(no subject)
i just finished reading Theology of the Body Made Simple by Anthony Percy. I underlined a bunch of stuff that I found to be important. I'll type it out on here, because I think that it's important that it be read! It's some good stuff to marinate in your brain.
*The world at the time of Christ, and at the time of the early Church, was not unlike ours. Yet Christ did not hesitate to speak the truth (12).
*Men and women are called to be either married or celibate. Either way, the call is a gift from God (13).
*The first two chapters of Genesis, therefore, contain religious truths in the form of poetry that ut i lizes all sorts of techniques to communicate profound truths (18).
*So the Scriptures contain many books that are written in various and different ways. But they all communicate the truth. Failure to recognize this will turn us into fuundamentalists, and then we won't understand what God is trying to say to us (19).
*First, the man is alone with God and enjoys a unique relationship with GOd. So while God created all the other animals in the Garden just as he created the man, only the man was able to talk and listen to God...We are uniquely alone with God -- we stand before God. We are in the presence of God (20).
*God the Father, the SOn, and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable (23).
*...the man accepts that she complements him--that she helps him to be human. ...the woman, then, is a divine aid...she helps him to reach perfection (25). ...the man helps the woman attain her perfection (26).
*God did not create barriers to communication or difficulties for people who are trying to form friendships. Those barriers come from another source -- Original Sin (30).
*Often we become confused about the meaning of freedom. We can think that freedom is simply "making choices." but as minent biblical scholar, Fr. Francis Martin, has said, "Choice is a symptom of freedom." That is, we can choose because we are free ...Freedom means deciding to surrender to the love of another (31).
*We offend God by offending ourselves, that is, by doing things that go against our humanity.
*Jesus Christ --true God and true man -- has reestablished the meaning of human experience. ...How has he done this? By offering his body on the cross as an act of love for us (38).
*Like the animals, we have bodies. But our bodies are different, and thus there is more to us than our bodies. In other words, there is more to us than meets the eye (43).
*Human beings are both visible and invisible, and we bring these two worlds together in our thinking, actions, and language--in our lives. ...human beings are body-persons. The body is in time and space; the spirit is in eternity (45).
*Sex is, therefore, a profoundly mysterious and beautiful act. It is not a "casual indoor sport" (48).
*Sex speaks forcefully of love. ...Contraception contradicts the language of love, the language of the body. ...Is it normal for a wife to insert earplugs while listening to her hus band? Is it normal for a husband to muffle his mouth while speaking to his wife? (50)
*God enters daily life, lives in it, loves it, and makes it his own. ... On the cross, Jesus offered his life to his Father, and he did this for our salvation. Jesus literally died for us. ...When we read the word of God, however, we are not just reading a historical book. Rather, we are being brought into living contact with Jesus Christ (57).
*In the Holy Eucharist, we are present at Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension. ...We recieve him, he recieves us, and our wounds are healed (58).
*Our bodies are not meant for lust, but for love (59).
*Ripped from its proper context of healthy, stable, and commited relationships [marriage], sex becomes a mere toy (61).
*It is important to realize that Christ taught the truth about marriage at a time when marriage was not held in high esteem. But he taught it nevertheless. The Church in our own times is called to do the same (62).
*Christ hands over his body and blood under the form of bread and wine to be consumed with faith by us (65).
*He desires that man and woman become one and so become an even stronger, clearer image of God (67).
*Sex is mysterious precisely because it is symbolic and nuptial. It therefore needs protection. It needs the words of commitment that are spoken on the wedding day. ...When a man and a woman enter into a sexual relationship before marriage, they can easily confuse sexual pleasure for love (70).
*Because God creates within the setting of h uman love, husband and wife should not deliverately exclude God. They should not contracept. Rather, they should be open to the possibility of new life (72).
*To contracept in any way is like saying: "I love you, but not all of you." ... Through contraception, a couple use, rather than love, each other. ...To contracept is to tell a lie with one's body (74).
*Thus when a man looks repeatedly at pornography, he will find it difficult to relate to women in real life. He accustoms himself to seeing women as objects to be used. (and vice-versa: women looking at men) ...In pornography, lust replaces love, and fantasy replaces reality (79).
*When we encounter mercy, we will begin to know and love ourselves more deeply. What's more, we will begin to know and love Jesus Christ in a more fruitful and real way (88).