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GENERAL AUDIENCE OF WEDNESDAY, 19 JANUARY [1983]
At the general audience of Wednesday, 19 January, held in the Paul
VI Hall, Pope John Paul delivered the following address.
1. The texts of the prophets have great importance for understanding
marriage as a covenant of persons (in the likeness of the covenant of
Yahweh with Israel) and, in particular, for understanding the
sacramental covenant of man and woman in the dimension of sign. As
already considered, the language of the body enters into the integral
structure of the sacramental sign whose principal subject is man, male
and female. The words of matrimonial consent constitute this sign,
because the spousal significance of the body in its masculinity and
femininity is found expressed in them. Such a significance is expressed
especially by the words: "I take you as my wife...my husband." Moreover,
the essential "truth" of the language of the body is confirmed with
these words. The essential "non-truth," the falsity of the language of
the body is also excluded (at least indirectly, implicitly). The
body speaks the truth through conjugal love, fidelity and integrity,
just as non-truth, that is, falsity, is expressed by all that is the
negation of conjugal love, fidelity and integrity. It can then be said
that in the moment of pronouncing the words of matrimonial consent, the
newlyweds set themselves on the line of the same "prophetism of the
body," of which the ancient prophets were the mouthpiece. Expressed by
the ministers of marriage as a sacrament of the Church, the language of
the body institutes the visible sign itself of the covenant and of grace
which, going back to its origin to the mystery of creation, is
continually sustained by the power of the redemption of the body,
offered by Christ to the Church.
Perform act of prophetic character
2. According to the prophetic texts the human body speaks a language
which it is not the author of. Its author is man who, as male and
female, husband and wife, correctly rereads the significance of this
language. He rereads that spousal significance of the body as integrally
inscribed in the structure of the masculinity or femininity of the
personal subject. A correct rereading "in truth" is an indispensable
condition to proclaim this truth, that is, to institute the visible sign
of marriage as a sacrament. The spouses proclaim precisely this language
of the body, reread in truth, as the content and principle of their new
life in Christ and in the Church. On the basis of the "prophetism of the
body," the ministers of the sacrament of marriage perform an act of
prophetic character. They confirm in this way their participation in
the prophetic mission of the Church received from Christ. A prophet is
one who expresses in human words the truth coming from God, who speaks
this truth in the place of God, in his name and in a certain sense with
his authority.
Matrimonial consent
3. All this applies to the newlyweds who, as ministers of the
sacrament of marriage, institute the visible sign by the words of
matrimonial consent. They proclaim the language of the body, reread in
truth, as content and principle of their new life in Christ and in the
Church. This prophetic proclamation has a complex character. The
matrimonial consent is at the same time the announcement and the cause
of the fact that, from now on, both will be husband and wife before the
Church and society. (We understand such an announcement as an indication
in the ordinary sense of the term.) However, marriage consent has
especially the character of a reciprocal profession of the
newlyweds made before God. It is enough to examine the text attentively
to be convinced that that prophetic proclamation of the language of the
body, reread in truth, is immediately and directly addressed to the "I"
and the "you": by the man to the woman and by her to him. The central
position in the matrimonial consent is held precisely by the words which
indicate the personal subject, the pronouns "I" and "you." Reread in the
truth of its spousal significance, the language of the body constitutes
by means of the words of the newlyweds the union-communion of the
persons. If the matrimonial consent has a prophetic character, if it is
the proclamation of the truth coming from God and, in a certain
sense, the statement of this truth in God's name, this is brought about
especially in the dimension of the inter-personal communion, and
only indirectly "before" others and "for" others.
Sacrament's visible sign
4. Against the background of the words spoken by the ministers of the
sacrament of marriage, there stands the enduring language of the body,
which God originated by creating man as male and female: a language
which has been renewed by Christ. This enduring language of the body
carries within itself all the richness and depth of the mystery, first
of creation and then of redemption. Bringing into being the visible sign
of the sacrament by means of the words of their matrimonial consent, the
spouses express therein the language of the body with all the profundity
of the mystery of creation and of redemption. (The liturgy of the
sacrament of marriage offers a rich context of it.) Rereading the
language of the body in this way, the spouses enclose in the words of
matrimonial consent the subjective fullness of the profession which is
indispensable to bring about the sign proper to the sacrament. Not only
this, they also arrive in a certain sense at the sources from which that
sign on each occasion draws its prophetic eloquence and its sacramental
power. One must not forget that before being spoken by the lips of the
spouses, who are the ministers of marriage as a sacrament of the Church,
the language of the body was spoken by the word of the living God,
beginning from Genesis, through the prophets of the old covenant, until
the author of the letter to the Ephesians.
Decision and choice
5. We use over and over again the expression "language of the body,"
harking back to the prophetic texts. As we have already said, in these
texts the human body speaks a language which it is not the author of in
the proper sense of the term. The author is man, male and female, who
rereads the true sense of that language, bringing to light the spousal
significance of the body as integrally inscribed in the very structure
of the masculinity and femininity of the personal subject. This
rereading "in truth" of the language of the body already confers per
se a prophetic character on the words of the marriage consent, by
means of which man and woman bring into being the visible sign of
marriage as a sacrament of the Church. However, these words contain
something more than a simple rereading in truth of that language spoken
of by the femininity and masculinity of the newlyweds in their
reciprocal relationships: "I take you as my wife...as my husband." The
words of matrimonial consent contain the intention, the decision and the
choice. Both of the spouses decide to act in conformity with the
language of the body, reread in truth. If man, male and female, is the
author of that language, he is so especially inasmuch as he wishes to
confer, and does indeed confer, on his behavior and on his actions a
significance in conformity with the reread eloquence of the truth of
masculinity and femininity in the mutual conjugal relationship.
Has lasting effect
6. In this sphere man is the cause of the actions which have per se
clear-cut meanings. He is then the cause of the actions and at the same
time the author of their significance. The sum total of those meanings
constitutes in a certain sense the ensemble of the language of
the body, in which the spouses decide to speak to each other as
ministers of the sacrament of marriage. The sign which they constitute
by the words of matrimonial consent is not a mere immediate and passing
sign, but a sign looking to the future which produces a lasting effect,
namely, the marriage bond, one and indissoluble ("all the days of my
life," that is, until
death). In this perspective they should fulfill that sign of multiple
content offered by the conjugal and family communion of the persons and
also of that content which, originating from the language of the body,
is continually reread in truth. In this way the essential "truth" of the
sign will remain organically linked to the morality of matrimonial
conduct. In this truth of the sign and, later, in the morality of
matrimonial conduct, the procreative significance of the body is
inserted with a view to the future—that
is, paternity and maternity, which we have previously treated. To the
question: "Are you willing to accept responsibly and with love the
children that God may give you and to educate them according to the law
of Christ and of the Church?"—the
man and the woman reply: "Yes."
Now we postpone to later meetings further detailed examinations of the
matter.
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