Eschatological Man

Soul Food 26/5/10

Robert Colquhoun
 What experts are saying about theology of
the body
• Papal Biographer George Wiegel: “Will affect
every major teaching of the creed.”
• Cardinal Rigali “The curriculum for the culture
of life.”
• Janet Smith, “Such a goldmine, with so many
rich veins to explore, that new treasures
emerge every time they are studied."
 Theology of the body: an overview

• What is the meaning of life?

• Why did God create us male and female?
• How do we attain happiness on earth?
• What kind of joys await us in heaven?
• Why is there evil in the world and how do we
overcome it?
• How can we experience the love we long for in
the depth of our hearts?
 Sexual Revolution
• "It is an illusion to think we can build a true culture
of human life if we do not accept and experience
sexuality and love and the whole of life according to
their true meaning and their close inter-
connection." (John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 97).
• Every man and every woman fully realizes himself
or herself through the sincere gift of self. For
spouses, the moment of conjugal union constitutes
a very particular expression of this. (John Paul II).
 Resurrection of the body
• “I Believe in the resurrection of the body and
life everlasting.” (Apostle’s Creed)
• “For in the resurrection, they neither marry
nor are given in marriage.” (Jesus, Mt 22:30).

• What does this mean?

• Resurrection of the body is an answer to the
historical inevitability of death.
 How can we reflect on the Eschaton?

• “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart
of man conceived, what God has prepared for
those who love him.” (1 Cor 2:9)
• Eschaton “is beyond all understanding and
description.” (CCC 1027).
 The Beatific Vision
• “Union with God in his Trinitarian mystery and of
intimacy with him in the perfect union of
persons.” (TOB 67:4).
• The definite fulfilment of every human longing for
union. It is man’s perfect participation in grace.
• Divinization means “participation in the inner life
of God himself.”
• “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face
to face.” (1 Cor 13:12).
 Key Points
• Love involves the gift of self
• Spousal love is the paradigm of self-giving in
human experience
• The exchange within the Trinity is the source
of all self-giving love.
 What will it be like in heaven?
• Male and Femaleness remain an integral part
of our communion in heaven.
• Sexual difference and our longing for union
reveal that we are created for eternal
communion with the eternal communion:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• The spousal meaning of the body will be
fulfilled in heaven.
Continence for the Kingdom of Heaven

• “For there are eunuchs who have been so from

birth, and there are eunuchs who have been
made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs
who have made themselves eunuchs for the
sake of the Kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 19:12).
• Christ’s words point out the voluntary and
supernatural dimension of the nature of
celibacy.
 Spousal Meaning of the body
• The spousal meaning of the body is that, the
way we are made, shows us that we are made
to give ourselves to others.
• Reveals that the human person is created to
be a gift for the other. Man for woman,
woman for man.