There is a categorical difference between existing and being. Our vocabulary tells us to refer to rocks, trees, and monkeys as things, and to God, angels and humans are beings. The definitive difference is that things do not have self-awareness and therefore merely exist, whereas beings do have self-awareness and are animated by a spirit. Secularists reject the immaterial or spiritual dimension of being as distinguished from mere existence. In effect, the God they deny does not exist since that concept is a contradiction in terms; nor can they explain why a billion years of evolution could not bridge the difference between things and beings because it transcends the powers of physical casualty. Although computers can be programmed to simulate reasoning, they are no likely to be made to generate self-awareness. We do know this: No machine or physical entity will ever fall in love or acquire free will. This exquisite human attribute borders on the divine and is found nowhere else in the universe.
Secular humanists will not accept our interpretation of reality as consisting of physical and spiritual components differentiated by existence and being. Nor will they accept our interpretation of reality as discerned by using intelligence which employs all human attributes like sensate knowledge, memory, imagination, consciousness, and our emotional nature—not just reason alone. However, we, the People of God, must acquire a deeper and more lively appreciation for the gift of free will wrapped in emotions and monitored by reason. This attribute gives us the privilege and the imperative to fulfill the Great Command, summed up in one sentence in the Gospel of Mark: You shall love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself (cf. M k 12:30-31).
The two acts that humans can perform that are not a means to an end are worship and love, the subject of the Great Command. Both accentuate being and actualize relationships. In short, being able to observe the Great Command lifts us to the heights of perfection and holiness. Our first and most enduring response must be joy and gratitude. The wonder is that the Triune God found a way to divinize being human all to the glory of God.
By Fr. Vincent Freeh