7
image of God’.” 17 This is the original unity which finds its source in the mystery of creation, a
unity at the heart of the spousal relationship found in marriage. In fact, the body of man—male
and female—becomes the means by which man receives the “original and fundamental” gift of
creation in the other, i.e. the spouse, and thus is able to respond to the Creator’s invitation to love
as he loves. 18
The human body, then, becomes a profound sign of the love of the Creator. Indeed, St.
John Paul II refers to “the sacrament of the body:” a visible sign that not only points to the
invisible mystery of God, but in fact, allows man to participate in the mystery to which it
points. 19 In Familiaris Consortio, the Holy Father reiterates that “love includes the human body,
and the body is made a sharer in spiritual love.” 20 Through the language of the body, the spouses
speak to each other of God’s love and with God’s love—a love that is free, total, faithful and
fruitful. 21 The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in defining the goods of marriage, asserts that
this love “demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving, and it is open to
fertility.” However, it adds that conjugal union is more than just an exchange of bodies but rather
a communion of persons, leading to “one heart and soul” expressed in the language of their one-
flesh bodily union. 22
17
John Paul II, “The Original Unity of Man and Woman,” Vatican.va, November 7, 1979, para. 3, accessed
May 27, 2018, https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1979/documents/hf_jp-
ii_aud_19791107.html.
18
John Paul II, “Creation as a Fundamental and Original Gift,” Vatican.va, January 2, 1980, para. 12,
accessed May 27, 2018, https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1980/documents/hf_jp-
ii_aud_19800102.html.
19
John Paul II, “Man Enters the Word as a Subject of Truth and Love,” Vatican.va, February 20, 1980,
para. 8, accessed May 27, 2018, https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1980/documents/hf_jp-
ii_aud_19800220.html.
20
John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio [On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World],
Vatican.va, November 22, 1981, sec. 11, accessed May 27, 2018, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-
ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio.html.
21
Paul VI, Humanae Vitae [On the Regulation of Birth], Vatican.va, July 25, 1968, sec. 9, accessed May
27, 2018, http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-
vitae.html.
22
CCC, 1643.