportunity for all to work for the benefit of the community. She suggested that participants tie these teachings back to the preliminary discussion questions around personal experience with human dignity.
To face the spiritual challenges of understanding Respect for Life, we must enlarge our hearts. Citing Jack Jezreel, Tricia recommended that we daily embrace in our hearts a person or group we didn’t embrace yesterday so that our hearts are enlarged. We must pray to recognize the unconditional personhood of those we judge, those who are divisive and destructive, and those who do not treat us with dignity to be living witnesses to a full Respect for Life.
To face social and nationalist challenges that hinder an understanding of Respect for Life, we should explore a biblical conception of freedom and justice. Nationalist rhetoric in the U.S. commonly employs these terms, but with very different connotations. For those in the biblical world, justice meant realizing the common good, and freedom was a bonded freedom. As Christians we too are called to this freedom, bonded to all of humanity, where we are free to build relationships and create community, working together for the common good.
To address the social challenges social action directors face in teaching about respecting life, Tricia uses teachings from Deus Caritas Est and talks about forming conscience. She closes her presentations with a discussion on how to apply a Catholic ethic to many facets of human life – birth, the economy, health, family, education, migration and poverty (One participant reminded us that the environment should be added to that list). Tricia emphasized that applying a Catholic ethic in these situations isn’t always easy. We must be ready to accompany the people of our parishes and dioceses as they grapple with these situations.
Participants vocalized unanimously that this framing was hugely helpful and that they would use the examples that Tricia shared in their own work, particularly the light she shed on biblical texts. Starting with people’s own experience as a foundation for the theology of Respect for Life was also widely appreciated. One participant suggested showing images of many different kinds of people, along with a mirror, as an alternative basis for discussion around the concept of recognizing the dignity of all of humanity.
There is much work to be done in enlarging hearts and promoting a respect for all life. Let’s keep the conversation going – how are you sharing Catholic teaching on respect for life in your parish or diocese? What challenges do you face and what recommendations can you share?
To see the presentation Tricia gave during the webinar, visit the Virtual Roundtable online.
Tags: Compendium, Deus Caritas Est, ethics, Hebrew bible, Jack Jezreel, life and dignity, personhood, presenting, respect, respect for life, training of trainers, webinar