The Lord God said,” It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for Him.” So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, He took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that He had taken out of man. When He brought her to the man, the man said,” This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called woman, for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken. Gen.2:18,21-23 (NAB)
God is perfectly relational within the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and even though we are created in His image, He has limited our ability to be just like Him to being like Him. It is in this way He has called us to community. Man was incomplete without woman and is acknowledged as such when, the man states, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called woman, for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken. As the end of chapter 2 clearly states, this is why man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one body. They need each other. Man needs woman and woman needs man and without this oneness the family, the culture, the world would not exist. Much like God Himself would not exist with one member of the Holy Trinity missing.
This is the beauty and sanctity of the sacrament of marriage! A living witness of the love that exist in the Triune God. God is love. Perfected love within the oneness of community. We are created separately, to become one. Though we won’t be perfect, it is the witness of two becoming one, the unity it symbolizes, the dependence we have upon one another that reflects His image and His likeness.
Paragraph 357 in The Catechism of The Catholic Church states: “Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer Him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.”
Amen.
Filed under: Catholic Tagged: | His image His likeness
Catechism is a good book to quote from!
God bless you.
A 5 day old blogger (Maria Toth)
http://www.inhishands.co.uk
Ahh, yes! The Catechism. Before I converted to Catholicism, I read the whole book! All 756 pages! And most everything I read in there, was something I already believed. Cool ain’t it!? Yes, it is a very good book, and goes along well with “The” Good Book.
God’s blessings to you as well.
Wow! The entire thing? I tend to dip in and out.
God bless
Maria
http://www.inhishands.co.uk
Well, it took me about a year to read, I didn’t want to rush through it. But I wanted to know what the Church actually taught, not what everyone thought they taught.
So now, I am a dipper as well!