"Man was created as the highest visible sign of God's gift of creation … . Among living creatures, man alone is able to accept the gift. And he has the freedom to give himself in return. One aspect of [his] likeness [to God] is his awareness of the nuptial meaning of the body, in the context of original innocence."
"… [W]e're still at the threshold of man's history. Adam and Eve haven't crossed the boundary of original sin — they're still enraptured by the mystery of creation … its innocence, grace, love, and justice … hidden in their hearts. 'God saw all that he had made, and it was very good' (Gen. 1:31).
"The body is a primordial sacrament, a visible sign of God's invisible mystery. This is the mystery of truth and love, of the divine life, in which the human person really participates. The body alone is capable of making visible the invisible. It was created to be a sign of God's love in the visible world. (Emphasis added.)
"… By means of the physical body, the human person is a visible sign of the love out of which God created all things. Against this backdrop, we can understand more fully the sacrament of marriage as it was instituted in the beginning: 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh' (Gen. 2:24).
"Genesis 2:23-24 narrates the first feast of human love. Very soon, the shadow of sin and death will darken this holy celebration. But from the beginning, we also have hope. The fruit of love — of which the body is a sign — is not death, but life."
An der Grabstätte von Kronprinzessin Cecilie
1 week ago
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