Introduction to the “Theology of the Body” Bl. Pope John Paul II’s Catechesis on Human Love...

Introduction tothe “Theology of the Body”

Bl. Pope John Paul II’sCatechesis on Human Love

Kino Institute CC109Diocese of Phoenix24 October 2012 – WEEK THREE

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.May it be done to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38

The Annunciation, 1898Henry Ossawa Tanner

In his Angelus address on Oct. 3, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said, “Mary is the model of the Christian life” (OR). Memorare

Remember, O most graciousVirgin Mary,

that never was it knownthat anyone who fled to thy

protection,implored thy help,

or sought thineintercessionwas left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence,I fly unto thee,

O Virgin of virgins, my mother;to thee do I come,before thee I stand,

sinful and sorrowful.O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions,but in thy mercy

hear and answer me.Amen.

OUTLINE

6:30 Prayer

6:40 Quizzes

7:00 Review

7:20 Historical Man

8:00 BREAK

8:15 Historical Man, cont’d

8:45 Life in the Son

9:15 Questions?

“Do whatever He tells you.”

Called to LoveReview of Week One readings

1. What does Bl. John Paul II mean when he refers to “original experience”?

2. Where do we experience “original solitude” in our lives?

3. What is the difference between saying “I have a body” and “I am a body”?

4. What does the body teach us about freedom?

5. How do our bodies make us open to reality? In what way is the body a “bridge to union” with others?

6. How is “difference” a positive and necessary part of unity? Does it (not) always imply inequality?

7. What is the prevalent understanding of sex and gender today? How might these hide an inadequate concept of the person?

8. Discuss the three stages in the ascent of love (sensuality, feelings and emotions, affirmation of the person). Why is each part essential to love? What needs to be integrated in each part?

9. How are our bodies “a task”? What is that “task”?

Called to LoveReview of Week Two readings

1. Reflect on the experiences of giving a gift and receiving a gift. How does this illuminate how we love and also how we allow ourselves to be loved, by God and by our families and friends?

2. What is the “filial” meaning of the body? What invitation does this mystery offer us? How can we respond to it?

3. What is the “nuptial” meaning of the body? What invitation does this mystery offer us? How can we respond to it?

• What is a sincere gift of self? How can we live being a “sincere gift” in our daily lives? Which experiences in life teaching us that “we can only fully discover ourselves through a sincere gift of ourselves” (GS 24)?

4. What is the “fruitful” meaning of the body? What invitation does this mystery offer us? How can we respond to it?

Called to LoveReview of Week Two readings, cont’d

5. What is the threefold pattern of love contained in the family? How do we reinforce or undermine this pattern in our personal lives and culture?

• How does the threefold pattern of human love image God as Trinity?

6. In the past, how did you understand man’s (ie. your own) special status as imago Dei? As imago Trinitatis? (How) has your understanding changed?

7. How does JPII understand the experience of “original nakedness”?

8. Why is it not enough to identify man’s special dignity with the task of dominion or with his intellectual capacities?

Week ONE: History & FoundationsWHY DID HE WRITE THIS?

Week TWO: Encountering LoveHOW IS LOVE REVEALED TO US?

Week THREE: Redemption of the

Heart

HOW DO WE GROW IN LOVE?

What happened to “Life in the S.U.N.”?

ORIGINAL MAN, ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE

“You certainly will not die!God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.”

“Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked.” Gn 3:4-5, 7

ORIGINAL SIN

Solitude ~ FilialityUnity ~ Nuptiality

Nakedness

~Fruitfulness

NB: “threefold pattern”

HISTORICAL MAN,

HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE

Consequences of Original Sin

What happens to the filial, nuptial, and fruitful meanings of the body?

CONCUPISCENCE

LUST

UNCHASTITY

UTILITARIANISM

SHAME

Life in the SON

REDEEMED MAN,

REDEEMED EXPERIENCE

HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE

ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE

From “Life in the S.U.N” to

Life in the SON

“REDEEMED”

&

“Redemptive Suffering”

Imago Dei, Imago Trinitatis

Love & the Inner Life of the Trinity

CCC 221But St. John goes even further when he affirms that “God is love”:

God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time,

God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.

QUESTIONS?

CtL Readings

Compendium

Audiences

Veritatis Splendor 48

[…] The person, including the body, is completely entrusted to himself, and it is in the unity of body and soul that the person is the subject of his own moral acts. […] And since the human person cannot be reduced to a freedom which is self-designing, but entails a particular spiritual and bodily structure, the primordial moral requirement of loving and respecting the person as an end and never as a mere means …