Parishioner, Albert Betzler, is a student at Sacred Heart major Seminary. His Professor Tamra Fromm, suggested he submit his reflections to our Sunday Bulletin. Below you will find the fourth in the series.
If you’ve never read Catechism passages CCC 369-372 I highly recommend it. Those paragraphs are beautiful and have challenged me, personally, to explore my marriage in a more profound way. They scream volumes about God’s wisdom concerning matrimony, procreation, and family. Through repetitive reading and self-reflection, I am realizing things I never did before. It’s a masterpiece! I feel sad, however, that today it is being defaced by fornication, pornography, contraception, homosexual unions, and abortion.
Nevertheless, those passages illustrate how our differences as male and female give us dignity and complement one another. On the face of it, that may seem like an anti-intuitive statement. People don’t usually think of difference as being complementary or in balance. But it’s true. How?
First, despite man and woman being different sexes, we both share the same nature, a composite of body and soul. That soul is spiritual made in the image and likeness of God. As such, “Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity “in the image of God.”” (CCC 369).
Adding to that, “being man” and “being woman” are both reflections of God. Yes, God is sexless, a pure spirit. Nevertheless, as man and woman, we reflect “something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and father and husband.” (CCC 370). Our differences give us dignity and are complementary because those differences share the same source: God. They are reflections of Him. This is further supported by the Catechism: “He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard.” (CCC 239).
Secondly, the differences between men and women complement each other because we were made for one another. This is clearly seen in marriage. Man and woman are two halves of one whole, one flesh. Together, we form one reproductive system. “God blessed them, saying: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28) and “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Genesis 2:24). This is the natural order of things and why homosexual unions can never be considered marriage. Even though two men or two women are the same, they are not complementary. It is the differences between man and woman that make us complimentary. Not the sameness. God did not create two men or two women. He created man and woman.
Finally, in my theology class we learned that our very being calls for union with another person. This union, this marriage, echoes the Blessed Holy Trinity. In FJ Sheed’s Theology for Beginners, page 44, it says: “In the Son, the Father utters His self-knowledge; in the Holy Spirit, Father and Son utter their mutual love.” Later he goes on to warn “We must be on guard against thinking that first the Father had a Son, then Father and Son united to produce the Holy Spirit.” (Page 47).
I must confess I thought that very thing when I first read it. But after some reflection it clearly mirrors marriage and family from an earthly perspective. Man and woman unite and become one flesh through the Sacrament of Marriage. Their shared love produces a third person, a child. That family, that community, mirrors the community between the divine persons of the Blessed Holy Trinity. And to think – it’s all brought about by those differences that make us complementary!
Albert Betzler
The Fun Run & Spaghetti Dinner – Desperate Need for Goody Bag Donations!
September 17th is the date of our 12th Annual Fun Run and Spaghetti Dinner. As we are in the beginning stages of planning this event we would like to offer the opportunity to you, our parishioners, to be a sponsor.
With a sponsorship of $100 or more:
· Your name will be printed on the back of our official race T-Shirts
· Your name will appear in our parish bulletin
· You will receive a Sponsor T-Shirt as an expression of our appreciation
In the past few years many parishioners have come forward to be sponsors, we hope you will consider becoming one of them.
We are also looking for “treasures” for our runners/walkers goody bags. We normally have approximately 250 runners/walkers and we will take just about anything that will put a smile on our participants faces.
If you would like to be a sponsor or a donor for our goody bags, please call the Parish Office at 313-532-4394 x101.
Bonnie Danic
Jim Soter
Co-Race Directors