HOMILY: The Parable of the Good Samaritan

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That is the question levied by a lawyer towards Christ in today’s Gospel reading, preceding the story of the Good Samaritan. It is a question that is answered within the law, something for which one would expect a lawyer to be well versed. Yet, the mind and heart are not always on the same page. Furthermore, the heart and hand are not always in one accord. Yet, Christ shows how little the lawyer knows by the answer he provides. Despite this, the lawyer tries to justify his question, and quite possibly his known personal failures to abide by the answer he was given, by asking further, who is my neighbor? Perhaps, being a lawyer, he had a very legalistic understanding or definition of this word, and so in his own mind he was abiding by the law. Yet, this is a trap of legal scholasticism, of reason, or an understanding of a Truth only as written, and no understanding of the Truth in praxis.

In part, we are warned against this in our reading of the lesson for today, when Paul exhorts: “We have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The letter here is of course the law of Moses, the law that condemns sinners, but it can today easily be a reference to the totality of scripture, all of which points to Christ, who has assumed the mantle of the Torah as the law of the Spirit of life. He is life. He gives life. His path leads to life everlasting.

All we have to do is follow, listen, and obey. Though, Is it not curious that we sometimes justify our omissions and occasional evils with the very same words and teachings we use to justify the good? How many of us, before finding the Church, followed our own understanding, devised our own truths about Christ, about the Church, and what it was to be Christian. Many of us were quick to interpret the word of God in our own image, in our own likeness, carrying our own opinion, often finding some way to use scripture to justify ourselves in our own ideas, our own lives, much like the lawyer tried to justify himself with his inquiry.

The Law, and the Spirit. One tells us what to do, and the other tells us how to do it. What spirit are we following? One presents the guidelines of life, much like the canons do the Church, but the spirit shows us how to walk within them. Look around us at the milieu of those amidst the colors and trappings of popular Christianity. They go to their respective places of worship on Sunday, sing their songs, hear a sermon preached, and they go out into the world devoid of any sacramental life, most lacking in any spiritual discipline, and missing the unity of teaching found in the fullness of Truth. Is it any wonder this same “church crowd” is so despised by nearly every server at every restaurant I have ever dined at? Why should we ever see or hear an angry Christian driver on a Sunday morning or afternoon after services have ended? Why should we ever witness the angry frustrations of a post church service Christian over something as simple as an item being out of stock? Why should we ever see a Christian lose their temper over trivial things on the day they should have received the kiss of peace? They know the Truth, or at least they heard it, but they have no idea how to put that Truth into practice. They have no Church, which is the Pillar and foundation of Truth (1 Tim 3:15), established upon the foundation of the teachings of the Prophets and the Apostles, of which Christ is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). We are all living stones apart of the Church (1 Pet. 2:5), which is the body of Christ. It is as a living part of that Church, living a sacramental life within, that we not only come to know the Truth rationally, but understand spiritually how to live it as well.

The Lawyer knew the Truth. He knew what the law said, but not how to live it. He sought a different answer from Christ, from what he knew to be true. Likewise, the priest and Levite both knew what the law said, and what the law required of them in this circumstance, but they instead used that same law to justify their passing in order to maintain their ritual purity. They knew the Truth, but now how to exercise it. It was only the Good Samaritan who truly understood the spirit of the law, and how to incarnate what was written.

So, in response to the lawyer’s question Christ told him the parable of the Good Samaritan. This parable, according to some Fathers, encompasses the entirety of the Gospel, and the spirit of Truth it conveys to us all. The realities of the Gospel are found within this simple story: Christ, the Church, and the means by which we are saved.

Nearly all the Fathers interpret this parable in some allegorical fashion. They tell us that in the Samaritan we see Christ, who does not define His neighbor, nor ours, in respect to action or honor, but of nature. We were all created in the image and likeness of God, and all equally a worthy recipient of love, both of God’s and our own. The oil wine the Samaritan poured on his wounds symbolizes the sacraments of the Church, and the two coins he paid are the two testaments we have received. The inne is the Church, of which has been established upon Christ’s honorable blood. It is in the Church that we find healing from the wounds of Sin. This is one of many reasons the Church is often referred to as a hospital for our souls.

The battered man is each one of us, beaten by the world and wounded by our own sin. The priest passed him by for his priestly sacrifice could not save the man. The Levite passed him by because neither could the law save him. While these two were very near to the man by birth as Israelite, they were most distant at heart, bearing little compassion for the man who lay before them. It was the Good Samaritan, who had compassion on him, and in a selfless act helped his fellow man.

Let us remember what Christ has said in the Gospel of Matthew:

‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Compassion and Humility are bedfellows, for compassion helps to develop humility as we place the needs of the other before our own. If we have compassion, then we also have humility, for one exists inside the other, and Humility is the beginning of all virtue

The Good Samaritan incarnated virtue by himself becoming Love in action. In the good Samaritan we find an archetype of Christ, who is Love incarnate. We should love every man and woman, and have great compassion for them, and whatever their needs my be, regardless of who they are; whether they have wounded us or not; whether there is hatred between us or not; whether there is offense or injury, forgiveness being of great importance; and whether we love them or not. Compassion for the suffering of another is the easy part. Learning to Love as God Loves is much harder. But fear not, we are surrounded by God, by God’s love, and by God’s grace as much as a glass submerged in water is both filled with it and surrounded by it. We can never be without it.

We should love so vigorously that there is no room in our hearts for hatred, for Saint Maximos the Confessor tells us that the Gospel absolutely precludes us from hating any human being, even those who would hate us without reason.

Let us heed the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian:

St. Isaac of Syria tells us how.

“Let yourself be persecuted but do not persecute others.

Let yourself be crucified but do not crucify others.

Let yourself be insulted but do not insult others.

Let yourself be slandered but do not slander others.

Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Such is the sign of purity.

Suffer with the sick. Be afflicted with sinners.

Exult with those who repent. Be the friend of all.

But in your spirit remain alone.

Spread your cloak over anyone who falls into sin and shield him.

And if you cannot take his fault on yourself and accept punishment in his place, do not destroy his character.”

Simply saying you love is not enough. If your actions alone do not speak loudly to the contents of your own heart, then we are simply lying to ourselves in order to justify our weaknesses, our failings, and our sin. We must become love, for that is what God is, and that is what we strive to be.

By the prayers of thy most pure Mother, the Holy and God bearing fathers, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

HOMILY: Where is your heart? (The Unjust Servant)

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In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God! Amen!

What are we doing with our lives? What are we doing with what we have, with what we have been given, and are we being good stewards with the many gifts that some of us have been blessed with? Nothing in this world is our own, for we take none of it with us to the grave. We are but sojourners. We are but stewards, in a sense, of that which God has given us; of those bits of this world’s detritus of which we possess. For that is what the things of this world are to the Kingdom of Heaven, detritus, or refuse; the corruptible. Yet, even trash has its uses. What is the saying, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure? Yet, which man are you?

In today’s Gospel reading we hear the story of the unjust steward. In this story we learn both what kind of man the unjust steward is, but also the sometimes zealous preoccupation that is required to receive the treasure we seek. The unjust steward preoccupied himself with his own personal and worldly comforts. Different commentaries state that he either lived off the wealth of his master, or the more believable view is that he overcharged the debtors of his master, living comfortably off his dishonesty. Perhaps this is why stewards were not viewed favorably, and were often grouped together with publicans, tax collectors, and other men often known for their dishonest handling of money. Regardless of the reasons, he was being put out by his master by his unfavorable handling of his master’s goods.

What does the steward do? He knew he could not work, either because he was too lazy, or failed to learn any skills of use, living lavishly on the successes of others, mainly his master. He was a prideful man, so it was beneath him to beg. He knew only how to use those skills – his dishonesty and shrewdness – and set out to use them again to his favor. He wiped out a large portion of each of his master’s debtor’s debt, likely to the detriment of his master, who was about to cast him out. I suppose the confusing part to many who read this particular parable, is why is it being praised? Why are the deceitful actions of one being praised by another who was cheated by those same actions? The world praises the world, and his master, who is himself a man of business and wealth, recognized the shrewd cleverness of his steward to ensure his worldly comforts. Yet, it is no surprise that the world sees deceitfulness and cleverness just and honest, simply look at the world around you: lies are lauded as truth, deceit us praised as honesty; unchastity and debauchery are considered moral, normal, or even praiseworthy. Love is misaligned and misattributed. Sin is given a place on the altar of society.

But what can we learn from this? We are told that “the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” The world has a better judgment towards the things of this world as concerns their own material comforts. The children of this world are far more diligent in their planning and scheming in how to advance in this world and their acquisition of wealth, than the children of God are diligent, clever and conscientious about our calling and completion of God’s plan. We do not work as hard for God, as the world does in working for money. The unjust steward, although his actions may be seen by some as charity, he did not give so out of love. He was not generous out of his own charity. He gave only out of concern for himself and his own needs. Where is our heart? If time is money, as the world often says, then where we spend the greatest measure of our time is perhaps the greatest indicator of that which we love the most. If our actions speak louder than words, as the world also says, what are our actions speaking to the world? What are our actions speaking loudly about our heart? We love Christ. We say we love Christ, but if our actions have no alignment with what we say, and what we pray, then our words are vestigial and empty, and there is no faith in us.

We live in this world, but not of it. This is one reason we are told to “ make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.” In this we are to understand that all that we have, our wealth, our goods, our talents, our gifts and abilities, and even our love are all to be used to succor those who suffer; those who have need and for the carrying out of good works, that not only you may be received by them, but that they may receive also Christ who sent you. Be mindful, for you may be the only Christ that some may ever encounter.

On this, Saint Gaudentius in his own homily of the Unjust steward adds to this in saying:

“When you have given your substance for the needs of the poor and spent it all, ‘they may receive you into everlasting habitations, ‘that is, our friends will obtain our salvation, since they are the same poor in whom Christ the Eternal Rewarder will confess that He has Himself received the kindness of our love for our fellowman. The poor themselves do not therefore receive us, but they receive us through Him who is given to eat in them.”

The bible is full of scriptures that tell us to avoid a love of money, and the things in this world. First Timothy 6:10 tells us “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Proverbs tells us “such are the paths of all who go after ill gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.” Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews tells us “keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

It is not that money itself is bad, but Christ did warn us it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Money is a tool, as are all things within the spirit of an age. Some tools are double edged swords. Others bear a greater responsibility and temptation for misuse and personal gain at the expense of others. It is our lot, our goal, to not become beholden to the things of this world, lest we become debtors to it. In this sentiment our Epistle reading is rather apropos:

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

We are more than stewards, but heirs to the Kingdom of God. Stewards are essentially hired servants, while we are heirs as Sons and Daughters of The Living God. A steward simply watches over what he has been given, whereas we have been given everything, possessing all things in all Truth, yet own none of it. A steward lives for the sake of that which he possesses and has been given, while the sons of God live for the sake of He who gave it all. We live with the world, and by the things of this world shrewdly and conscientiously bring Christ to the world, hoping that in doing so the seeds will be planted, the fruit will grow, a harvest will be taken, and the people of this world will follow us into the fullness of Truth.

The world is not bad. No, that is Gnostic thinking. The way this world is used is bad. A preoccupation with the things of this world at the expense or exclusion of the things of God is bad. Let us be mindful of a parallel to our spiritual lives. We learn the things of God that they may bring us to God, that they may bring us to the mountain upon which God rests; yet, it is only in the cloud of knowing, like Moses, that we may ascend it. Likewise is it with the things of this world. The weight of this world, the things in it, its temptations, its struggles and tribulations all make us stronger. The things of this world only weigh us down to the detriment of our spiritual growth. We cannot ascend to heavenly heights of heart and mind until we are no longer shackled by the fetters of this world. So, in time, as we grow in our spiritual walk, we shed the world from our shoulders, from our hearts and minds, some faster than others. Just remember, even our worldly wealth is nothing but detritus, and some day our house must be swept clean, whether by our own hand, or those of another.

In the three verses following our Gospel reading today, we find the ultimate moral of this story, the story of The Unjust Servant. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

We are faithful with what we have been given, that we may be given spiritual treasures. If what we have has been taken away, our heart is revealed for the true object of its love. We cannot possess two loves, for our God is a jealous God, and our hearts can possess only the love of One. What is in our heart? The answer to that is revealed by whatever we direct our greatest time and attention to, and by what we do. Let us remember the words of Christ, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

By the prayers of the Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the Holy and God bearing Fathers, all the saints, and the martyrs, and the Angels, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

Liberty and virtue.

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Liberty and Virtue – December 4th, 2019

Does liberty exist without virtue?

Reading the histories of Greece and Rome, I find that the ancient histories of the Greeks and Romans bore great gifts of lessons learned through the mistakes and successes of the same, passed on to the founding fathers of our Republic. They learned from those great states and peoples who stood before them, and whose memories and lessons still echo through the annals of history: life, liberty, and a particular propriety of government. From the likes of Athens and the Roman Empire, they discovered those roads to be avoided. Through the heroic Spartans and the stalwart Roman Republic, they learned the importance of individual liberties, and the virtue that upholds it. Virtue, a morality that is simultaneously social and individual in nature, ensures a most effective defense against tyranny; for, “vice leads to tyranny, and tyranny leads to even greater vice.” So, it us such lessons that the founders were armed with the principles of revolution, a rebellion made right by its foundation of ideals, making the American Revolution paradoxical in nature: “a revolution fueled by tradition.” They took the best principles of those who came before us, using them to build the best Republic possible, a foundation for the continuity of liberty underpinned by virtue: One nation under God. Indeed, it is the moral fabric that ensures the continuity of a republic. A fabric so frayed and fettered with individual ideologies, so torn apart with divergent desires and subjectivity, so overpowered by feelings over objective truth, is the surety of a doomed republic. History shows us this, in Sparta, Athens, The Roman Republic turned Empire, and every great state and nation that has followed since.

We have not learned from history, so we shall be doomed to repeat it. So, we look forward to the horizon unseen, for insanity is partaking of the same thing repetitiously, and expecting a different result. The world wields nothing different from what it has already wrought, for there is nothing new under the sun. We look forward to the new day, the eighth day that dawns, under the light of which all shall be revealed, and all things shall be made new. So say we all.

Church: Hospital or Hospice?

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Church: Hospital or Hospice? – July 20, 2019

The idea of the Church as a hospital for our souls is nothing new. This was an ideation voiced by Saint John Chrysostom; an idea embodied by Saint Basil the Great; an idea echoed all throughout the writings of the Holy Fathers of our faith:

“For indeed the school of the Church is an admirable surgery – a surgery, not for bodies, but for souls. For it is spiritual, and sets right, not fleshly wounds, but errors of the mind, and of these errors and wounds the medicine is the word.”

~Saint John Chrysostom.

The idea and understanding of the Church as hospital for the soul requires a proper understanding of our humanity, but also a proper understanding of the Church. Christ is the great physician, He who came to heal the sick, the sinner, the ill and infirmed. The Church, as the body of Christ, is by extension the very Hospital of our Great Physician, Jesus Christ. The priests work as her doctors and administers of medicine, the healing salve of confession applied to the wounds of sin which we have inflicted upon ourselves, and the Eucharist as food for the soul. Towards this end, the theology of the Church is a therapeutic science. As the doctor cannot know what remedies to apply to what wounds without proper education and training, neither can the priest do likewise to the myriad spiritual wounds of sin. The Priest or spiritual director is no different in this, in the work of diagnosing those wounds, identifying the illnesses that ail us, so that the priest may apply the correct remedy. One cannot find the wounds and identify the illnesses if he does not know what to look for. The goal is holiness (wholeness) and is the direct result of our having submitted in all humility to a life of repentance, a life to which we are directed by the loving guidance of a spiritual director.

The Church is ultimately a part of the medicine for the whole human being, and is preoccupied with the fate of human beings. A humanity plagued by sinfulness, the passions of the flesh, and destructive behaviors, is an overall abnormal state of existence. The end to which all humans must go to, death, is an unnatural state from the created order, separating body from spirit. Through Christ we are given a way to purification, cleansed of our sins by repentance, confession, baptism, and continued participation in the divine nature of God, but he has also conquered death by death, that in the resurrection we may be reunited soul with body, and return to that state in which we were created, and were always intended to exist.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This idea of Church has all but disappeared among much of the various groupings of mainline Christianity. No longer are people healed and prepared for their encounter with God. The Sacraments are gone. The doctors have been evicted. This fleshly sentiment of individuality identity taking precedent over our personhood, over the restoration of our humanity in the image and likeness of God, has all but destroyed the Christian faith. No longer are people conforming to the healing prescriptions of the Church, recognizing that we are wounded; recognizing that we are sick and fallen in our human nature; recognizing that we are all sinners. Instead, people approach God with their open wounds, because “it’s ok, I am forgiven.” Their minds never get beyond the Cross, that Christ died for the sins of all mankind, and never get to the joyousness that lies behind it. The Church has become a courtroom in some respects, a place of worship where people in wait of judgement. In other respects, instead of a hospital, it has become a hospice, where people turn towards the cross and simply wait to die. They are made to feel better through emotional appeals, like an opiate for the terminally ill to ease the pain. They are enraptured by the words they are given, not hearing the words of the Doctors who have gone before them, the Great Physician who died for them:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

~ Matthew 3:2

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

~ James 5:16

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

~ Mark 16:17

“Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many.”

~ Mark 14:22-25

These directives, these prescriptions given to us are not unique to the scriptures, but are echoed through the centuries and millennia of Christians who have gone before us. The Historical witness of the Christian faith paints a very clear picture as to the soul and purpose of the divine-human institution of the Church. Though, one has to enter the doors first before healing can occur.

We must identify those wounds we have inflicted upon ourselves (repent). We just receive the salve of healing, applied to those very would by our confession before God (confession). We are then baptized, cleansed of the stain of this world, by the very waters of creation the lord sanctified for us by virtue of his own baptism in the Jordan. We are then Chrismated to seal the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Properly adorned in the garments of righteousness, we approach the Lord’s table to receive that precious and eternal life giving medicine of the Eucharist.

Much of mainline and consumer Christianity simply tells and teaches us how to die. The pain of our wounds is lessened, but the wounds in many cases are not healed. It is a passivity of faith that accepts there is a cure, but then does nothing to receive it. Yet, the Christian faith is a faith of action, and should tell us how to live. The Church tells us how to live in this life and the next. The entirety of this life should be a preparation for life in the kingdom of heaven, for it is indeed at hand. It is with us now, it is among us, because we as the Church should be living our lives to incarnate Christ into the world. We do not come to Church to prepare to die as a hospice, but we come to Church as a Hospital, that we may be healed and made whole for a life eternal in Jesus Christ.

“Virtues exist in us also by nature, and the soul has affinity with them not by education, but by nature herself. We do not need lessons to hate illness, but by ourselves we repel what afflicts us, the soul has no need of a master to teach us to avoid vice. Now all vice is sickness of soul as virtue is its health.”

~ Saint Basil the Great.

Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

What does it mean to be Christian?

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What does it mean to be Christian? – May 1, 2019

There is no easy answer to that question, and those who think the answer is easy, really don’t understand the Christian faith.

Christianity before I found the Church was a shallow and vapid expression of the Christian faith, and seemed focused on emotionalism more so than the truth. What feels good or feels right is indeed the truth in this cacophony of error. I spent most of my life as a protestant, and while everyone was teaching what THEY thought scriptures were saying, no one taught how a Christian should live, what it actually meant to be Christian.

As I dove into history, and focused on early Church history, there are certain elements and qualities in the Church, qualities and expectations in the life of a Christian, that just isn’t found today in most of Christendom. The Church, and its entire sacramental life and being within, should point to the Eucharist.

A Christian is a part of the body of Christ. One becomes a part of that body through Baptism. One participates in communion with that body by the Eucharist. One remains a part of the body by holding to the same beliefs, as taught and passed down (catholicity of the Dogmatic fabric of faith), and remaining in communion with one another, just as the three persons of the Godhead are in perfect communion and unity with one another.

As we were created human beings, with both body and spirit, we are to live our lives in recognition that we live and exist in both body and spirit. As such, those who live by mental ascent alone do nothing for the body. They continue to live in their passions, and do nothing to defeat the disease, of which sin is the symptom.

If the Church is the Hospital, the Priests her Doctors, and theology a therapeutic science for the soul, to be Christian is to work ourselves within the divine-human institution of the Church to the healing of mind, body, and soul, affecting a restoration of relationship with God. To be a Christian is to obediently follow the prescription of the Church, just as we follow a doctors orders to the healing of our bodies, for Christ is the Great Physician and those prescriptions are his. Ours is not a faith of passivity, but activity in love and compassion. We are the light to lighten the gentiles, because we are the body of Christ, and together we incarnate Christ in this world.

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What is the value of a Human life?

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Human Life – January 27th, 2019

What is the value of a human life?

What does it mean to value something? As in most languages, most words take on their specificity within the context they are used. Value, as a tangible attribute, is the degree of importance, usefulness, or worth that something is regarded to have. When asking most people across the current cultural milieu what it means for something to have value, the vast majority of respondents would likely reply with regard to something’s monetary value, or market worth. Yet, does something have value simply because of its net or market worth? It is not entirely the monetary amount attached to an item that gives it value, for an item has value particularly when someone owns it (self valuation of the object owned), or another person wants it (coveting an item not owned).

The monetary value of an item is often subjective, and determined by outside factors. One such set of factors driving the value of most market goods is the law of supply and demand. Simply put, the prices of items are determined by the varying degrees of supply and demand, and their subsequent fluctuations. For example, if supply is high, and demand is low, the cost will be low. If demand is high and the supply is low, the cost will be high. Yet, this law seems not to apply in unique and niche markets, where the price of an item can be determined by any number of external factors. Though, for rare and unique items, one of a kind items, whether they be collectibles, cultural artifacts, or other items that cannot be repeated or duplicated, what price can be attached to these? Most people would call these items priceless, for what value can be given to an item unique in its existence.

Things have value, and we value these things because they have value, whether that is of a monetary nature, or its usefulness and what it contributes to our own lives. As such our personal valuation of an item is based upon two questions: 1) What will it cost me? And 2) What can it provide for me? In a materialistic cultural framework, these are the two questions that drive our perceived value of any given thing. So, people desire these things based on how little the answer to number one is versus the greater response within the answer to number two. It is in effect a social adaptation to the supply and demand model. Though, we run into a problem when we try to apply this model to determine the value of a human life, because it at once runs into an immediate contradiction, and the fact that human beings are not things. Let us address the latter point, before addressing the former.

Human beings are not things, but people have reduced themselves to treating other human beings as things, as objects. The reason behind this is due to where one’s desires lie. If you love a thing, you will become a thing. If you love a person, you will become a person. As the cultural milieu in which we live is largely materialistic, most people have fallen in love with things – the car they drive, the house they live in, the “toys” they have, and all the other accoutrements in this life. People love things, and as such they have reduced their own humanity, or perhaps their understanding of humanity, to that of a thing. Humans are no longer unique and individual persons, but things whose value is determined by what one can provide for them.

The devaluing of the human person is why others are so easily able to kill others; so easily able to break another person, whether physically, psychologically, or emotionally; are so easily able to “buy” and use people (i.e. prostitution, slavery, etc) for their own pleasure or purposes; so easily discard and replace people like cogs in a machine; so easily able to ignore the plight of the homeless, the needy, the suffering, and the interred, because to them if a human being cannot otherwise provide something of value or importance to an individual, then they have no value.
The devaluing of the human person is why we are so easily able to discard millions of unborn children, and not even bat an eye about it at a cultural or societal level. They are not yet born, so they do not yet have value. They are not yet born, so they cannot possibly provide the other person any service or material of worth. Humanity, or the understanding of humanity, has been reduced to a thing, so in the eyes of our cultural milieu, the unborn child is not human.

Yet, a human being is not a thing.

So what value can be given to a human life? I cannot even begin to answer this question without first establishing what human life means, and I can only do that through the lens of the Church, within which lies my entire understanding of the whole human being.

In Christian Anthropology, we understand man (ἄνθρωπος) to be created in the image and likeness of its creator. He is a being created with both body and soul. It is with this and in this image and likeness that man stands apart from the rest of creation. So we all begin unique in our humanity alone.

When we look at human DNA, the complex lattice work of deoxyribonucleic acid that exists in all life, we come to the realization that every single human being is unique. No human being has the same DNA as another human being (genetic anomalies and exceptions aside). So, biologically, we are all unique individuals. On top of biology, each human being develops into his own unique and individual person, with unique personalities and character traits, attributes, appearances, and various cognitive and creative qualities. Many aspects are shaped and molded by the environment in which that person exists. So, the end result is that you have a unique human person that cannot be recreated or duplicated – one of a kind. People may be similar to one another, but always unique.

So, what is the value of human life? If we attach the same value construct as previously established, we can only come to one conclusion: Priceless. Yet, this is not the way in which the cultural milieu sees the value of other human beings. So, there now exists a cognitive dissonance between the social construct in which we now live, and the means in which we apply that to the value and understanding of human life.

The Christian Anthropological understanding of the human person is the only one that makes any sense any longer. We are all unique persons living and existing in communion with one another, and should be coexisting in a cooperation of perfect love. We all have value because we are all made in the image and likeness of God. Yes, we are broken individuals, but this is why the Church has always been regarded as a hospital for the human soul, and her theology a therapeutic science towards that end. We hold each other up, contributing our own gifts and material goods to the good and benefit of the whole, to the aid and benefit of that of all His Holy Church, the body of Christ, the collection of people living in communion with one another.

A human being is priceless. Each Human being is a unique person beyond value.. Even those most empty, damaged, corrupted, and broken are not to be discarded, for all have worth and importance. We do not know the value of a piece when reassembling something shattered until we get to the end. We are human beings, collectively pieces of a broken humanity, unique and beyond valuation, marching towards completion in and with God. We are not things, and those who see humanity as things, will be discarded as things in the end.