Midterm: Alternative class’ Reflection

 Synthesis of what the talk is all about

 Relation/implication of the topic to marriage and family life
 Your personal reflection
Topic: Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II

The Theology of the Body covers multiple aspects of the body and its significance in God’s plan and love.
It is an invitation for to think deeply of ourselves emotionally and to trust the deepest yearnings of the
heart. In talking about the body, it has two fundamental meanings. The body as a sacrament is a visible
sign that presents something invisible. It is through the body in which the invisible message can be shown
through the image and actions of the body with relation to love. The body as a gift is where one would
make love real and present to the other, wherein the gift of the body should be totally given and totally
received. Man, having a body, realizes that he is not and object; rather, he is somebody who has freedom
in which he would find himself through totally receiving another as a gift of love. As freedom comes with
responsibility, loving another should not be forced as it would not be love. In loving another, man should
see beyond the bodily exterior. Man loves a woman simply because she is who she is in all her breadth
and boundaries. This pure love lets each other give more, it creates a communion of persons. In giving of
the body as a gift to the other, one touches the other in his/her entirety. Lust should not be present, for
it is not part of love. It is different from eros and agape, wherein it weakens them, where in fact real love
strengthens. Love overcomes shame, wherein its strength would remove the comprehension of shame,
since there is acceptance and trust with one another. Man’s mastery of the body and heart takes discipline
and practice of virtue. With the help of God, man would be able to master one’s self in its entirety through
prayer. With one’s heart, man would be able to look further in through the gaze of love. This gaze lets
man see each other for what is deeply inside their hearts, communion with each other. Overall, the man
expresses love through his body, being the gift to the other. The spousal meaning of love is the
communion of love with each other. The love in which it is invisible shows itself through the bodily
communion of persons. It shows itself through solitude, communion, and nakedness; and, contemplated
in paradise, fallen word, redeemed world, and heaven.

A marriage of two persons in love is a communion. This decision must come with maturity and certainty.
This sacrament would give man a new life to be shared and a new life to be made. To be married to the
one you love is to see through and with each other the future, the family that will grow with and in love
having God at the center. It is a big step for any person to enter this, as it would mean to start a life
wherein you are responsible not just for yourself but for a family that you will create. This brings about
the responsibility each person must uphold to ensure the growth of the family. In thinking of this, I give
praise to all the married couple who took the step in their new life. They would serve God’s plan to grow
and spread the love, to share God Himself as love. In seeing my parents, or other parents that I personally
know, I still wonder on how love moved them to where they are now. As it comes with maturity, time will
tell If I will be prepared for this. Learning all of these helped me shape my understanding of love, the body
that I was given, and the responsibility I must take given the freedom I have. In this world we live in, peace
and love would surely be given and received more if we all embrace its purity and responsibility. It is only
through one’s knowledge of his own body that a person can help others learn about themselves.