On November 12, Niagara Catholic hosted its annual Culture of Life Conference at St. Alfred Parish, with Catholic speaker Blaise Alleyne as the guest speaker. Approximately 150 students from Niagara Catholic’s eight secondary schools attended.
Alleyne’s morning session focused on the importance of not only looking at people but seeing them. The afternoon session dealt with a more complex topic, medical assistance in dying, known more commonly as MAID). Both topics touched on the Catholic Social Teachings, specifically on the dignity of the human person.
The late pope, St. John Paul II, spoke passionately about how crucial it is for all humans to be seen, valued, and respected.
“The body makes visible the person,” Alleyne quoted the late pope as saying. “Theology of the body is about the mystery of the person. Reflect on the power of the human face to see if we can have that depth of vision towards other people.”
He asked students to consider who they are.
“Not what’s your name or what are you good at, but who, are you?” he asked, before providing the answer. “(You are an amazing, beautiful, complicated human being. Who we are is all part of a wonderful epic plan. Never before, and never again will there be another you. Open your heart and discover who you are.”
Alleyne told students that a world designed for us to look inward or only at the surface has created what he called “a crisis that’s a problem of vision.
“Are we just looking at people or are we truly seeing them? I think we are honest with ourselves, there is a deep desire in each of our hearts to truly be seen,” he continued. To be seen and to be known and to be loved. Not just to be looked at but to truly be seen. The dignity of the human being is about looking beyond seeing something and seeing someone.”
Stepping away from our customary environments and out of our comfort zones makes it easier for people to look past the surface. Alleyne recounted a story from an experience during a high school retreat that helped him better understand an acquaintance at school.
“Pay attention to joy; but also pay attention to pain in our own stories, because it tells us what our hearts are all longing for – to belong, to be seen, to be loved, to be cared for, to let our guard down and be vulnerable,” he told students. When we follow our own stories, that can give us clues for what every person is longing for at the bottom of their heart. I was so caught up in my own story that I didn’t realize that everyone has their own story, too.”