To be Man - as a Gift and Task

Abstract

Multiple contemporary threats point out that their main reason is man who is unable to appreciate his humanity, nor does he respect human dignity in others. As a result of false understanding of freedom and contesting natural moral law he does not want to notice and recognize his dependence on God and on other creatures. In consequence he would like to become the highest authority and, as it were, take the place of the Absolute.

Man has a dynamic personal structure and should consciously develop it. The effects of the original sin which affect all of us should be removed by the help of God’s grace and by working on the formation of one’s own „I”.

Man is called to create and use culture. The latter is manifested in many domains, but always makes the value which perfects the human person. John Paul II speaks a lot about culture and states, among other things, that "culture is the right place for man’s existence and being."

To fixate the value of one’s humanity it is important to have the awareness of being „somebody”, that is a person worthy of respect for oneself. Apart from that it is necessary to have an awareness of identity of society and nation to which one belongs. In our case it is the knowledge of Polish tradition and Christian-national culture.

Now family is the basic milieu in which man may form his sense of dignity, for family - as the Vatican Council II states - is „the school of richer humanity” (KDK no 52). Now it is an urgent task to have an education in the way of forming and strengthening this awareness of being man and further consequences of that.

The introduction of peace into personal life and into everyday interpersonal relations emerges today as the priority in formative endeavours. This consists in constant social vigil that each man be respected and that all things and affairs, which remain under people’s jurisdiction, be in their proper place.

The stress on the sense of the value of one’s own and another’s humanity appears today as an urgent postulate within the broad dimension of human activities.