8
St . John Paul II further explains that the human body is an expression of “ the personal human ‘ self ’,” 23 and that spousal union involves the knowledge and self-governance characteristic of persons . 24 Consequently , benefiting from the goods of marriage involves choice ,
i . e . a free and active engagement of the intellect and the will . In the words of the Holy Father , choice ,
… as the expression of self-determination … rests on the foundation of selfconsciousness … [ When the spouses ] unite so closely as to become one flesh , their conjugal union presupposes a mature consciousness of the body . In fact , it bears within it a particular consciousness of the meaning of that body in the mutual self-giving of the persons . 25
The spousal mystery must be viewed through a personalist lens which reveals the freedom of man and woman not only to choose God ’ s plan for marriage — with its two-fold gift of sexuality and fertility , but even more fundamentally to have a knowledge of the meaning of the body and its inherent language .
Keeping in mind that marriage is — in its entire reality — a “ visible and efficacious sign ” of the mystery of creation , and that a sacrament is both form and matter , words and actions , 26 St . John Paul II clarifies that the vows spoken by the couple are unfulfilled , in a sense , until there is
23 John Paul II , “ The Fullness of Interpersonal Communication ,” Vatican . va , December 19 , 1979 , para . 6 ,
accessed May 27 , 2018 , https :// w2 . vatican . va / content / john-paul-ii / en / audiences / 1979 / documents / hf _ jpii _ aud _ 19791219 . html . 24 John Paul II , “ In the First Chapters of Genesis , Marriage is One and Indissoluble ,” Vatican . va , November
21 , 1979 , para . 3 , accessed May 27 , 2018 , https :// w2 . vatican . va / content / john-paulii / en / audiences / 1979 / documents / hf _ jp-ii _ aud _ 19791121 . html . 25 John Paul II , “ In the First Chapters of Genesis ,” para . 12 .
26 CCC , 1153 .