Here It Is: The Joy of Love #AmorisLaetitia

The long-awaited (in some quarters dreaded) post-synodal document on marriage and the family was released today. (My community will be publishing it, presumably in the familiar paperback edition: reserve your copy now!) I've only had a few hours to look at it (I am at Chapter 6 now), and I know that specialists will already be offering summaries that attempt to cut to the chase on the hot button questions that have been driving speculation and anticipation.

I do not generally read Church documents with a critical eye. I read them with two basic questions: "What does the Church want me to grasp here?" (i.e., what can I learn?) and "How am I called to put this into practice?" That said, I have to admit that I am a bit distracted with this document. Amoris Laetitiae does not read evenly. It does not have the consistent, objective voice I am used to in papal documents. The tone varies from chapter to chapter. While I found that disorienting, the variations of tone, along with the citations of poetry and other "secular" voices are just what one reader here at PBM appreciated the most about the document, saying that the many "voices" testify that this was not an ivory-tower work composed by someone far from the field, but draws from many people's experiences and reflections and presents a Church that is really listening. (In fact, Pope Francis tells us early on that he will be incorporating his own pastoral experience along with the input from the Synods and various Episcopal Conference documents from around the world.)

A few initial observances:

This is the only papal document I am aware of for which a "reading guide" was published beforehand and sent to all the bishops of the world. According to the report I read, the reading guide (from the Vatican's Office for the Synod of Bishops) was accompanied by a letter from Cardinal Baldiserri (head of said office) that refers to Pope John Paul's masterful Theology of the Body as "an important source" for Amoris Laetitiae. (That's my "YESSSSS!" you hear echoing from Boston, especially because I am working on the study guide for a TOB video series we will release soon.)

This is not a little booklet. The Vatican edition runs 264 pages. (For comparison, the Vatican edition of Pope John Paul's Mission of the Redeemer was 157 pages.) This is a tome, in terms of papal documents. (So expect a chunky paperback if we go with our usual hand-sized format.)

The document opens with a "reading guide" of its own, the Pope recalling the work of the two Synods on the Family, placing the document in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy and advising all of us not to attempt to speed read a work which treats, "in different ways, a wide variety of questions" (n. 7). There is also a bit of a warning: "not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it" (n. 3). In other words, we have been given notice: priests are going to have more, not less, work to do. But it will be the kind of work that gives life to their priesthood: not filing paperwork, but deeply listening and working with people on the things that matter most in their lives.

Chapter 1 echoes in many ways the "Genesis" texts of Pope John Paul's famous talks on human love. As he has already done in some of his Wednesday talks, Pope Francis highlights the creation of man and woman "in the image of God" as an icon of the Blessed Trinity. It is the capacity of their love to bring forth new life that makes the couple an image of God the Creator and Savior. The home, in which the children are "like olive plants around the table," becomes a domestic Church where the great works of the Lord are communicated from generation to generation, and the praises of God are sung. (That theme of the domestic Church and family spirituality is going to be developed toward the end--so the introduction promised--I haven't gotten there yet.)

But just as the biblical vision offers the ideal of family life, it also witnesses to suffering, betrayal and heartache in the family, including the problems that come with unemployment. Within this section, Pope Francis recalls "the social degeneration brought about by sin, as, for example, when human beings tyrannize nature, selfishly and even brutally ravaging it ... [leading to] those social and economic imbalances denounced by the prophets, beginning with Elijah" (n. 26).

Chapter 2 goes to The Experiences and Challenges of Families. This is the "you are here" of the Pope's map, and he cites documents on family life from various Bishops' Conferences, along with the Synod's "Final Report." Along with a picture of some of the more obviously problematic situations (especially couples living together without marriage; heightened, even crippling individualism and fear of commitment), there is a bit of an examination of conscience: Has excessive idealism on the part of the Church's spokespersons presented so exalted a picture of marriage that people hesitate to take on such a responsibility? Has the image of marriage been too abstract, artificial or theological? Have we failed to speak of the grace of God that always accompanies and assists those who seek it and pray for it? In other words, do we make sacramental marriage look like a burden? The theme of the special grace of the sacrament, and the infinite depths of charity will come up later in the document. It is here, too, that the Pope refers for the first time to the conscience of the married couple who "are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them" (n. 37).

Chapter 3, The Vocation of the Family, is Francis' "theology" section; it presents the model of the Holy Family and teachings related to the sacrament of Matrimony. There are more citations from Canon Law here than (it seems) in the other chapters. Preparing us for the pastoral approach to family problems that Francis will recommend, here he quotes John Paul II's post-synodal apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio where it reminds pastors of their responsibility for careful discernment, given the complexities not only of the issues themselves, but of people's greater and lesser degrees of responsibility.

Chapter 4, Love in Marriage, begins with a lengthy reflection on St Paul's famous hymn to charity, about two or three paragraphs following each line (in Greek!) of Paul's text. Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body makes its strongest appearance in this chapter, as well, beginning under the heading The Erotic Dimension of Love. I noticed that in citing the Theology of the Body texts, the English edition of Amoris Laetitiae has gone back to the earlier translation "nuptial meaning of the body," rather than the term "spousal meaning of the body." Either way, it is of fundamental importance. Chapter 4 starts with the value of erotic love, citing also the wonderful comment from Pope Benedict XVI in God Is Love: “Doesn’t the Church, with all her commandments and prohibitions, turn to bitterness the most precious thing in life? Doesn’t she blow the whistle just when the joy which is the Creator’s gift offers us a happiness which is itself a certain foretaste of the Divine?” In that very context, the Pope (much like John Paul II in TOB) says that the erotic dimension of love is protected (yes!) and fostered by the practice of self-mastery, a necessary means for preserving the freedom of human love.

The document here also considers the effect that increasing lifespans can have on marriage and the family: spouses who grow old together witness to the capacity of true love to change and grow in very different circumstances than those in which that love was born.  It is in this context that the vocation to celibate love is treated. "Virginity is a form of love" (n. 159), but celibate people can learn from marital fidelity and be moved "to a more concrete and generous availability to others" (n. 162).

I look forward to continuing to receive the Pope's insights and recommendations as I finish this first reading of Amoris Laetitiae, and as I pray for all those whose lives will be most touched by what the Pope has to say (especially the priests and other pastoral ministers who are being handed the great challenge of walking these paths with families!).

Synod on the Family and the Pope of the Family: Be Informed!

With the Extraordinary Synod on the Family scheduled for this fall, people are already talking about the way bishops from around the world might deal with the serious problems so many families are facing. That makes the next few months an opportunity for Catholics to familiarize themselves with the very positive vision our Church has about married love.

Now's the time to get acquainted with the insights of the man Pope Francis called "the Pope of the Family," Saint John Paul II.

This is the unique pastor who spent decades as the spiritual companion and guide of numerous couples from their courtship through to the grandparenting years (not one of these couples suffered a divorce). He collated their experience with his own understanding of the Bible and the spiritual life,  releasing a groundbreaking book on the philosophy of erotic love, as well as a biblical reading of "human love in the divine plan" (also known as Theology of the Body). (When you're ready, there's a low-cost 6-part online video course overview of the Theology of the Body.)

If you can attend the Theology of the Body Congress in July, the roster of speakers and topics is outstanding (too bad I can't fly in from England for those few days!). And there is also an active Theology of the Body Community on Google+ where you can raise issues and share insights based on Saint John Paul's TOB writings as well as his principle documents on the family: The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, the Letter to Women and the document On the Dignity and Vocation of Women. While reading up on John Paul II, don't miss Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, God Is Love, which is almost his version of Theology of the Body!

TOB Tuesday: Is TOB just a proof-text?

An earlier post for TOB Tuesday inspired a comment:
Will you discuss the question that TOB is based on proof texting? I'm bothered about that possibility.

Here's what I answered in an off-the-cuff way:
     Re: proof texting, I assume you mean TOB is an attempt to establish a scriptural foundation for the 1968 document "Humanae Vitae."
     It is clear that Pope John Paul intended to give the Church just such a gift. But did he do so after the fact, relying simply on the appeal to proof-texts as his only basis?
     If you read "Love and Responsibility" first (published in 1960) you see that Karol Wojtyla had been doing studies in the area of marriage and sexuality for many, many years. That is why he was part of Paul VI's commission on the birth control question: he was an acknowledged authority on human sexuality before there even was such an area of study. Both the documents of Vatican II and "Humanae Vitae" itself reflect some of Wojtyla's characteristic phrases with regard to marriage.
     TOB was actually written before he became Pope; it is the "biblical" companion volume to his more philosophical Love and Responsibility. (Since he could not publish the work in book form on being elected, he adapted the content to deliver it in person, by word of mouth).
     He did not make this stuff up in the quiet of his office; couples who had been college students during his time as a campus minister were sharing their stories and experiences with him--for decades. The real authors of Theology of the Body are those Polish couples who bared their souls to their pastor and friend. TOB is the distillation of those families' lives, put in conjunction with the Scriptures through the heart of Karol Wojtyla.
     Simply reading the Theology of the Body would be enough, I think, to override the accusation of proof-texting. The content and correlations are simply too deep. Proof-texting is necessarily superficial and disconnected; there is no inner logic or harmony among proof-texts as there is in a genuine sapiential reading of Scripture (which is what Marquette scripture professor William Kurz, SJ, calls TOB).
     I hope you will join us for the program! Even if you missed the first classes Saturday, you can catch up by using the archived files.

Later, I put a link to the post and comments on Google+ and got this input:
...a comment that Alice von Hildebrand made about TOB once struck me very strongly -- that TOB is about much more than birth control, much more than sex or marriage.  The parts of TOB relating to the glorious body, for example, go far beyond these narrow issues.  Could reducing most TOB conversations to birth control/sex feed the argument that it's an after-the-fact excuse for Humanae Vitae?  Maybe.

Good point! The sections of Theology of the Body that don't deal in an explicit way with marriage are often completely ignored, giving the impression that TOB is only about the hot-button issues. I am afraid I have been guilty of continuing that impression, assuming that these are the only areas in which most people have reservations about Church teaching that TOB addresses. There's not a whole lot of controversy right now with the resurrected life. Maybe there ought to be: Sister Helena tells me that in her work with young adults, there is very little recognition that that line in the Creed ("I believe ... in the resurrection of the dead") is about our future, body and soul.

What do you have to add to the conversation?