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The resurrection appearances of Jesus have two characteristics:  his bodily existence and his meeting the disciples as they are: frightened, uncertain and thinking that they are encountering a ghost.   Last Sunday we heard how Thomas move from cynicism to belief, “My Lord and my God”.    Our First Reading points out that the unjust killing of Jesus was foreseen by God who is able to weave such things into the pattern of salvation, as he does with us when we own our failures.  God affords us a ‘second chance’.  God meets us where we are and calls us beyond our limitations.  Our Second Reading tells us that when we obey God his love comes to perfection in us.  God’s love activates our capacity to love God and others.  In Jesus God became one with us that we “may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  To help us live in right relationship in increasingly complex times is the intent of the document, Dignitas Infinita.  The document was five years in creation and was released on Monday by the Vatican’s Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.  The Australian Church’s online CathNews on Wednesday reported the document states that “every human person possesses an infinite dignity . . . which prevails in and beyond every circumstance”.   The document speaks of four types of human dignity (ontological, moral, social and existential).  The most important is ontological dignity or that which we each person has “simply because he or she exists and is willed, created and loved by God . . . [it] is indelible and remains valid beyond any circumstances in which the person may find themselves”.   Dignitas Infinita notes serious concern with the “ever-growing risk of reducing human dignity to the ability to determine one’s own identity and future independently of others, without regards for one’s membership in the human community.  In this flawed understanding of freedom, the mutual recognition of duties and rights that enable us to care for each other becomes impossible.”  Reflective of a consistent ethic of life or an integral approach to human behaviour, the document identifies 13 “grave violations” of human dignity:  poverty; war; the mistreatment of migrants; human trafficking; sexual abuse; violence against women; abortion; surrogacy; euthanasia and assisted suicide; the marginalisation of people with disabilities; gender theory; sex change; and digital violence.  Archbishop Christopher has spoken of the document “as a mini-Catechism of many ethical issues”.  The Australia Catholic Bishops Conference commend Dignitas Infinita for your study and reflection.  You will find a summary of Dignitas Infinita at the exits. A full copy of the document is available at the Vatican website.  In the light of the release of Dignitas Infinita, you will also find a rather timely comment by Archdiocesan Chancellor, Dr Patrick Mc Ardle, regarding the Church’s response to the ACT’s proposed euthanasia legislation (emphasis added therein).           

Fr John