› Theology of the Body
› Start Your Own Group
› How to - ToB Groups
› How to - L&R Groups
› TOBIA Contacts
› TOBIA History
› TOBIA Mission
› Resources in English
› List of Study Groups
› TOBIA Yahoo Group
› Pope John Paul II
› E-mail TOBIA
“Man Cannot Live Without Love”
A “communion of persons” occurs when two people freely give themselves to each other and accept one another in love. In fact, true love consists precisely in this mutual self-gift. As we see in the Gospels, the main point of the Christian life is to love.
John Paul II’s other favorite quote from Gaudium et Spes tells us that, “Christ…fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear.” What does Christ reveal but that, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”? (Jn. 15:13) It is Christ himself who reveals to us our basic vocation as persons by giving himself to us in his death on the Cross.
Through his Theology of the Body, John Paul II sought to present to us the Gospel message of love in a new, deep, and profound way. He knew that love is what all people seek. He went so far as to say, “Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience love and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.” (From the encyclical, Redemptor Hominis — “Redeemer of Man”)
What does the human body have to do with all of this? In a world which so often portrays the body as an object for one’s pleasure or as a machine which doesn’t have much to do with our spiritual side, John Paul II again sought to present the truth as it is found in Scripture.
The body is not some little “add-on” to creation. Rather it is a vital part of who we are as human persons. Why? Because the physical body reveals the spiritual part of the person. For example, you can tell that someone is happy through the smile on his face. Happiness is not a physical, tangible, visible thing, so you need a physical sign to express it.
