When we reflect on who we are and the purpose of our existence, we are constrained to be mindful of the Creator, who is the source of our life and of the freedoms and responsibilities we bear as persons and as a society. The duties and rights we possess arise from the knowledge that we are surrounded by the means God has furnished for our flourishing (Ps. 8:6–8):
- our parents as the channel of life, nurture, and sustenance;
- the heritage of kinship that shapes and grounds us;
- the mother tongue that gives us the words of awareness and identity;
- the societies that give shape and substance to our belonging;
- and the many relationships that bind us to one another, enfolding us in reciprocal rights and duties.