YOUCAT Question n. 388 - How important is health?
(Youcat
answer) Health is an important value, but not an absolute one. We should treat
our God-given body gratefully and carefully, but not be obsessed with it.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 2288)
Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must
take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the
common good. Concern for the health
of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions
that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health
care, basic education, employment, and social assistance. (CCC 2289) If
morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an
absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice
everything for it's sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports.
By its selective preference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can
lead to the perversion of human relationships.
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) Appropriate care for the health of its
citizens is one of the fundamental obligations of the State, which must create
living conditions in which sufficient food, sanitary housing, and basic medical
care are available to all.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 2290)
The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid
every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine.
Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their
own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air. (CCC 2291) The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage
on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is
a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are
scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they
encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.
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