What is man?

Psalm 8

Get ready for a stunning Psalm at Mass this weekend: Psalm 8.

The psalmist sings:

“When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place — what IS man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that YOU should care for him?”

Yes, what is man that we are that important to the Creator of the universe? And yet the psalmist is just getting warmed up on this subject:

“You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.”

Angels are awesome, spiritual creatures, superior to man in every way, but one: only man can take Christ into his body, as we do at the Table of the Lord at Mass. The psalmist says despite our human failings, we’re just about in the league with the angels. What an honor and serious responsibility!

Nothing else on earth compares to man, as the psalmist concludes:

“All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,

and whatever swims the paths of the seas.”

God has given man dominion over all the rest of His creation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 355) explains the four ways that man occupies a unique place in creation:

  1. God made him in his image.
  2. He united in man the spiritual and material worlds.
  3. He created him male and female.
  4. And God established man in his friendship.

Join us in honoring this friendship. Support Iowans for LIFE’S mission to protect man from the instant of fertilization until natural death.

What is man? A friend of God.

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