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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Thought for the Day # 68 - Saturday, May 23, 2020

“Dignity of the Person”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Through this pandemic we have been travelling together on a journey, in
our lives. Perhaps we have experienced much through this, and it is only fair
to take time to reflect on it. We are preparing to enter more and more decon-
finement; it may have already started in certain ways. It will take a bit more
loosening up, easing up, and begin to open up in a cautious and progressive
manner.
We are ending this intense time when every day we met through this
Thought for the Day “Care of the Soul”. I will continue on Tuesday and Friday
next week, to move step by step into a gradual deconfinement.
I would like to come back to those three points, namely today Friday,
tomorrow Saturday, and then on Sunday.
The first point today is the question of the dignity of the person. How does
the time of opening up, by revealing our own weaknesses, remind us of the
dignity of the person, the dignity of every human being? How does the decon-
finement remind us of our own dignity as a human being created in the image
of God, but also the dignity of the other? How does it remind us of the dignity
of the other, of the sick? Never think only about physical care. Always think of
care of the person, care of the heart, care of the soul. We should always take a
global approach to the person, when we talk about frailty, for example, when
we are dealing with illness or accidents. Always think about the dignity of the
person.
We were already doing this, but now we have to increase it, to grow
further in our sense of the dignity of the person regardless of his fragility.
Dignity should be given also to all the people in our family. Dignity of our
parents, dignity of our children, dignity of our brothers, dignity of our sisters,
dignity is of the most importance. Always think in terms of the dignity of the
other. It should become more and more a reflex, an inner force, a force of the
soul, a force of our vision. Treat others with dignity whether you agree with
them or not, whether you get along well or not, whether you are in harmony

(cont’d)

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 80