Be Filled

We are continuing our study of Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. This episode we are discussing General Audiences 8-10 on Original Unity. We discover two meanings of Original Unity. We explore the meaning of Adam’s sleep, the meaning of “the rib”, communion of persons, Adam’s response to Eve when she is created, and what is happening on a spiritual deeper level when man and woman become one flesh. 

Scripture: 

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,  “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21-24)

Quotes: 

“...one must first recognize that this Genesis torpor (sleep), in which, by the work of Yahweh-God, the man is immersed in preparation for the new creative act…” (TOB 8:3) 

“...the torpor into which God lets the man fall underlines the exclusiveness of God’s action in the creation of the woman. Man had no conscious part in it.” (TOB Footnote 12, p. 158)

“...man falls into this “torpor” with the desire of finding a being similar to himself…the circle of the human person’s solitude is broken, because the first “man” reawakens from his sleep as “male and female.” (TOB 8:3) 

“...man becomes the image of God not only through his own humanity, but also through the communion of persons, which man and woman form from the very beginning….Man becomes an image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion.” (TOB 9:3) 

 “...femininity in some way finds itself before masculinity, while masculinity confirms itself through femininity.”(TOB 10:1)

“When they unite with each other (in the conjugal act) so closely so as to become “one flesh,” man and woman rediscover every time and in a special way the mystery of creation, thus returning to the union in humanity that allows them to recognize each other reciprocally and to call each other by name, as they did the first time.” (TOB 10:2) 

“The fact that they become “one flesh” is a powerful bond established by the Creator through which they discover their own humanity, both in its original unity and in the duality of a mysterious reciprocal attraction.” (TOB 10:2) 

Reflections Questions: 

1. Have you ever thought of sleep as a surrender? How do you typically end your day? Are you full of worry? 
2. What are you powerless over in your life right now? Are you willing to surrender it over to God’s care and wait for Him to work? 
3. Imagine yourself in the Garden with Adam and Eve. What do you think it was like for them when they saw each other for the first time? What do you think they discovered about themselves and each other in that moment? 
4. Have you ever thought of the relationship of man and woman as a “communion of persons” and that they mirror the Trinity?  What is your response to this idea? 
5. How do your relationships reflect the love of God? 
6. Are there places you have been wounded in relationships and need healing? Open these places up to the Lord. Do you have people in your life to pray with about these difficult areas?

Resources: 

Human Love in the Divine Plan Print

Commentary on Audiences 8-10 

Next episode we will be discussing Audiences 11.1-13.1 on Original Nakedness.