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106. The Sacramental Covenant in the
Dimension of Sign
By Pope John Paul II
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 107. Language of the Body Strengthens the Marriage Covenant - 1.26.1983 |
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