A Summary of Theology of the Body for my

Family and Friends

   A recent topic of discussion at a family gathering touched on the Church’s stand on
contraception. Since so many Catholics oppose the Church here, I felt motivated to finish reading
the Theology of the Body and pass on my notes to you. If you’re interested in understanding this
issue from the view of the late Pope John Paul II, then I encourage you to pour yourself a mug of
hot tea and settle in for a bit of reading. This issue does not lend itself to trite sound bites.
(However, if you’re not interested, you’re not going to hurt my feelings by stopping here and
deleting the e-mail. Education works best when it’s the right question at the right time, so this
may not be the question you’re interested in wrestling with at the moment.)
To understand the church’s position on contraception, we have to start with the realization that
our religion is a religion of revelation. We’re not allowed to create any old doctrine or practice
that seems reasonable to us. We have to start with what God reveals to us and stay faithful to His
revelation. Revelation creates the boundaries within which we can use reason, but we’re not
allowed to think “outside the box” so to speak. By staying within revelation, we are seeking what
God wants, and moral issues, like contraception, are all about “How does God want us to act?”
So what is the revelation that guides our thinking about contraception?
John Paul II started by looking at God’s will regarding marriage and relationships. He studied the
scriptural passage that begins in Matthew 19:3 and Mark 10:2. The Pharisees questioned Jesus
about divorce, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” Jesus answered, “Have you not
read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female. For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not
man put asunder.” Jesus refers to the beginning when determining God’s will.
In the Beginning-
We look at the two creation stories in Genesis for guidance about how God originally wanted
things, in the beginning. God created humankind in his image and likeness. “Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gen 1:26). “God created man (humanity) in his image…
male and female he created them.” Different from all the rest of creation, Adam and Eve found
themselves in relationship to God, since they were created in God’s image and likeness. Their
bodies (and ours) bear the imprint of the Divine image.
To understand our bodies, then, we have to understand something about the Divine Image. What
do we know about the image of God? God is a Triune God, and that reality is the lynchpin
that explains how the church understands being made in the image and likeness of God.
God as Trinity makes all the difference. God the Father loves so totally and completely that He
has to give Himself. It is in the nature of love to give to the other. So the Father begets the Son,
communicating Himself completely and giving everything to the Son (“In him all things were
made”). God the Father loves the Son, and the Son receives this love and returns it to the Father.
Father is Lover, Son is Beloved. The Love that is generated between the Father and the Son is
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Love that exists between them, a fruit of their relationship.
Thus God is the Lover, the Loved, and the Love that exists between them. This is a relationship
of Persons who give themselves as gift to the other. Now how is that image and likeness
translated to us as humanity?
Humanity is also created as a relationship of persons. As Creator, what God creates is a gift,
springing from love. The physical body is a gift, a witness to God’s love. Adam received Eve as
a gift, and Eve received Adam as a gift. Adam was created first, and creation is good, but there
was a lack of good noted when God says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” (Gen 2:18). Man
does not completely realize his essence until he exists with someone else and for someone else.
Thus in the beginning, Adam and Eve existed as a communion of persons who live in
mutual “for the other,” and thus in the image and likeness of the Trinity. It is a relationship
of mutual self gift…the same as in the Trinity. In addition, the bodies of male and female are a
source of fruitfulness and procreation, which also reflects the image of God as Creator. This
nuptial relationship brings happiness and fruitfulness.
In the beginning, in this relationship of mutual love for the other and for God, Adam and
Eve shared 4 attributes; Original Solitude, Original Unity, Original Nakedness, and
Original Innocence.
Original Solitude- In the Garden of Eden, Gen 1:27 and 2:24, Adam recognizes that he is
different from the animals. “The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to
every beast in the field; but for the man (male) there was not found a helper fit for him.” (Gen
2:20) Human beings are free, not ruled by instincts. That freedom is necessary for love and for
relationships. Yet no other animal completed Adam. Humankind alone has self-knowledge
and free will to choose and exercise self-determination.  
Original Unity- Humanity is made for original unity in the sense that male and female
complement each other. “It is not good that man (male) should be alone: I will make him a
helper fit for him.“ (Gen 2:18).  Man is overjoyed at the creation of woman. “This at last is bone
of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of
man.” (Gen 2:23) Humanity is thus the creation of the unity of two beings, male and female.
Humanity is made in the image and likeness of God in the ability to procreate and be fertile.
Male and female are two complementary ways of being, which become one in the conjugal act.
Each conjugal union reflects the image of God as Creator, since there is the potential for creation
of a new life.
Original Nakedness- Male and female lived in original nakedness, without shame and
without fear. “They were naked, but they were not ashamed.” (Gen 2:25) In the fullness of their
consciousness, knowing the meaning of their bodies as made to serve each other, there was no
threat. In this understanding, the body, male and female, was a primordial sacrament (visible sign
of) the inner life of the Trinity; Each serving the other with complete self-donation in love and in
God. In the conjugal act, they ‘know’ each other. They reveal themselves to each other to the
depth of their human selves.  Woman is known as Mother and Man is known as generative
Father. This ‘Knowing’ conditions begetting. The woman’s body becomes the place of
conception of a new man, giving birth to a baby. This fruitful communion of persons in God is a
sacrament (visible sign of) of the Trinity.
Original Innocence- also known as original righteousness of intention. The human will was
originally innocent, making reciprocity and the exchange of gifts possible. When each gives
self as gift and accepts the gift of the other, both find their dignity and are treated with dignity.
“Man can fully discover his true self only in a sincere (disinterested) giving of himself.”
(Gaudium et Spes 24) In the beginning, the spirit dominated the body, making the gift of self to
the other possible.
However, there was a change in their relationship after the fall. The Original nakedness
was broken. “They knew they were naked.” (Gen 3:7) After the fall, they became alienated from
each other, suspicious, with the male in domination and the female in subservience. “He shall
rule over you.” (Gen 3:16) Now there is a threat to self, so shame expresses the self-protection
now necessary in the relationship, since they do not exist to serve the other. Domination reduces
the other to the level of an object to be used for myself. This relationship introduces a threat on
the gift in its personal intimacy.  
However, in the fall, through original sin, humanity lost this original state of grace. And while
we cannot be restored back to the Garden of Eden, we can be restored back to our original intent;
to have access to right relationships. Redemption is needed to restore our right relationships.
The redemption of the body in marriage consists of regaining human dignity and trust. St. Paul
tells us, “We wait for the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom 8:23) The redemption of our bodies
comes through Christ who redeems.
The Redemption of the Body-
John Paul II began examining the redemption of the body by looking at Jesus’ teachings from the
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:18ff). “Blessed are the Pure in Heart,” and “You have heard
that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a
woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart.” (Mt 5: 27-28). Jesus starts with
the OT commandment ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ and then adds to it, bringing
fullness to the law. Fullness of the law focuses on the internal intentions or actions of the heart.
Christ comes not to abolish the law, but to show how the law is fulfilled by correct intentions of
the heart. Adultery and lust break the union of ‘one flesh’ in the heart.
According to 1 John 2:16, there are three types of lust: “The lust of the flesh and the lust of
the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” The origin of lust comes
from original sin and causes a different state of human nature. Shame is introduced as connected
with sin. Adam and Eve hide from God as they feel defenseless now. It is notable that there is a
sexual characteristic to this shame. Shame is experienced in front of the other sex, so they cover
the sexual parts of their bodies. In original innocence, nakedness represented full acceptance of
the other in body and person. Thus covering the sexual parts of their body indicates non-
acceptance.
Their bodies no longer image the mutual self-donation and communion of persons of the
Trinity. The body has ceased drawing upon the power of the Spirit which raised humankind to
the level of an image of God. The body is no longer subordinated to the Spirit as it was in
original innocence. The man of lust does not control his body as easily as before. His self-
mastery is shaken, and man is ashamed of his body and his lust. Shame distorts the mutual
relationship.
Man and woman were tasked with being an image of God. That task is much more difficult
now, since the union now is insatiable, since it is detached from love of God. Covering their
bodies suggests their original capacity for communicating themselves to each other is shattered.
They can still communicate, but not fully. Sin limits the original giving of self in full confidence
and ends mutual communion. Sexuality becomes an obstacle to personal relationships, as shown
by the fig leaves. The fact that man hides and uses fig leaves shows a lack of trust, due to the
collapse of the union.
The Result of Original Sin for the woman; “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he
shall rule over you.” (Gen 3:16). Now there is a form of inequality to the relationship and a loss
of communion. Instead of mutual happiness through reciprocal offering of themselves and being
subordinate to the blessings of fertility, lust impedes happiness. Lust is insatiable and prevents
communion of persons. God’s warning that Adam will “Rule over you” changes the structure of
the relationship. It makes the other person an object. Lust directs one’s desire in order to satisfy
one’s body at the expense of the communion of persons. Man’s desire dominates, while women’s
desire may precede it. A woman may aim at arousing man’s desire or giving it impetus. (A
woman’s desire is for acceptance of her whole person from man and tries to get it through sex.
We all see women dressing provocatively to get attention from men. Women use their bodies to
establish their worth in the eyes of others.)
Lust distorts the nuptial meaning of the body. The body is the expression of the spirit within,
which is called to unity with another in order to be an image of God. Concupiscence distorts this
image. Instead of showing unity, lust turns the body of the other into an object of attraction
instead of a visible sign of the personhood of the other. Now, ‘coercion of the body’ limits each
person’s ability to offer themselves as an exchange of persons.
Lust also causes a loss of freedom. Man “Cannot fully find himself except through a sincere
gift of himself. (GS #24) Concupiscence shows a loss of interior freedom of the gift. The nuptial
meaning of the body needs freedom. Lust does not unify but appropriates (takes something for
one’s own use, typically without permission). Mutual giving turns into mutual appropriation.
(The man takes a woman’s body to satisfy his sexual urges and the woman takes a man to satisfy
her need to be loved and valuable.)
Looking at Gen 2: 23-25 suggests that man is more fully responsible to repair the situation. In
the beginning, man identifies woman, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one is taken.” Also, “Therefore a man leaves
his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.”  Man was responsible
for identifying and naming the woman. He is responsible for guarding the gift of persons.
However, maintaining the balance of the gifts was entrusted to both man and woman. God gave
woman to man, and he is responsible to maintain the relationship or to fix it if broken. When a
body becomes an object, we use it instead of respecting it. St. Paul refers to this when he writes,
“I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” (Rom 7:23) The
danger exists that the desire of the body for sex is more powerful than the desire of the mind to
respect the other.
In order to redeem the body, then, Jesus appeals first to the heart.  “Everyone who looks at a
woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mt 5:28) and “For your
hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not
so.” (Mt 19:8). Jesus introduces a new ethos (the spirit of a culture shown in its beliefs). The
three forms of lust contribute to our hardness of heart.
Jesus refers to the 6th commandment “You shall not commit adultery” from the OT Decalogue.
(Mt 5:20) In the OT, adultery is only understood as taking another man’s wife. It did not apply to
polygamy which was acceptable. King David had multiple wives yet did not feel guilty of
adultery until he took Bathsheba, since she was the wife of another man. Christ, then, is
creating a new ethos by going back to the beginning and showing God’s original intention
was for monogamy (Mt 19:8). The OT laws were concerned with ordering social life correctly,
not forming the heart. In the OT, the prophets used the analogy of adultery to show Israel and
Judah’s greatest sin was abandoning God. Isaiah, Hosea, Ezekiel all called the betrayal of God
‘adultery’.  Adultery is the opposite of nuptial relationship or marriage. Adultery is a sin of the
body. When Christ warns, “everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart,” then Christ moves adultery from a sin of the body to a sin of the
heart.
Christ shows us the original purpose of marital union is procreation. Gen 38:8-10 shows
God is displeased with coitus interruptus or satisfying the sexual desire without allowing for the
potential for offspring. The OT purpose for marriage was procreation.
The OT scriptures prepare for this new teaching of Christ. Sir 9:8-9, Sir 26:9-12, Prov 6:25,
Prov 5:1-6, 6:24-29 all warn men about sinning through the beauty and charms of a woman who
is not your wife. Sir 23:17-22 explains that concupiscence of the body is like a fire, where
passion overrules conscience, yet the passion is never gratified. The man committed to satisfy his
senses does not find peace. Instead, he is consumed and worn out by passion.
Mutual attraction is acceptable as it sees the value of sex as part of a rich storehouse of all the
values the woman has to offer. However, lust reduces these personal riches of femininity to a
single value; sex. Women become an object of the gratification of sexuality.  
Christ shows that lust can be directed towards any woman, even one’s wife. “Everyone who
looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This includes a
wife. Lust reduces the rich communion of persons to a mere satisfaction of sexual needs, making
it almost like an instinct. The mutual living ‘for’ the other is distorted. In the heart, lust
encourages man to treat woman only as an object for the satisfaction of his sexual instinct.
Christ wants to bring us redemption of the body. His words are proclaimed so that we may
perceive the lost fullness of our humanity and want to regain it. Christ says the body and sex are
good. He affirms the body as an element together with the spirit which determines personhood.
The body shares in the dignity of the person. From the beginning, the body is called to become a
manifestation of the spirit through the conjugal union of man and woman forming one flesh. In
this way, the body assumes a sacramental sign of the Trinity. By warning us of the lust of the
flesh, Christ seeks to redeem the body. Man has lost the nuptial meaning of the body, where
interior mastery and freedom of spirit are expressed. Christ calls for a critical self-examination
and transformation of conscience and attitude.  Jesus calls us to overcome the three forms of lust
and discover the true value and personal dignity of the body and sex.  
Redemption can be a reality with Christ. Christ’s words give power to redeem. Christ’s words
demand that man has a full and deep consciousness of his acts and interior acts. Man is to be
aware of the impulses in his heart and discern and judge the various internal movements of the
heart. With grace, this can be carried out and is a worthy task. Rom 8: 20-21 encourages us to
“be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
This is in the attempt to achieve the fullness of justice, not only in our actions, but also in the
intentions of our heart. This indicates the necessity of immediate continence (self-restraint in
sexual matters) as well as habitual temperance (abstinence). Through temperance and
continence, the heart remains bound to the value of the nuptial meaning of the body as an image
of God. To give into lust is the path devoid of this ethical value. 
Redemption of the body means living according to the Spirit. The Spirit gives us the power to
live in purity of heart and not succumb to the fleshly instincts. In man’s present state of living
with the effects of original sin, he is constantly exposed to weakness and insufficiency of flesh to
which it often yields. It needs to be strengthened interiorly to do what the Spirit wants. Paul
anticipates victory over sin and death “He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to
your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Rom 8:11) Carnal lust is devoid
of choice…of the freedom and self-mastery needed to achieve freedom. Christ helps us with that
freedom. 
Redemption means changing the heart. Humans are unique among the animals because of the
heart and freedom of choice. It is from the heart that all moral evil and sin springs. For “What
comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and thus defiles a man.” (Mt 15: 18-20) Purity
of heart is realized in a life according to the Spirit “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not
gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16-17) Grace becomes for us a real power that operates in
man and is revealed in his actions. Behind each act or way of behaving there is a choice of the
will. A human heart permeated with the Spirit of God is manifested in choosing the good, for the
Spirit is stronger than the flesh. “Putting to death the works of the body with the help of the
Spirit.” (Rom 8: 12-13)
What is freedom? Freedom does not mean we are free to do whatever we want. Rather it means
being free to do the will of God and live according to the Spirit. “For you were called to
freedom, brethren, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love
be servants of one another. “(Gal 5:13-14)
The whole moral law of the OT is fulfilled in the commandment of charity (love). The new
Gospel ethos Christ introduces is freedom in order to fulfill this OT commandment to love.
The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own.” (1 Cor 6:19)
According to St. Paul, it is not only the human spirit or personhood that gives dignity to the
human body, but the supernatural reality of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Through
the redemption by Christ, every person gets a new dignity or a new supernatural elevation. The
gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit brings a new measure of holiness of the body and
sanctifies the person. It also brings a new obligation or duty to control the body in holiness and
honor. “You were bought with a price.” (1 Cor 6:20) Therefore, one must not sin against the
body. Carnal sins profane the body. (1 Cor 6:18) “The body is not meant for immorality, but for
the Lord and the Lord for the body.” (1 Cor 6:13)
Thus redemption and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit bring a moral duty to control the
body in holiness and honor. The Holy Spirit enters the body as his temple and operates there
with his gifts. “So glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:20) The satisfaction of the passions and
lust is fleeting, often leaving a sense of guilt. But while difficult at the time, one finds joy in the
long haul through mastering himself. He feels better about himself and is able to become more
fully a real gift to the other. The Creator assigned a task to humanity to be an image of God.
Christ motivates us and gives us the Holy Spirit and power to fulfill these tasks.
So what is the relevance of Christ’s redemption for today? Science can tell us much about the
body as an organism and its biological functioning in reproduction. But science separates the
body from the spirit of the person, and in doing so gives a one-sided account which deprives
humanity of its meaning and dignity. Christ upholds the body as a person: a manifestation of the
spirit. The church and the Magisterium teach Christ’s views in The Dignity of Marriage and the
Family in Gaudium et Spes (Part II, chapter 1). Pope Paul VI also expounded on the dignity of
man in his encyclical, Humanae Vitae. The church teachings present the true reality of man as a
spiritual and bodily being, and the meaning of man according to God.
Marriage is given as a means to achieving purity of heart. Speaking of marriage, “The
excellence of this institution is not everywhere reflected with equal brilliance, since polygamy,
the plague of divorce, so-called free love and other disfigurements have an obscuring effect. In
addition, married love is too often profaned by excessive self-love, the worship of pleasure and
illicit practices against human generation” (GS 47).  “Another thing that gives cause for alarm is
that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence
due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a
mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner
whom he should surround with care and affection.” (HV 17) “The mastery of instinct by one’s
reason and free will undoubtedly demands an asceticism so that the affective manifestations of
conjugal life may be in keeping with right order, in particular with regard to the observance of
periodic continence. Yet this discipline which is proper to the purity of married couples, far from
harming conjugal love, rather confers on it a higher human value. It demands a continual effort,
yet, thanks to its beneficent influence, husband and wife fully develop their personalities and
enrich each other with spiritual values…It favors attention for one’s partner, helps both parties to
drive out selfishness, the enemy of true love, and deepens their sense of responsibility…” (HV
21)
Learning to master one’s passions is important to prepare one for heaven. Resurrection will
perfect the person. The body will return to perfect unity and harmony with the spirit, where the
body is subordinate to the spirit. This produces a spiritually mature personality in a state of
spiritualization that is different from earthly life. It is a different degree of divinization, but also a
different kind of divinization. “ Participation in divine nature, participation in the interior life of
God himself, penetration and permeation of what is essentially human by what is essentially
divine, will then reach its peak, so that the life of the human spirit will arrive at such fullness
which previously had been absolutely inaccessible to it. This new spiritualization will therefore
be the fruit of grace, that is of the communication of God in his very divinity, not only to man’s
soul, but to his whole psychosomatic subjectivity,” (pg 242). In the resurrection, bodies will live
in a virginal state and fulfill the nuptial meaning of the body. Our resurrected bodies,
participating in the life of the Trinity will be the perfect realization of the Trinitarian order in the
created world of persons. The meaning of maleness and femaleness will be different in the age to
come. Each is called into community. The glorified body is the fruit of its divinized
spiritualization, and will reveal the body as a sign of mutual communication between the person
and unity in community. 1 Cor Chapter 15
The Sacrament of Marriage-
What is a sacrament? The definition of a sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality. The
body is a visible sign of the spirit or essence of a person. The essence of the human person is
revealed by his/her body. A sacrament is also an efficacious sign, one that effects what it
signifies. This indicates that grace is present and produced in or through the sacrament. The
sacrament effectively contributes to having grace become part of a person, and to realizing and
fulfilling in him the work of salvation. Grace makes us grow and become more closely the
likeness of God.
Eph 5: 21-23   “Wives be subject to your husbands…husbands, love your wives. “ and “Be
subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5: 20-21 The relationship between
husband and wife is reciprocal and communitarian. Their relationship should flow from their
common (shared) relationship with Christ. They show reverence for each other out of respect for
the holiness of that person as a child of God. This is not a pact of domination of the husband over
the wife, since Christ is Lord over both spouses. Husband and wife are mutually subordinated to
one another, expressed in love. By telling husbands to love their wives, St. Paul removes the fear
of subjugation into slavery. Love makes man simultaneously subject to the wife and the Lord.
The reciprocal relationship between the husband and the wife is an image of the
relationship between Christ and the Church. When Christ gave himself up for the church, his
redeeming love is transformed into spousal love. The redeeming act of Christ unites the church
to Christ, as through Christ, we become adopted children of God. Eph 5:28 “He who loves his
wife loves himself.” The husband is like Christ: The one who loves. The wife is like the church:
the one who is loved.
The sacrament of marriage is a sign that manifests the mystery of God’s love for his
Church. Marriage also accomplishes the mystery of God’s love in man. The church is not a
sacrament of Christ, like the 7 sacraments, but it is in the nature of a sacrament.
Isaiah 54:4-7 The relationship of Christ to the church is connected to the OT tradition of
the Prophets. In the OT, the prophets speak of the love between God and his chosen people
using spousal imagery. “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed….for you will forget the shame of
your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is
your husband…and the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer. …For a brief moment I forsook
you, but with great compassion I will gather you.” The choice on the part of the man takes away
the woman’s dishonor (i.e. the widow state, or the unfaithful or unloved wife).  
God’s choice is for the people of Israel in the OT, and then for the Church in the NT. Christ
is the total and irrevocable gift of God’s self to each person. As a creature with limited faculties,
man is not capable of receiving the gift of God in the transcendental fullness of His divinity.
Such a total gift is shared only by God himself in the triune community of Persons. God’s gift of
himself to man (spousal love) can only have the form of a participation in the divine nature. (2
Peter 1:4) The use of spousal love imagery in the OT evolves in the NT to describe Christ as the
head of the Church, and God’s love for his church. God, who is invisible, is first made visible in
Christ, and then in the Church. In this way, the Church shows the sacramentality of God.
Mankind is the highest visible expression of Christ as the divine gift, because he has the interior
dimension of this gift (the indwelling of the spirit). With it, man brings into the world his
particular likeness to God.
Marriage is a sacrament which is an integral part of the sacrament of creation, as through
marriage, man and woman prolong the work of creation in procreation. The loss of the
original sacrament of Adam and Eve and their potential ability to procreate sons and daughters of
God, is restored by the redemption of Christ.  “In him (Christ) God chose us before the world
began to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph 1:4) and “In whom (Christ) we have
redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.” (Eph 1: 7-8) Marriage contains the likeness
or analogy of Christ’s love for the church (Spousal imagery) Christ takes a people to be his bride
and his love is shown in redemption.
The sacramentality of Church as the union of Christ with the church is described using
marriage imagery. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify
her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph 5;26) The image of
washing with water speaks of baptism. With Mt 19 and Mk 10, Christ confirmed marriage as a
sacrament instituted by the Creator at the beginning to be indissoluble. Marriage as a sacrament
is an effective sign of God’s salvific action from the beginning. Since man is a man of
concupiscence, to marriage is given the sacrament of redemption as a grace and as a sign of the
covenant with God. Marriage is given to man as a grace; as a gift for the spouse. When
concupiscence is redeemed, marriage encourages the man and woman to do the will of the Father
and remain forever equal to the angels and sons of God. Through marriage, man and woman
participate in Christ’s saving love, and are called to union and fruitfulness. The husband and the
wife both administer the sacrament. “I take you as my wife. I take you as my husband.” And “I
promise to be faithful to you always, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, and to love
and honor you all the days of my life.” The priest blesses the marriage and two people give
witness that a contract has been made before God and the church, in a public place. Yet without
consummation, the marriage is not yet constituted in its full reality.
The body speaks truth through fidelity to the conjugal love and marriage vows. Adultery speaks
lies and is false to these vows. Therefore, an essential element for marriage as a sacrament is
the language of the body. The body speaks truth, instituting marriage as a sacramental sign.
“Are you willing to accept responsibly and with love the children that God may give you and to
educate them according to the law of Christ and of the Church?”
Through redemption, man is called to overcome concupiscence; called to be a sign. Man and
woman as ministers of the sacrament are also co-authors of the sacramental sign (the sign of
divine creation and redemption of the body). In the Song of Songs, there is mutual wonder and
admiration for the body and the person of the other. The man calls his beloved my sister, my
bride, thus recognizing her humanity and her otherness. Love is ever seeking and never satisfied.
The language of the body expresses mutual attraction. Sg 8:16 describes love- jealously as
relentless as the nether world. Love is stern as death, meaning it takes on a real test. For instance,
Tobit 6:14-19 shows Tobiah’s love had to face the test of life and death. His love, supported by
prayer, was victorious over death.
The sacraments inject sanctity into the plan of man’s humanity. They penetrate the soul and
body with the power of sanctity. The body is also holy and therefore it speaks a liturgical
language. It speaks of the mystery of male and female, created in the image of God as a visible
sign of God’s creative love. The body should be treated with dignity, out of reverence for Christ
and respect for the Christ in the other. This is a spiritually mature form of mutual attraction,
whereby each defers to each other out of respect for Christ. (Eph 5:21) In this way, chastity is
both a virtue to be cultivated and a gift of the Holy Spirit. The liturgical language, the language
of sacrament and mystery, becomes the language of the body in the daily living together as man
and wife. Through this sign, the language of the body, man and woman encounter the great
mystery. In this way, conjugal life becomes in a certain sense, liturgical.
Contraception and Humanae Vitae
“The church teaches as absolutely required that in any use whatever of marriage there
must be no impairment of its natural capacity to procreate human life.” (HV 11) There are
two significances (meanings) of the body, the unitive and the procreative, and they are
inseparable. Marriage is the sacramental sign of unity and of procreation. When newlyweds
promise to be always faithful to love and honor each other all the days of their lives, they
become ministers of marriage as a sacrament, especially when they become one flesh. The
marriage act unites husband and wife in closest intimacy and together makes them capable of
generating new life.
This is the norm (standard) of natural law. Natural law looks at the way God created things as
a way of determining what God intends it to do. Thus it is in accordance with reason. This is the
revealed order of nature and God’s will. In the use of marriage, there must be no impairment of
its natural capacity to procreate human life. (HV 11) This is morally right behavior. The
interpretation of natural law belongs to the Magisterium, since it is not found literally in
scripture, but is found in accord with the sum total of revealed doctrine contained in biblical
sources. There is harmony between human love and respect for life. A contradiction cannot exist
between God’s divine laws for the transmission of life and those fostering authentic conjugal
love. Instead, there is an inseparable connection.
This law of God may appear not merely difficult, but even impossible. This law does demand
a resolute purpose and great endurance. In fact, it cannot be observed unless God helps with His
grace. This endurance enhances man’s dignity and confers benefits on society. (HV 20) Our
pastoral concern should be the search for the true good of man. (A pastoral approach would not
take someone off the cross or say, ‘It’s too hard’ or ‘You’ve suffered enough.’ Rather, the
pastoral approach would be to assist the person to carry the cross, so they don’t have to do it
alone.)
Humanae Vitae encourages responsible parenthood. The virtue of conjugal chastity needs to
be sincerely practiced to preserve the marriage act in its full sense of both mutual self-giving and
human procreation. Couples should “thoughtfully take into account both their own welfare and
that of their children…the material and spiritual conditions of the times and their state in life.”
(GS50) “Spouses should be aware that they cannot proceed arbitrarily, but must always be
governed according to a conscience dutifully conformed to the divine law itself, and should be
submissive toward the Church’s teaching office, which authentically interprets that law in the
light of the Gospel. That divine law reveals and protects the integral meaning of conjugal love,
and impels it toward a truly human fulfillment. (GS50)
Natural family planning is acceptable. It is morally acceptable to have recourse to the infertile
periods God has written into natural law, and in this way control birth without offending moral
principles. Natural family planning uses nature while contraceptives obstruct it. As ministers of a
sacrament, man and woman are called to self mastery. Their body language, as a sign of God’s
love for His people, is more than an instinctual sexual reaction. Man is precisely a person
because he is master of himself and has self control, and can give himself to the other. Freedom
or liberty of the gift of the body is needed in order to be a sacrament. God is love and also
possible fecundity (fruitfulness). We cannot separate the two.
Divine law prohibits abortion and contraception. Divine law reveals that abortion is morally
wrong. HV 14 Also against God’s will is “The direct interruption of the generative process
already begun. Likewise, direct sterilization or any action intended to prevent procreation, which
includes all contraceptive means.” Contraception is an evil in that it violates the interior order of
conjugal union as a total gift with potential fertility, as an image of God. Contraception
destroys the couple as an image of God. Contraception violates the language of complete self-
giving of the whole person and accepting fruitfulness out of this union.
The Magisterium encourages couples to recognize and value the true blessings of family life
(children, being a sign to society of the image of God). The correct attitude is to recognize one is
not the master of the source of life, but rather the minister of the design established by the
Creator. (HV 13) “There exist reasonable grounds for spacing births, arising from the physical or
psychological condition of husband or wife, or from external circumstances.” (HV 16) The
morally upright regulation of births includes periodic continence to practice conjugal chastity.
Natural order is the expression of the Creator’s plan for mankind, therefore, fidelity is not to an
impersonal law, but to the Creator-Person: the Source and Lord of the order of nature. “The Lord
was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth…Has not the one God
made and sustained for us the spirit of life? What does he desire? Godly offspring. So take heed
to yourselves and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth.” (Mal 2:14-15)
 In responsible parenthood, it is possible to avoid children for a time for worthy reasons.
However, people sometimes choose to avoid children for unworthy reasons. For instance,
couples may not choose to spend money on children if they prefer more luxuries for themselves.
Or they may not want to care for the demands of children: they are too much trouble. The
morally correct thinking is taking into account the good of the family and the state of health and
means of the couple and the good of society, church, and all of humankind. To separate the
natural method from this ethical dimension turns abstinence into simply a different form of
contraception. “Self-discipline…brings to family life abundant fruits of tranquility and peace. It
helps in solving difficulties of other kinds. It fosters in husband and wife thoughtfulness and
loving consideration for each other. It helps them to repel the excessive self-love which is the
opposite of charity. It arouses in them a consciousness of their responsibilities. And finally, it
confers upon parents a deeper and more effective influence in the education of their children. For
these latter, both in childhood and in youth, as years go by, develop a right sense of values as
regards the true blessings of live and achieve a serene and harmonious use of their mental and
physical powers.” (HV 21) Morally correct regulation of fertility seeks the real good of human
persons and the true dignity of the person, family and society.
The spiritual life of married couples- The Lord entrusts to couples that task of making visible
the holiness and joy of the law of love for each other and the cooperation they give to God’s
love. The Theology of the Body (the body as revealing the nature of God) and the pedagogy of
the body (the body as a method of teaching) contain the nucleus of conjugal spirituality.
Fatherhood and Motherhood are not reduced to mere biological rhythms of fertility. Rather,
parenthood includes all family and conjugal spirituality. “The gate is narrow and the way is hard
that leads to life.” (Mt 7:14) The power of the Holy Spirit is there to help couples, through
prayer, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of penance. These are the means for forming Christian
spirituality of married and family life, and making it a true sign.  Continence is the capacity to
dominate, control, and direct sexual drives, to prevent psychosomatic consequences (the
interaction of mind and body which could cause illness through internal conflict or stress).
Continence prevents stress and rejection in the mental health of persons, as they do not feel used
nor discarded. In order to master one’s impulses and excitement, a person must be committed to
progressive education in self-control of the will, feelings, and emotions. The concupiscence of
the flesh, insofar as it seeks above all carnal and sensual satisfaction, makes a person in a certain
sense blind and insensitive to the most profound values that spring from love (acceptance, self-
confidence). Thus sensitivity and self-mastery is needed to be able to ‘defer to one another out of
reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21) Following periodic continence, they become strengthened and
one might say, consecrated (HV 25) by the sacrament of marriage. Therefore, continence doesn’t
harm a couple by making them endure difficult times of not giving into the sexual drives. Rather,
it strengthens them to achieve mastery over their sexual drives, so as to be free. The Spirit
purifies, enlivens, strengthens and perfects the human spirit to help us have respect for what is
sacred to God. Only by living in the Spirit can we practice responsible parenthood and correctly
regulate fertility.