Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 60.

YOUCAT Question n. 60 - Why is Jesus the greatest example in the world?

(Youcat answer) Jesus Christ is unique because he shows us not only God’s true nature but also the true ideal of man.      

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 381) Man is predestined to reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the "image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), so that Christ shall be the first-born of a multitude of brothers and sisters (cf. Eph 1:3-6; Rom 8:29).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Jesus was more than an ideal man. Even seemingly ideal men are sinners. That is why no man can be the measure of humanity. Jesus, however, was without sin. We cannot know what it means to be a man, and what makes man infinitely loveable in the truest sense of the word, except in Jesus Christ, who “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning” (Heb 4:15). Jesus, the Son of God, is the authentic, true man. In him we recognize how God willed man to be.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 359) "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear" (GS 22 § 1). St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ…. The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. The first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life... The second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. The first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. The last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the last" (St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 117: PL 52, 520-521).        

(The next question is: In what does the equality of all men consist?)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 59.

YOUCAT Question n. 59 - Why did God make man?

(Youcat answer) God made everything for man. Man, however, who is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake” (GS 24, 3), was created in order to be blessed. This happens when he knows, loves, and serves God and lives in gratitude toward his Creator.       

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 358) God created everything for man (Cf. GS 12 § 1; 24 § 3; 39 § 1),  but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him: What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honor? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand (St. John Chrysostom, In Gen. sermo II, 1: PG 54, 587D-588A).     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Gratitude is love that has been acknowledged. Someone who is grateful turns freely to the giver of the good and enters into a new, deeper relationship with him. God wishes us to acknowledge his love and even now to live our whole life in relation with him. This relationship lasts forever.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 299) Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: "You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight" (Wis 11:20). The universe, created in and by the eternal Word, the "image of the invisible God", is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the "image of God" and called to a personal relationship with God (Col 1:15, Gen 1:26). Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work (Cf. Ps 19:2-5; Job 42:3). Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness - "and God saw that it was good… very good" (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 31) - for God willed creation as a gift addressed to man, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to him. On many occasions the Church has had to defend the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world (Cf. DS 286; 455-463; 800; 1333; 3002).    

(The next question is: Why is Jesus the greatest example in the world?)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 58.

YOUCAT Question n. 58 - What does it mean to say that man was created “in God’s image”?

(Youcat answer) Unlike inanimate objects, plants, and animals, man is a person endowed with a spirit. This characteristic unites him with God more than with his visible fellow creatures.      

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 355) "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27). Man occupies a unique place in creation: he is "in the image of God"; in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; he is created "male and female"; God established him in his friendship. (CCC 357) Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead. (CCC 380) "Father,… you formed man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his creator, and to rule over all creatures" (Roman Missal, EP IV 118).     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Man is not a something but rather a someone. Just as we say about God that he is person, so too we say this about man. Man can think beyond his immediate horizon and measure the whole breadth of being; he can even know himself with critical objectivity and work to improve himself; he can perceive others as persons, understand them in their dignity, and love them. Of all the visible creatures, man alone is “able to know and love his creator” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et spes [GS] 12, 3). Man is destined to live with him in friendship (Jn 15:15).

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 356) Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator" (GS 12 § 3). He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake" (GS 24 § 3), and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity: What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good (St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue 4, 13 "On Divine Providence": LH, Sunday, week 19, OR).     

(The next question is: Why did God make man?)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 57 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 57 - Part II. How should man treat animals and other fellow creatures?

(Youcat answer) Man should honor the Creator in other creatures and treat them carefully and responsibly. Man, animals, and plants have the same Creator who called them into being out of love. Therefore a love of animals is profoundly human.       

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2417) God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image (Cf. Gen 2:19-20; 9:1-4). Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice, if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Although man is allowed to use and to eat plants and animals, he is nevertheless not allowed to torture animals or to keep them in inhumane conditions. That contradicts the dignity of creation just as much as exploiting the earth thoughtlessly out of greed.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2418) It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons. (CCC 354) Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality.     

(The next question is: What does it mean to say that man was created “in God’s image”?)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 57 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 57 - Part I. How should man treat animals and other fellow creatures?

(Youcat answer) Man should honor the Creator in other creatures and treat them carefully and responsibly. Man, animals, and plants have the same Creator who called them into being out of love. Therefore a love of animals is profoundly human.       

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2415) The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity (Cf. Gen 128-31). Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation (Cf. CA 37-38).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Although man is allowed to use and to eat plants and animals, he is nevertheless not allowed to torture animals or to keep them in inhumane conditions. That contradicts the dignity of creation just as much as exploiting the earth thoughtlessly out of greed.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2416) Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory (Cf. Mt 6:26; Dan 3:79-81). Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.     

(This question: How should man treat animals and other fellow creatures? is continued)