Physician, Heal Thyself – #102

The word “humanity” has several meanings. For the purpose of this discussion, I am using the word to refer to the state of human beings after the fall of our first parents. In this context, “humanity” refers to the inclination towards sin and evil that resulted from the first sin. In Catholic theology, we call this inclination “concupiscence” (CCC 406 & 418).

Although baptism erases original sin and turns us back towards God, the inclination towards sin and evil persists. This inclination is what I refer to in this reflection and subsequent ones as “the humanity of man.“

St. Paul speaks about this struggle when he says,

For I do not understand my own actions. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing – (Romans 7:15).

Disclaimer: My goal in this episode is not to endorse our humanity and give us a license to misbehave but to reveal it, so we can understand our vulnerability as human beings and also God’s system of mercy and compassion as a response to that vulnerability.

We live in a time where everyone is correcting someone. A time where almost every pulpit has become a place for exposing the flaws and limitations of human beings. A time where almost every sermon is an attempt to show the imperfection of a pastor, a church member, or a government official.

In Psalm 8:4, David wrote, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that thou visitest him – (KJV).

David is essentially saying, I have observed the universe, I have seen your majesty and artistry. However, you (God) seem to have invested all your attention and energies in human beings. What is special about human beings that, despite their frailty, rebellion, and sin, you still care for them?

Similarly, Psalm 78:38 says, “But the Lord, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not, many times he turned his anger away because he remembered their humanity…” Furthermore, Isaiah 40:30 says, “Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail…”

In effect, God is saying, if you depend on your strength and your humanity, you will faint, be weary, and utterly fail. But those who wait on the Lord and ask for his grace and help shall renew their strength, mount up with wings as eagles…

Being weary and faint is a revelation about our humanity. In other words, there is a side effect of being carried by a mortal body. All humans will get to a point in their life where they will become weary and faint. The spirit of man is directly from God, and the body is from something as frail as dust. This means that consistently, there will be contention between body and spirit.

Mercy, forgiveness, and compassion started out as a system when God first made Adam. Knowing the side effects of this mortal body, God began to create a system called Mercy. In the best of every man, there is a weakness. Many things proceed from a person not because they are evil or devilish but simply because they are human.

When a man cries, it’s not a weakness; it’s part of being human. When a man doubts and becomes suspicious, it is not because he is bad; it’s because he is human. When a woman becomes jealous and angry, it is not because she is associated with the devil; it is because of the side effects of wearing “this thing” we call a body.

A person has the tendency to become depressed, angry, lust after things because they are human beings. We have an unusual contempt for our humanity. Even God acknowledges our humanity; that’s why He is gracious, full of compassion, and slow to get angry, filled with unfailing love for us (Psalm 145:8). Why can’t we extend the same courtesy to ourselves? We deny ourselves the privilege of being human; you are not supernatural; you are a human. Once you lose sight of this, your problems will begin.

Most of us think perfection (Mt 5:48), as we are called to, is tantamount to sinless superhuman behavior. And once our humanity shows itself, and we find it impossible to be perfect, it results in demanding and unforgiving personalities. We become unloving, with high feelings of inadequacy, guilt, unhealthy conflicts, and hostility.

God, who is all-loving and compassionate, does not expect the impossible from us. Why then do we expect it from ourselves? When you understand this principle, you will see that the brothers of Joseph developed envy not because they were evil but because they too were human. A man can look at you today and proclaim you King and the same man will demand your crucifixion tomorrow because he is human, and God will look on and say I still love this man because God understands the humanity of man. That’s why in spite of our frailty, God is still mindful of us, because we are human…

Shalom and God bless you

#PhysicianHealThyself ~ WATCH OUT FOR THE THIRD EDITION!