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Of all God's creatures, none is more unusual than man. Only man shares both the world of the angels and the world of the animals. Since man is made up of body and soul he is part of the spiritual order with the angels and part of the material order with the animals and plants. Because of his soul man can think, know, and freely choose what is good or evil. A man's soul will never die; it is immortal. As you know, animals do not have the kind of souls that live for ever. Nor can they think or choose.
On the other hand, because he has a body, man shares with the animals some things that angels do not have. He can feel things, he has the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. He needs air, food, and water to stay alive.
To understand better the wonderful mystery of ourselves, we must know about the first man and woman. All of the rest of us have descended from them; that is why we call them our first parents.
God made Adam and Eve as he wanted them to be. They had all they needed physically and mentally to live lives of happiness according to his will. They were given special gifts so that living in the Garden of Eden was without hardship or difficulty; they would never be sick, would never suffer, and they would not have to die. Their wills were not weak as ours are, and they saw and understood things clearly.
Before original sin, all these perfections were part of what it meant to be human. But God also gave our first parents a gift that was supernatural. God gave Adam and Eve a share of his own life, the life of grace. This means that after enjoying life on earth for a while, Adam and Eve could enjoy being with God in Heaven. There would be no death in between this world and Heaven. This gift was not only for Adam and Eve, but for all their descendants, ourselves included.
The Bible tells us that when God created Adam, he said, "Let us make man in our own image." This does not mean that God has a body like us. It means that we are like God in our minds and in our freedom to choose. God loves each of us as his children. Because of this, each of us has great worth and value. It makes no difference if someone is badly handicapped, retarded, or unloved by other people. Even a tiny unborn baby growing within its mother is more important than all the stars in the sky, all the inventions of science, and all the works of art. Each of us is known and loved by God. That is what matters more than anything else.
Used with the permission of The Ignatius Press 800-779-5534
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