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Diocese of Peterborough JP II Retreat |
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JPII Retreat on
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The recent JPII Retreat was a great experience not just for the lectures it offered on Pope John Paul’s ‘Theology of the Body’, but also for the fun and fellowship we found throughout the retreat, and for the new people we met from across Ontario and Quebec. Some amazing presentations were given by Fr. Thomas Jegierski from Montréal and you can find an overview of the talks in the article which follows below. Pope John Paul’s ‘Theology of the Body’ is truly a time-bomb waiting to go off, because what it offers is nothing short of revolutionary in the best sense of the word. His catechesis presents a new way of looking at the human body, the human spirit and the human soul and offers the truth about love and life, suffering, sin and sex, and whole lot of other issues such as original sin and the fall of man, the sacraments in the life of Catholics today, chastity, abortion and euthanasia. To hear about all of this did not get us down; quite the contrary, we were inspired to accept and live our faith with even more zealous enthusiasm. The schedule for the 4-day retreat was pretty full, but balanced. Prayers, Mass, adoration and praise & worship were held in Church; meals and social time in the Church hall; lectures in the French school next door and some very intense games of soccer in the parking lot outside. Every chance we got we hit that ball during recreation time, after lunch and in between lectures. Soccer was the game of choice and yes, the ‘Peterborough’ team did beat the ‘Italian’ team fair and square. Sleeping quarters were set up at the United Church across the road, where we found some very generous people to help us out and accommodate us for the three nights. Every morning we got up at about 7:30 and 60 happy - sort of - morning-faces found their way over to the Church, school and hall for the day’s activities. There was lots of time each day to connect with people and make new friends. Card games, trust games, practices for praise & worship and polyphonic music, and talent shows were all part of the 4-day event and made for a great time. There was something for everyone. Adoration was a special time each day when we could come before Jesus and spend some personal time with him to talk to him and reflect on what we had heard. It also gave us a chance to go to confession and a time to pray with friends in fellowship. When the retreat was over on Sunday afternoon, we were sad to see it end. But all the new friendships, the new insights into our faith and the new understanding about ourselves would stay with us. ‘Thank you’ to everyone who participated and to everyone who made it possible! It was a great experience and I can’t wait until the next one! Brendan Quigley |
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JPII's Theology of the Body Overview by Jeremaih Roberts |
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The true meaning of the human person is found in loving communion with God and other persons, expressed in a free, total, faithful, and fruitful way. Love is offered in freedom – it is above all a free choice – and not simply an emotion. Love is a total gift of self to another person, in which one gives everything that one is and has. Love is faithful toward another; it is not temporary or half-hearted. And love is fruitful, that is, directed toward the good of another so that it enriches his or her life. We are to love others in this way because that is the way that God loves us. Since the body is an essential part of the human person, not only in this world but also in the one to come, we must learn to love God and other persons in and through our bodies. This is the true dignity and human meaning of the body. The theology of the body touches on every aspect of the human person, including sexuality as one of God’s gifts to us. Yet if this is truly our vocation then why do we, as human persons, love so poorly and imperfectly? Here it is important to understand human nature in its fallen state, weakened and disordered by original sin. “In the beginning” the human person was the subject of several powerful, original experiences. From the experience of original solitude, Adam learned the lesson of his loneliness: “besides God there is no other”. As wonderful as the whole of creation was, Adam could find no other person but God with whom he could commune – until God’s creation of Eve. The experiences of original unity, complementarity, and nakedness testify to the perfect and loving harmony of Adam and Eve’s life together with one another and with God – they had no need to hide themselves from any lustful or manipulative intentions that another might have toward them. They were persons – not objects. The entrance of original sin changed all that. By believing the lie that human fulfillment could be found apart from what God had determined to be good, Adam and Eve chose to divorce themselves from God, and the experiences of their original selves became a dim memory. The unity in the person between soul and body was damaged – a process that would culminate in the death of the person. The complementarity between male and female degenerated into contention, with each using the other as a mere means to attaining his or her own ends. Nakedness fell prey to lust such that one person no longer saw the beauty of the other, but saw only an object of lust, and shame entered in an attempt to preserve the nuptial meaning of the body. The human heart, having begun to experience the condition and consequences of original sin, became too hard to love. In order to redeem humanity from this fallen state, soul and body, God prepared the incarnation of Jesus Christ. By her “fiat”, Mary, the New Eve, said, “Yes,” to God, where Eve had said, “No,” by offering her womb as the Mother of Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemene Jesus, the New Adam, said, “Yes” to the Father, where Adam had said, “No,” in the Garden of Eden, by offering his whole being, body and soul, to do the Father’s will. At the cross, where his blood and water flowed, Jesus accomplished the marriage between himself and his Church. Here, Jesus makes all things new. In Jesus, a divine and human person, who, as a human being, lived a life of perfect obedience, is found also the marriage of divine nature with human nature. One can see the central importance of marriage in Christ’s redemption – it is, indeed, through marriage that Jesus wants to restore us to the place of loving communion that we had with God and other persons “in the beginning”. It is through the gifts of grace offered in the sacraments and the life of prayer that Jesus wishes to accomplish this in our lives. In the waters of Baptism the condition of original sin is removed (even though some of its effects remain) and we are born into the Church, the Bride of Christ the Bridegroom. At Easter we yearly renew these wedding vows. In Confirmation we are strengthened in the Holy Spirit, and in the celebration of the Eucharist, God consummates his marriage to us. Through Reconciliation, we turn away from adultery, condemning all attacks on Christ our spouse, even our own. In the institution of the Sacrament of Marriage at Cana, Jesus identifies the marriage of his followers with his own marriage to the Church: the water and wine at Cana parallel the water and wine that flowed from his side on the cross. Marriage among human persons is not a contract concerning property or services, but a covenant between persons and God that is always open to the transmission of life. It is a sign of the life-giving communion of persons within the Trinity, and, as such, involves giving oneself in love for the good of the other – even if we think they don’t deserve it or we don’t “feel like it”. Marriage vows are expressed through both vocal and body language and the couple’s sexual union consummates their marriage. This sexual union finds its fully human meaning only with reference to their vows. The marriage between the Church and Christ reaches its summit in the heavenly marriage at the end of time (Rev. 19: 6-9). For those in the Church called to celibate life, that marriage begins in a special way here and now. Celibacy is living the heavenly marriage on earth. For the human person, body and soul, sexuality is not only a biological reality, but a spiritual one as well. Far from being a negation of human sexuality, the theology of the body is its greatest affirmation. It does not propose a sexual emptiness, but a fullness that affirms the human person, as male and female, as body and soul, and as a being who longs for love and happiness in their truest forms. |
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