1.Questions to ponder
What is the mystery that has been hidden in God for eternity and how does the body signify it?
What are the various biblical Images used to describe Gods love for us?
Why do you think the spousal image is used far more than any other
In what ways might the husband/wife relationship reflect or image the relationship between Christ and the Church?
Why is important to look at our origin, history, and destiny in order to discover the meaning of our humanity?
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2. Bl. John Paul II TOB answers two fundamental questions
1. What does it mean to be human?
2. How do I live my life in a way that brings true happiness?
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3. Some fundamental ideas developed by Bl. John Paul II
Spousal significance of the body
The Communio personarum Man finds himself not so much in his solitude but in the community of persons.
Self-Giving Man fundamentally discovers Himself and the meaning of his self-existence in a sincere gift of Himself to another
The language of the body
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4. Marriage Covenant of Israel
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Gods covenant with Abraham ratified with the blood of animals
5. The Marriage covenant of Israel
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From the book of the prophet Ezekiel 16 (NAB)Jerusalem, the adulterous spouse of the Lord
Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem You grew and developed, you came to the age of puberty; your breasts were formed, your hair had grown, but you were still stark naked. Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old enough for love. So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover your nakedness; I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you; you became mine, says the Lord God. Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with an embroidered gown, put sandals of fine leather on your feet; I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was, because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God.
But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your renown to make yourself a harlot, and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by, whose own you became. Therefore, harlot, hear the word of the Lord! I will now gather together all your lovers whom you tried to please, whether you loved them or loved them not. They shall lead an assembly against you to stone you and hack you with their swords.For thus speaks the Lord God: I will deal with you according to what you have done, you who despised your oath, breaking a covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.
Malachi 2:16(NASB)
For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.
6. Some Biblical images of Marriage
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The broken relationship between Israel and God
Hosea takes back his wife who went to living as a prostitute
7. Genesis 2:21-22God determined to create a companion for man, that he should not be lonely.So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.lThe LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said:
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8. Marriage of Adam and Eve
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Genesis 2:21-24
This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called woman, for out of man this one has been taken.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.
9. The Man and Woman were created to give themselves to each other. Thus, there is nuptial meaning in the body
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10. The Trinity is an eternalexchange of Love. We are made in the Image of the Triune God.
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11. Two parents open up to a third, the child
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St. Joachim, St. Ann and the Blessed Virgin Mary their child
12. Our bodily reality opens up to our spiritual reality
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The Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena
Spirituality of St. John of The Cross
13. The Theology of the Body represents the very logic of Christianity
.And the Word became Flesh and Dwelt among us.
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14. The Church is the Bride of Christ
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Ephesians 5:22-27 (NAB)
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
15. John Paul II developed his The Theology of the Body (TOB) during a series of 129 conferences from September 5, 1979 to November 28, 1984.
Their original title, was Male and Female He Created Them. This was restored in the Michael Waldstein edition.
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16. The Cycles of the Theology of the Body
1) The Original Unity of Man and Woman as found in the Book of Genesis
23 catecheses from September 5, 1979-April 9, 1980
2) Purity of Heart versus Concupiscence: Catechesis on the Sermon on the Mount
27 catecheses from April 16 to December 10, 1980
3) St. Pauls Teaching on the Human Body: Life according to the Spirit
13 catechesis from December 17, 1980 to May 6, 1981
4) Marriage and celibacy in light of the resurrection of the body
9 catechesis from November 11, 1981 to February 10, 1982
5) Virginity or celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven
14 catecheses from March 10, 1982 to July 21, 1982
6) The sacramentality of marriage based on Ephesians 5:22-33
27 catecheses from July 28, 1982 to July 4, 1984
7) Reflections on Humanae Vitae based on the redemption of the body and the sacramentality of marriage
16 catechesis from July 11, 1984 to November 28, 1984
* compiled from Pope John Paul IIs Theology of the BodyA Cliff Notes Version by Fr. Roger Landry retrieved from http://catholicpreaching.com/content/docs/TOB.pdf 9/17/2011
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Our Origin
Our History
Our Destiny
Celibacy for the Kingdom
Marriage as a sacrament
The Language of Sexual love