1.
Of the Unity and Indissolubility of Marriage
On 5
September 1979, in the first of his General Audiences on the Theology of
the Body, the Holy Father expounded the words of Christ, "In the beginning
the Creator made them male and female."
2.
Biblical Account of Creation Analysed
In his General Audience of 12 September 1979,
the Holy Father compared two accounts of man's creation from Genesis,
establishing basic principles for his study of the Theology of the Body.
3. The Second
Account of Creation: The Subjective Definition of Man
In his General Audience of 19 September 1979, the Holy Father
examined the account of man's creation in the second chapter of Genesis,
observing its profundity in revealing the subjective side of creation in
the image of God.
4. Boundary
Between Original Innocence and Redemption
In his General Audience on 26 September 1979, the Holy Father
considered a continuity between man's state of original innocence and the
state of original sin, which left him open to the grace of redemption.
5.
Meaning of Man's
Original Solitude
In his General Audience on 10 October 1979, the Holy Father
examined man's solitude, not as male, distinct from female, but in his
nature as distinct from other living things, his difference in
superiority, revealed to him in his self-consciousness.
6.
Man's Awareness
of Being a Person
In his General Audience on 24 October 1979, the Holy Father
linked "man's original solitude," as different from and superior to other
living creatures, with consciousness of his body.
7.
In the Very
Definition of Man, the Alternative Between Death and Immortality
In his General Audience on 31 October 1979, the Holy Father
addressed again the solitude in which man was created, in relation to
other creatures, but also with regard to his freedom of moral choice. The
alternatives of death and immortality lay with him.
8.
Original Unity of Man and Woman
In his General Audience of 7 November 1979, the Holy Father
continued to lay groundwork for his Theology of the Body, meditating on
Adam's "sleep" from which the division of the sexes emerged.
9.
Man Becomes the Image of God by Communion of Persons
In his General Audience of 14 November 1979, the Holy Father
located the image of God, in which man was created, not only in the
solitude of his humanity, but also in the communion of persons, in the
creation of the first man and woman in relation to each other.
10.
Marriage One and Indissoluble in First Chapters of
Genesis
In his General Audience of 21 November 1979, the Holy Father
spoke on the communion of the first man and woman, how it renewed their
original unity before separation in creation, and revealed the meaning of
their bodies by their complementarity.
11.
Meaning of
Original Human Experiences
In his General Audience of 12 December 1979, the Holy Father
observed that, in the Genesis account, the shame at their nakedness,
experienced by the first man and woman after the Fall, contrasts with
their original innocence, which invites further study of their original
consciousness of their bodies.
12. Fullness of
Interpersonal Communication
In his General Audience of 19 December 1979, the Holy Father continued his
series on the Theology of the Body, analyzing the absence of shame in our
first parents, despite their nakedness, and its bearing on their
communication.
13. Creation as a
Fundamental and Original Gift
In his General Audience of 2 January 1980, the Holy Father continued
his study of the Theology of the Body, analyzing the consciousness of our
first parents, in how they perceived each other, without shame in their
nakedness, as good, and a mutual gift, part of the good gift of God's
creation.
14.
Revelation and Discovery of the Nuptial Meaning of the Body
In his General Audience of 9 January 1980, the Holy Father
explained the "nuptial meaning" of the body as first experienced by Adam
and Eve. Man, both male and female, realizes his essence only in living
with and for someone else. The possibility of this mutual self-gift is
manifested in the bodies of male and female, which gives them their
nuptial meaning.
15. The
Man-Person Becomes a Gift in the Freedom of Love
In his General Audience of 16 January 1980, the Holy Father
continued his series on the Theology of the Body, by examining the
"nuptial meaning of the body." Through self-mastery, by which the purely
physical side of sex was restrained, the first man and woman were free to
give themselves totally to each other, and thereby discovered their true
selves.
16.
Mystery of Man's Original Innocence
In his General Audience of 30 January 1980,
the Holy Father pursued his examination of the Theology of the Body by
dwelling on the mystery of man's original innocence, that purity of heart
which enabled Adam and Eve to give themselves to each other in love, as
the effect of grace.
17.
Man and Woman: A Mutual
Gift for Each Other
In his General Audience of 6
February 1980, the Holy Father reexamined the nuptial meaning of the body,
in the mutual gift of self by our first parents, in the context of their
original innocence.
18. Original
Innocence and Man's Historical State
In his General Audience of 13 February 1980, the Holy Father
reexamined our first parents' original innocence, as their nature was
originally graced, how it affected their relationship to each other and
the nuptial meaning of their bodies as male and female.
19. Man
Enters the World as a Subject of Truth and Love
In his General Audience of 20 February 1980, the Holy Father
continued his series on the Theology of the Body. Created in the image of
God, man (Adam and Eve) entered the world as a primordial sacrament, a
sign to the visible world of the invisible mystery hidden in God, the
mystery of truth and love, the mystery of divine life, in which man really
participates.
20.
Analysis of Knowledge
and of Procreation
In his General Audience of 5
March 1980, the Holy Father continued his series on the Theology of the
Body, by examining the meaning of the biblical statement that "Adam knew
Eve his wife" (Gn 4:1-2).
21.
Mystery of Woman
Revealed in Motherhood
In his General Audience of 12
March 1980, the Holy Father further examined the concept of mutual
"knowledge" between the first man and woman. The woman is brought to full
awareness of the mystery of creation, in its renewal in human generation.
22.
Knowledge-Generation
Cycle and Perspective of Death
In his General Audience of 26
March 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body. He further examined biblical "knowledge," as the nuptial
relationship before the fall, a mutual, disinterested gift of self between
spouses, contrasting it with the same relationship as a remedy for death
after the fall.
23.
Marriage in the Integral
Vision of Man
In his General Audience of 2
April 1980, the Holy Father continued his series on Theology of the Body.
Only by going back to the "beginning," as Christ did in answering the
Pharisees on divorce, can we get a total vision of man, male and female,
and only so can we adequately understand marriage and procreation.
24. Christ
Appeals to Man's Heart
In his General Audience of 16 April 1980, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by turning to Christ's
teaching, in the Sermon on the Mount, on adultery in the heart.
25.
Ethical and
Anthropological Content of the Commandment: You Shall Not Commit Adultery
At his General Audience of 23
April 1980, the Holy Father continued his series on Theology of the Body.
He examined the meaning of adultery, which is a breach in the unity of
husband and wife, even if only by an interior act ("adultery in the
heart"). He cited the case of David and Bathsheba.
26.
Lust is the Fruit of the
Breach of the Covenant With God
In his General Audience of 30
April 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body. He examined the three-fold lust, of the flesh, of the eyes, and the
pride of life, by which man broke God's original covenant.
27.
Real Significance of
Original Nakedness
In his General Audience of 14
May 1980, the Holy Father continued his series on Theology of the Body,
explaining the nakedness of man after the fall as not merely physical.
"...this man was deprived of the supernatural and preternatural gifts
which were part of his endowment before sin. Furthermore, he suffered a
loss in what belongs to his nature itself, to humanity in the original
fullness of the image of God."
28.
A Fundamental Disquiet
in All Human Existence
In his General Audience of 2
June 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body. The shame experienced by man after his fall expressed a deeper
shame, called "cosmic," reflecting a new disorder in his nature, by which
not only was the relationship between man and woman affected, but the
relationship between body and spirit.
29.
Relationship of Lust to
Communion of Persons
In his General Audience of 4
June 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body. He examined the radical transformation wrought by lust and shame in
the original relationship between the first man and woman.
30.
Dominion Over the Other
in the Interpersonal Relation
In his General Audience of 18
June 1980, the Holy Father continued his series on Theology of the Body.
Because of their sin, the man and woman feel shame toward each other,
their communion is weakened, and he will exercise dominion over her.
31.
Lust Limits Nuptial
Meaning of the Body
In his General Audience of 25
June 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body. The sin of Adam and Eve distorted the "nuptial meaning of the body,"
its masculinity/femininity, which was meant to shape their communion.
Their relationship was corrupted by lust, which includes the desire to
possess the other, rather than receive him/her as a free gift.
32.
The Heart a Battlefield
Between Love and Lust
In his General Audience of 23
July 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body. After the fall, human sexuality was marked by a certain "coercion of
the body," which subverts the expression of the spirit seeking the
communion of persons, male and female, through a mutual gift of self. "The
more lust dominates the heart, the less the heart experiences the nuptial
meaning of the body."
33.
Opposition in the Human Heart between the Spirit and the Body
In his General Audience of 30 July 1980, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body. The nuptial meaning of
the body is destroyed when man or woman seeks to possess the other as an
object, but not when each belongs to the other through self-giving.
34.
Sermon on the Mount to
the Men of Our Day
In his General Audience of 6
August 1980, the Holy Father, continuing his catechesis on Theology of the
Body, examined the the "hardness of heart," which all men share with Our
Lord's auditors, and its connection with the three-fold lust which is our
heritage from Adam.
35.
Content of the Commandment: You Shall
Not Commit Adultery
In his General Audience of 13 August 1980,
the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body. He
presented Our Lord's teaching against adultery "in the heart" as a return
to the spirit of the law, whose letter had been stretched to allow
polygamy.
36. Adultery
According to the Law and as Spoken by the Prophets
In his General Audience of 20 August 1980, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body. He examines the emphasis
of the matrimonial law on the "procreative end of marriage," and of the
prophets on the uniqueness of the spousal relationship between God and
Israel, contrary to the prevailing polygamy.
37. Adultery:
A Breakdown of the Personal Covenant
In his General Audience of 27 August 1980, the Holy Father
continued his catechetical cycle on Theology of the Body, on the subject
of adultery. Adultery is a sin of the body, violating exclusive
matrimonial rights between a man and a woman, which constitutes a
breakdown of the personal covenant between them.
38.
Meaning of Adultery
Transferred from the Body to the Heart
In his General Audience of 3
September 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of
the Body, focusing on adultery, its place in the Wisdom tradition, and the
change in emphasis introduced by Christ.
39.
Concupiscence as a
Separation From Matrimonial Significance of the Body
In his General Audience of 10
September 1980, the Holy Father continued his series on Theology of the
Body. He gave a description of the inner effects of lust from the Wisdom
tradition and then compared it with the teaching of Christ on "adultery in
the heart."
40. Mutual
Attraction Differs from Lust
In his General Audience of 17 September 1980, the Holy Father
continued his analysis of adultery in his series on Theology of the Body.
The mutual attraction between a man and a woman, encompassing a "gamut of
spiritual-corporal desires," to which a "proportionate pyramid of values"
corresponds, differs from lust, in that the latter reduces the pyramid to
one level, sex, as an object of gratification.
41.
Depersonalizing Effect of Concupiscence
In his General Audience of 24 September 1980, the Holy Father
further examined "adultery in the heart," spoken of by Our Lord in His
Sermon on the Mount. When a woman is looked at lustfully by a man, she
ceases to be regarded as a subject of personal attraction or communion,
but only as an object of sexual satisfaction. And when this "intention"
reaches the will, the man himself becomes enslaved.
42.
Establishing the Ethical
Sense
In his General Audience of 1
October 1980, the Holy Father continued his analysis of the words of Our
Lord, in His Sermon on the Mount, concerning adultery in the heart. It is
not merely a matter of lusting after a woman who is not one's wife, but of
looking at her in a way dismissive of her dignity as well as of one's own.
43.
Interpreting the Concept of Concupiscence
In his General Audience of 8 October 1980, the Holy Father
concluded his analysis of adultery in the heart, by observing that it is
an attitude of a man toward a woman (or vice versa) which reduces the
communion of persons to satisfaction of an instinct. One may be guilty of
this attitude towards one's own spouse.
44.
Gospel Values and Duties
of the Human Heart
In his General Audience of 15
October 1980, the Holy Father continued his analysis of "adultery in the
heart" by distinguishing condemnation of lust from a condemnation of the
body.
45.
Realization of the Value
of the Body According to the Plan of the Creator
In his General Audience of 22
October 1980, the Holy Father clarified the meaning of lust, in his
catechesis on Theology of the Body. Christ warned against lusting after a
woman, not to condemn the body as evil (Manichaeism), but to condemn the
devaluation of the body in its nuptial meaning, i.e., the manifestation of
communion in spirit.
46. Power of
Redeeming Completes Power of Creating
In his General Audience of 29 October 1980, the Holy Father continued his
catechesis on "adultery in the heart" by examining the three forms of lust
("of the flesh," "of the eyes," and the "pride of life") spoken of by St.
John (1 Jn 2:15-16), in relation to the skewed pictures of man presented
by Freud, Marx and Nietzsche. The truth of his humanity, the ability to
love, is deeper than the three lusts.
47. Eros and
Ethos Meet and Bear Fruit in the Human Heart
In his General Audience of 5 November 2004, the Holy Father
explained that the warning of Christ against looking lustfully at a woman
is less an accusation than an appeal, that what the heart desires (eros)
should also be what is right (ethos).
48.
Spontaneity: The Mature Result of Conscience
In his General Audience of 12 November 1980, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by examining the notion
that subjection of an erotic attraction to an ethical form deprives it of
its spontaneity.
49. Christ
Calls Us to Rediscover the Living Forms of the New Man
In his General Audience of 3 December 1980, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, with regard to adultery
in the heart, by focusing on the ethos of redemption, which calls for
temperance in the natural erotic attraction between a man and a woman.
50. Purity of
Heart
In his General Audience of 10 December 1980, the Holy Father
completed his study of adultery in the heart with a consideration of
purity of heart, and how the Lord distinguished this from mere ritual
purity.
51.
Justification in Christ
In his General Audience of 17
December 1980, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body by examining the conflict between "flesh" and "spirit" in the
teaching of St. Paul. The lusts of the worldly man can be overcome by his
spirit when empowered by the Holy Spirit.
52.
Opposition Between the
Flesh and the Spirit
In his General Audience of 7
January 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body by examining St. Paul's doctrine of justification, and in particular
the opposition between life according to the flesh and life according to
the Spirit (of God).
53.
Life in the Spirit Based
on True Freedom
In his General Audience of 14
January 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body by further examination of St. Paul's teaching on life according to
the Spirit. It is purity of heart, which is the necessary condition for
charity and true freedom.
54. St.
Paul's Teaching on the Sanctity and Respect of the Human Body
In his General Audience of 28 January 1981, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by examining St. Paul's
teaching on purity, in 1 Thessalonians 4, that we should control our
bodies in holiness and honor.
55.
St. Paul's Description of the Body
and Teaching on Purity
In his General Audience of 4 February 1981,
the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by
examining St. Paul's teaching on the body from 1 Corinthians 12. The human
body is more than the sum of its biological characteristics. It is
permeated by the "whole reality of the person and of his dignity."
56. The
Virtue of Purity Is the Expression and Fruit of Life According to the
Spirit
In his General Audience of 11 February 1981, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by further examining St.
Paul's teaching on purity. It is identifiable as the virtue of temperance,
but includes an element of respect for the body, as a temple of the Holy
Spirit.
57.
The Pauline Doctrine of
Purity as Life According to the Spirit
In his General Audience of 18
March 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of the
Body by further examination of St. Paul's teaching on purity. This virtue
is reinforced by piety, a gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by which God
is glorified.
58.
Positive Function of
Purity of Heart
In his General Audience 1
April 1981, the Holy Father gathered the main threads of his teaching on
Theology of the Body, as based on the words of Christ on man's creation as
male and female, and his warning against adultery in the heart. Lust can
be displaced only by purity of heart, which, in the teaching of St. Paul,
is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
59.
Pronouncements of Magisterium Apply Christ's Words Today
In his General Audience of 8 April 1981, the Holy Father
concluded his reflections on the words of Christ, in the Sermon on the
Mount, on adultery in the heart. These words are key to the Theology of
the Body, which underlies the thinking of many recent magisterial
pronouncements.
60. The Human
Body, Subject of Works of Art
In his General Audience of 15 April 1981, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, laying groundwork for a
consideration of the human body in aesthetic experience, and how it
relates to Our Lord's warning against looking with lust.
61.
Reflections on the Ethos of the Human Body in Works of Artistic Culture
In his General Audience of 22 April 1981, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, examining the
implications of exposure of the human body in artistic culture for the
mutual donation of husband and wife.
62.
Art Must Not Violate the
Right to Privacy
In his General Audience of 29 April 1981, the Holy Father continued his
catechesis on Theology of the Body by examining the limits beyond which
art must not go in depicting masculinity or femininity.
63.
Ethical Responsibilities
in Art
In his General Audience of 6
May 1981, the Holy Father concluded his reflections on the Sermon on the
Mount, concerning adultery in the heart, with respect to artistic
depictions of the human body.
64.
Marriage and Celibacy in
the Light of the Resurrection of the Body
In his General Audience of 11
November 1981, the Holy Father began a new segment of his catechesis on
theology of the body, basing his talk on the words of Christ to the
Sadducees on the general resurrection. "These words are of fundamental
importance for understanding marriage in the Christian sense and also the
renunciation of conjugal life for the kingdom of heaven."
65.
The Living God
Continually Renews the Very Reality of Life
In his General Audience
of 18 November 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on
theology of the body, by returning to the words of Christ to the
Sadducees on the general resurrection. They deny the resurrection
because they doubt the power of God.
66. The
Resurrection and Theological Anthropology
In his General Audience of 2
December 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of
the Body, by addressing the teaching of Christ on the relationship
between male and female after the general resurrection.
67.
The Resurrection
Perfects the Person
In his General Audience of 9
December 1981, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on Theology of
the Body, with particular regard for the general resurrection, in which
the body will be spiritualized, and both body and spirit divinized, in
the vision of God.
68. Christ's
Words on the Resurrection Complete the Revelation of the
Body
In his General Audience of 16 December 1981, the Holy Father continued
his focus on Christ's words about our condition after the general
resurrection in his catechesis on theology of the body. Each person
sharing in the beatific vision will have his own subjectivity perfected,
and yet, in view of the Communion of the Trinity, experience a new depth
of intersubjectivity which is the Communion of Saints. It will be
virginal, and yet reveal the full nuptial meaning of the body, as a gift
to God first, and through Him to others.
69. New
Threshold of Complete Truth About Man
In his General Audience of 13 January 1982, the Holy Father
continued his exposition of the words of Christ on the general
resurrection, as applied to Theology of the Body. In some way difficult
to imagine, the meaning of the human body will be revealed as the means
of mutual self-giving in the communion of Saints.
70.
Doctrine of the Resurrection according to St. Paul
In his General Audience of 27 January 1982, the Holy Father continued
his catechesis on Theology of the Body by further examining St. Paul's
teaching, in 1 Corinthians 15, on the general resurrection. The
resurrection of the body completes man's redemption from the effects of
sin.
71. The
Risen Body Will Be Incorruptible, Glorious, Dynamic, and Spiritual
In his General Audience of 3 February 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by describing the
body, at the general resurrection, as the fulfillment of the human
aspiration to glory. This aspiration reflects the potentiality with
which we were created to become conformed to the risen Christ.
72. Body's
Spiritualization Will Be Source of Its Power and Incorruptibility
In his General Audience of 10 February 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by concluding his study
of St. Paul's teaching on the general resurrection. Resurrected man, no
longer weakened through his resistance to the Spirit, will be fully
vivified, attaining the fullness for which he was created.
73.
Virginity or Celibacy for the Sake of the Kingdom
In his General Audience of 10 March 1982, the Holy Father began
a new series on virginity/celibacy for the kingdom of heaven, in
furtherance of his catechesis on theology of the body. A vocation to
celibacy is an anticipation of that eschatological state when men
"neither marry nor are given in marriage."
74. The
Vocation to Continence in This Earthly Life
In his General Audience of 17 March 1982, the Holy Father
continued his talks on celibacy/virginity for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. This new ideal, though a departure from the Old Testament
tradition of marriage, shed light on the theology of the body.
75.
Continence for the Sake of the Kingdom Meant to Have Spiritual
Fulfillment
In his General Audience of 24 March 1982, the Holy Father
continued his talks on celibacy/virginity for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. It is a charismatic sign that in heaven people will no longer
marry, because God will be everything to everyone. Departure from the
Old Testament tradition of marriage and procreation was effected
especially by the example of Christ himself.
76.
The Effective and Privileged Way of
Continence
In his General Audience of 31 March 1982, the Holy Father
continued his talks on celibacy/virginity for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. Marriage is not depreciated, but continence has an exceptional
value, when chosen with a supernatural motive.
77.
Superiority of
Continence Does Not Devalue Marriage
In his General Audience of 7
April 1982, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on theology of the
body, addressing the superiority of continence. It is superior to
marriage, not based not on any devaluation of sexuality or of the human
body, but on the motive for which continence is chosen, viz., the
kingdom of heaven.
78.
Marriage and Continence Complement Each Other
In his General Audience of 14 April 1982, the Holy Father
continued his instruction on the relationship between marriage and
continence. Those called to either state fulfill their calling in a
spiritual paternity or maternity toward those in their care. And the
nature of both is conjugal, being expressed in the total gift of
oneself.
79. The
Value of Continence Is Found in Love
In his General Audience of 21 April 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, with regard to the
choice of virginity or celibacy. Continence for the sake of the Kingdom
of Heaven is the nuptial gift of self to Christ, the Spouse of the soul.
80.
Celibacy Is a Particular Response to the Love of the Divine Spouse
In his General Audience of 28 April 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body by further explaining
continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven as the particular
response of virginity/celibacy to the self-gift of the divine Spouse in
the Paschal and Eucharistic Mystery.
81.
Celibacy for the Kingdom Affirms Marriage
In his General Audience of 5 May 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by concluding his
considerations on Christ's words recommending continence for the sake of
the Kingdom of Heaven. Renunciation of marriage for the sake of the
Kingdom affirms the value of what is renounced, in the gift of self to
God.
82.
Voluntary Continence Derives From a Counsel, Not From a Command
In his General Audience of 23 June 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by addressing St.
Paul's treatment of virginity and marriage. Consecrated virginity is a
matter of counsel, not command, so that marriage is no sin, though
voluntary virginity is better.
83. The
Unmarried Person Is Anxious to Please the Lord
In his General Audience of 30 June 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by examining St.
Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 7, that one who marries does well, but
one who chooses continence or virginity does better. Continence makes
more room to be anxious for "the things of the Lord," to please the Lord
and work for the growth of His Church.
84.
Everyone Has His Own Gift from God, Suited to His Vocation
In his General Audience of 7 July 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body, by further examination
of St. Paul's statement that it is better to choose continence than to
marry. While the gift of continence allows an undivided love for God,
the grace of marriage is a true gift, suited to that state in life.
85. The
Kingdom of God, Not the World, Is Man's Eternal Destiny
In his General Audience of 14 July 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body. He further examined
St. Paul's teaching on the complementarity of continence and marriage,
both vocations having in view the future life.
86. Mystery
of the Body's Redemption Basis of Teaching on Marriage and Voluntary
Continence
In his General Audience of 21 July 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on Theology of the Body. The eschatological
redemption of the body, in victory over death, is the inspiration for
man's victory over sin in daily life, whether in marriage or in
celibacy.
87.
Marital Love Reflects
God's Love for His People
In his General Audience of
28 July 1982, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on theology of
the body by laying the groundwork for an examination of St. Paul's
teaching on marriage in the fifth chapter of Ephesians. Marriage, as a
sacrament, signifies the relationship between Christ and His Church, and
before that, the spousal love between God and his chosen people.
88. The
Call to Be Imitators of God and to Walk in Love
In his General Audience of 4 August 1982, the Holy Father
continued his examination of the fifth chapter of Ephesians as part of
his ongoing catechesis on theology of the body. The prescriptions for
family relationships should be understood in light of the Apostle's
teaching on the Christian vocation.
89.
Reverence for Christ the Basis of Relationship Between Spouses
In his General Audience of 11 August 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on theology of the body, by examining more
closely the right relationship between husband and wife as described in
the fifth chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians.
90. A
Deeper Understanding of the Church and Marriage
In his General Audience of 18 August 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on theology of the body, looking more closely
at the two-way analogy found in Ephesians 5, between the relationship of
husband and wife and the relationship of Christ and His Church.
91. St
Paul's Analogy of the Union of Head and Body
In his General Audience of 25 August 1982, the Holy Father
continued his catechesis on theology of the body, by further examination
of Ephesians 5. He focussed attention on the analogy of head and body,
as analogous to both the Christ-Church relationship and the husband-wife
relationship.
92.
Sacredness of the Human Body and Marriage
In his General Audience of 1 September 1982, the Holy Father
infers the sacredness of the human body from the analogy of love in
Ephesians 5, between Christ for His Church and a husband for his wife.
93.
Christ's Redemptive Love Has Spousal Nature
In his General Audience of 8 September 1982, the Holy Father continued
his exposition of the fifth chapter of Ephesians, focusing on the
meaning of the word "mystery," as it applies to God's plan, its
revelation in Christ, Christ's relationship to the Church, and the
sacraments of the Church.
94. Moral
Aspects of the Christian's Vocation
In his General Audience of 15 September 1982, the Holy Father
con
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