"Fathers Make Known to Children Your Faithfulness..."
(Isaiah 38:19-20)

A Pastoral Letter on Fathers And Fatherhood
by John J. Myers, D.D. J.C.D.
(Part two)

III. The Spiritual Landscape

The man of faith stands in the mystery of faith with awe. God has given us the dignity of participating in His life. Indeed, we are "fearfully, wonderfully made."12 The believer finds himself pondering a Father in heaven who would humble Himself to give us life and sustain that life by the gift of His only begotten Son. Theologians have described our encounter with God as an awareness of a great mystery revealed, in which we experience both fear and fascination. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."13 An encounter with God rightly fills us with awe.

Every believer is called to be attentive to the revelation of God and to respond to it with loving obedience. In service to God, self, and others, the man of faith seeks to become a living sign of God's kingdom and the new life of grace that Christ gives us in baptism. An authentic response to God is profoundly personal, but serves the Church and all of her members. From the beginning the Father revealed Himself to the human family so as to share His life with us, so that we may rejoice in Him. Our first response to God must be the self-surrender of faith, where in joyful humility we acknowledge that He is our creator who teaches us so that we may be blessed. Therein lies our true fulfillment.

God's Love and His Life

Also God calls us to a perfection that goes deeper than the external fulfillment of a law. He seeks full conformity of our will with His. This search for the will of God, and the grace to fulfill it, can bear fruit only in personal communion with His Church. This is the heart of prayer. This is the purpose of the sacraments. There we encounter Jesus Christ, especially in the Holy Eucharist. In them, the man united with God in grace is given the gift of eternal life, which transforms his relation to God and others. They also provide a source of spiritual fruitfulness which gives man his highest dignity, to "be fruitful and multiply"14 in the offering of his life in union with Christ's own sacrifice.

Jesus Christ: God and Man

In our contemporary confusion, we often overlook the meaning of Christ's Incarnation for sexuality and gender. Human nature is sexual, and so the assumption of human nature by God would necessarily involve gender as well. Jesus' gender expresses His identity and His mission. Jesus Christ was, and is, and will always be human. And His maleness is not an accident of history; it has important purpose in God's plan.
The entrance of Jesus Christ to the human scene draws upon the Old Testament image of God as a faithful, forgiving bridegroom and makes it concrete. God the Son is a bridegroom who has come to arrange and complete His nuptials with His Bride, the Church. All the baptized are conformed to Christ by grace. All disciples are to imitate his human virtues and share in His relationship with the Father. Women will imitate His virtues and way of life, especially as they are reflected in the Blessed Virgin Mary and other magnificent women in Church history. Men themselves are called to imitate Him precisely as man. All Christian men are called to imitate Christ: His virtues, His teaching, His sacrifice. Their manhood, rather than excusing them from the demands of a Christ-like life, obliges them to imitate Him with the help of grace. The holy men of our Christian history have also been great examples of manhood.
Our faith highlights three realities that are important for a man's identity. We find in Jesus Christ the perfect Son, who is obedient to His heavenly Father, whom all are called to imitate. The same Son is also seen as the Bridegroom of the Church, highlighting dramatically the responsibilities of men in spousal love. Jesus also reveals the Father to us; because the Son manifests the love of the perfect Father, all earthly fathers can learn something of their own responsibilities to their children. Christ gives us the opportunity to become fruitful in a new and splendid way. The maturing son becomes a spouse, but the maturing son also becomes a father. Men can be fathers not only in the flesh but also in the Spirit.

Christ, the Way

How does a man discover who he is? "Man discovers himself through the sincere gift of himself."15 But to whom must he give himself? He must first give himself to the God who made him. The gift of self is best understood by surrendering to and contemplating Jesus Christ, the Father's own gift to the world. Preparing to enter the Third Millennium of the Christian Era, the Holy Father asks us to spend the year 1997 getting to know Jesus better, the Son of God and Redeemer of Man.16

Christ teaches us many virtues by His own example. Even those who are familiar with the Gospels, but who are not believers, can be amazed by the way in which He lived and died. He expressed a love for God and neighbor which knew no limit. His zeal for His Father's honor provokes Him to cleanse the Temple. He was obedient not only to His heavenly Father, but also to Mary and Joseph. His love for others made Him preach, teach, and exhort others to conversion. He is innocent, even according to Judas, and Pontius Pilate finds in Him no crime. He was compassionate to the poor, sick and suffering, and merciful to sinners. Throughout His life He was quietly steadfast.
Christ thus teaches us how to be men, good sons of the heavenly Father. A man has only to look upon Christ to see himself as God intends. Man must not be ashamed of being a son of the heavenly Father, ashamed of Christ, or ashamed of being a man. He must look upon the sonship of Jesus Christ, meditate upon it and respond with the help of God's grace. As Christ is humble, a man must be humble before God. As Christ prays a man must pray. As Christ was obedient a man must be obedient. As Christ proclaims the truth of God's fidelity, so a man who imitates and is unified with Christ can be faithful to his own service to mankind in fatherhood. In fact, through the mystery of grace, we not only imitate Christ, but we are also identified with Him and we share in His very relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit.17

The Gospels teach us that Christ was a prayerful man, often separating Himself from others to pray to His heavenly Father in secret. His prayer was an expression of a Son's love for His Father as well as an expression of the worship that man owes to God in justice. In particular, we see Jesus pray when He prepared for events central to His mission: before the beginning of His public ministry, before the selection of the Apostles, and before His crucifixion. He also turned to prayer in times of weariness, such as after His preaching to the crowds and healing ministry; and He prayed in the Garden and on the Cross, and died with a prayer still on His lips.

Christ the New Adam

The Scriptures offer us a comparison of two men: Adam, the first man, and Christ, the new Adam. In particular we see a difference in their fidelity to God and how they exercised their responsibilities to others. Adam was unwilling not only to stand fast to the commandments of God, but also to take responsibility for his own actions. In the garden, the woman was tempted first. She was the one that God had given to him to treasure and to protect. And Satan himself told her a lie, which she believed. What did the man do? He said nothing. He did not resist when she attempted to involve him in sin. Rather, he collaborated in it. He failed her by sinning with her. Then, when the Lord Himself reentered the scene, did the man take a stand before the Lord to defend himself and her? No, he fled. Contrast this with Christ and His willingness to take a faithful stand for both the Father and for us.
Consider Christ on the cross, and Mary and John at its foot. How different Christ is from Adam! He was not silent. He spent His whole ministry teaching and witnessing to the Father. Although tempted, He would not participate in sin. And in the midst of sin, He did not withdraw, but He gave Himself in sacrifice, utterly dependent upon the heavenly Father. In His death on the Cross He revealed and proclaimed the trust in God that all are called to imitate.

The Spiritual Life

To the men of our local Church, I say: you and I must develop and continue to pursue a spiritual life, a life conformed to the example offered by Jesus, one that is intimate, personal and substantial. As you develop a spiritual life, you will discover that you have a real capacity for prayer and contemplation. But it can be difficult to learn how to pray. The philosopher Blaise Pascal said that one of the main problems with man is that he cannot be put in a room without distraction.18 But this is what you and I must continue to develop: the ability to sit silently in the presence of the Heavenly Father and let Him reveal Himself, and reveal us to ourselves. We must become other Christs, Christ Himself.19

We are united to God and others through love, and so a confusion of love with emotion or sentiment will hinder our practice of the spiritual life. The emotional life of a man is indeed important. But we must remember that the man in touch with his emotions is not necessarily a virtuous man. A man's responsibilities are great; yet he can be vulnerable to sentiments that obscure the importance of those responsibilities.

The ability to live a strong emotional life is based on the ability to transcend emotion appropriately. The practice of the spiritual life can reclaim and order our emotions. A man can only become strong for others by humbly acknowledging his weakness in the presence of his Father. This is why he should go into his room, shut the door and pray to the heavenly Father; he should pray that the Father will grant him the strength he needs to fulfill the responsibilities with which God has charged him.

A Christian man must respond to the vocation to holiness secure in his value as a man. He must not become discouraged by his own sinfulness nor by the prevailing sentiment that sometimes mocks male religious practice. Not all of a man's spiritual qualities have been corrupted by sin. Both men and women have insight and gifts to offer in the spiritual life. Catholic men can learn much from women and need not deny their masculine identity to grow to maturity.

Quite the opposite: A man can achieve great progress in the spiritual life if he is challenged to it. If he focuses on holiness, he is simultaneously perfected as a man and he progresses in holiness precisely in fidelity to his duty to God, his family and the human community.

A man's growth in faith is manifested by his trust in providence and triumph over fear. Fear demeans us. So much of our lives can be governed by a fear that paralyzes: fear of God, fear of intimacy with women, fear of commitment, and commonly, fear of children and raising a family. Only by exercising trust in Providence can a man overcome this fear and confidently assume responsibility for himself and others. This is the mystery of Christ's Cross: once you freely accept and embrace suffering, you have nothing further to fear.

A man's spiritual growth gives him the dignity of self-mastery and the humility to accept responsibility for his own life, his progress in virtue and his sinfulness. This maturity also leads him to the fruitfulness of fatherhood.

Christ Reveals the Father

What does Christ reveal to us about the Father's love that earthly fathers may imitate? God loves human life and is generous in creating it. Rather than fearing life, the earthly father should rejoice in new life. The Heavenly Father not only gives life generously, He also cares for it, protecting His children and educating them in the paths of our fulfillment in Him. A good father is therefore committed and faithful to the ongoing care and formation of his children.
The image of God reflected in man and woman is seen in one of the first commands after creation. "Be fruitful and multiply."20 We can easily fear the responsibilities of becoming fathers and living the commitment well. Yet, God made us to share the great dignity of cooperating with Him in the creation, protection and education of new human life. In a certain sense, we can say that each man has been given a vocation to fatherhood as an expression of his manhood. A man must not shy away from this great gift; he should rejoice in its dignity. Fearfully or selfishly to postpone or contain the fruitfulness that God offers us rejects the certain aid that God will provide us if we are generous with Him. God can never be outdone in generosity; a man grows in stature as he confidently assumes commitment to a wife and the raising of a family or consecrates himself to a celibacy fruitful in the Spirit.

In this regard, it would be a mistake to presume that the command of fruitfulness relates only to the physical origin of life. In Christ, all Christians possess a seed of spiritual fruitfulness that has significance in Christ's Kingdom.21 Our Christian dignity allows us to join in the universal priesthood of the Church in which we can offer ourselves as spiritual sacrifices for the increase of grace in our own lives and in the lives of others. Christian men and fathers have a responsibility to become spiritually fruitful by the sacrifice of their own lives, offered for those in their care. In particular, fathers need to cooperate enthusiastically with the spiritual formation of their own children, aware that this service and example is an important way they provide for their families.

This reality of sacrifice fostering a spiritual fruitfulness also illuminates the importance of those who are called to the single life or consecrated celibacy and, of course, to the particular vocation of the ministerial priesthood. This consecration to God is a true spousal union and a true fatherhood, in which the Church accepts the gift of her priests' lives to be fruitful in the life of grace for others. There is therefore a profound connection between the Sacrament of Holy Orders and the Sacrament of Matrimony, for they hold in common the call to spiritual fruitfulness.22

Christ, the Bridegroom

The significance of Christ's manhood is also seen in His relationship to women in the symbolism of His ultimate loving act, the sacrifice of the Cross. On the Cross He offered perfect worship to the Father and laid down His life for His bride. The celebration of the Eucharist includes this character of masculine love even as it invites the full participation of all the faithful, male and female. The priest who celebrates the Mass has himself become a sacrament of Christ's manhood, offering his own manhood, body and soul, in representation of Christ.23
Yet the sacrificial and masculine embodiment of Christ's love does not apply only to the priest who represents Him in the sacrifice. It applies to all Christians, including Christian men, and especially Christian men who enter into the covenant of marriage. Saint Paul makes it clear in his exhortation to married men. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself to her..."24 It should also be clear that the love of a husband for his wife is a response to her distinct value as a woman, as well as an acknowledgment of her equality. The husband's sacrifice for his wife is also a manifestation of his love and trust in the Father, just as it was for Christ.
Christ's love for His bride is the expression of total commitment. He is faithful to His Bride to the very end. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."25 His death on the Cross is not an act of desperation, but the free gift of Himself.

Marriage, too, involves a free gift of self. The commitment of Christian spouses to permanence not only encompasses their aspirations to love, serve and respect each other; it also requires understanding and forgiveness when there are failures. The difficulties of marriage, responded to in the grace given us by Christ, become a school of His fidelity and mercy to us sinners. Therefore, the presumption that a difficult marriage can be ended or annulled undermines the resolve of Christian spouses and parents, often ignoring the power of God's grace to strengthen families through difficult times.

IV. Saint Joseph, Our Guide

The Church has many examples of men who have expressed heroic sanctity as sons, as spouses and as fathers. We can be aided especially by reflecting on the guardian of the redeemer, Saint Joseph. The faith of Joseph is revealed to us when, in obedience to God, he assumed responsibility to be Mary's spouse and the guardian and role model of the Son of God. Saint Joseph clearly demonstrates how a father should sacrifice for the child and family he loves. He revealed, in his humanity, the unique role of fathers to proclaim God's truth by word and deed. Above all, Joseph gave witness to the truth that God is love, that God is faithful to His love. He joins with Isaiah and the heritage of the fathers of Israel who "declare to children, O God, your faithfulness. The Lord is our Savior."26

Joseph and Mary

The Virgin Mary was preserved by the grace of God from the effects of Original Sin. As God revealed His plan to Mary, she was free to respond and say "Yes." Joseph was also prepared in justice and grace so that he could say "Yes" to God. The fidelity of Joseph is a response to the story of the fall: as Our Blessed Mother became the new Eve and Christ became the new Adam, St. Joseph also had an important part to play. Joseph was a just man, who rendered to God and man their due. The commandments of God had been for him the school of love, so that he was able to recognize the voice of God and freely respond to it. When Mary was found to be pregnant, he was faithful to God's law. Even though he knew that he would be alone, he was willing to accept loneliness, but not in a way that would hurt his beloved. Not wanting to expose her to shame, he decided to set her free quietly, thus maintaining charity and justice with God in obedience to the Law. In this he also showed full charity towards Mary. He did not violate the Law but expressed the mercy and love that the Old Law would allow.
Unlike Adam, Joseph stood and proclaimed the truth; when God called Joseph, he was not afraid and did not hide. Joseph instead listened to God and answered the call.27 He heard God's instructions and placed absolute trust in Divine Providence. He was not afraid to take Mary as his wife and surrendered himself to God's plan. It is easy to take Joseph's actions for granted. He is often overshadowed by the glory of Christ and the purity of Mary. But he, too, waited for God to speak to him and then responded with obedience.

Joseph and Jesus

How marvelous is the mutual humility of Jesus and St. Joseph! Joseph was humble before God and Jesus was humble before Joseph; "And being found in human form He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross."28

As a good father, Saint Joseph taught his virtue to Jesus. A just man, obedient to the Law and humble before God, he taught Jesus these and other human virtues. Thus, when Christ matured, not only was His heavenly Father revealed, but also something of St. Joseph's own virtue. How profound our debt to this faithful husband and father.
The life of the Holy Family was a life of work. We see in their labor the consecration of work to the plan of God for their family and all families. Saint Joseph was a carpenter, a man who worked to provide for his family. Joseph labored in service to his family, to society and to the mystery of God's plan that was taking shape in his family.
Man's capacity to work is a gift of original innocence.29 In this work, he can extend God's dominion over creation through his own mediation. Work both builds up the worker and those who receive the fruits of his work. Work confirms and exercises the unique personal contribution of the worker for "work is a human good which transforms nature and makes man in a sense, more human."30 Man's redemption in Christ is also the redemption of work for "work too has been taken up in the mystery of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a special way."31
An obsession with work will detract from family life. But it must not be presumed that the pursuit of a career or work itself is to blame. Work, at its best, is a positive contribution to both family and society. Within the Sacrament of Matrimony, even family chores and responsibilities can be transformed into redemptive acts as they are unified with Jesus Christ. Saint Joseph's authenticity was in the service to Jesus ChristÑbut through Him, Joseph's work was also a sacrifice for the redemption of the world.

We can make any work holy by placing it at the service of redemption, by offering our work to God as an expression of love for Him and love of the human family. Our work is an expression of our own interior life. Work must not compete with one's family, but it can be a gift that is offered to God and those one loves.

V. Summary And Suggestions

In this letter we have acknowledged the great difficulties that the family faces today. They are rooted, at least in part, in mistaken notions about freedom. Our society's emphasis on the self has led to many developments which erode the family. We have tried to highlight several of those which are more important.

We have also turned to Holy Scripture and the teaching of the Church to discover wisdom and to seek direction which can lead us beyond our current situation. Mere nostalgia cannot do that. But a vigorous and creative reclaiming of our faith tradition and working at developing human virtues can provide a solid beginning. The examples of Jesus and St. Joseph, in contrast to Adam, are gifts that can offer both energy and direction.
With this in mind, I offer my brothers in the local church the following suggestions which may help set our course.

* Trust in the Lord. Do not be afraid to trust in the Father's providence for your life and the life of your family. Strive to be a good son of the heavenly Father by cultivating a spirit of prayer and recollection. Learn about our Lord, not only in study of the scriptures and our faith, but also through the personal encounters that God gives us in prayer and the Sacraments.

* Cultivate those virtues that are important for your responsibilities as a disciple, as a spouse, as a father: humility, faith, fidelity to one's word, compassion.

* Do not shy away from sharing your faith with your family by word and example. Love the Church and stay close to her. Even the simple action of family prayer can have a powerful benefit. What a wonderful gift for your wife and children to see you kneeling prayerfully before God, our Father.

* As you live out the marriage covenant, trust that the Lord provides you with the judgment needed to be a good husband and to participate in the formation of your own children. Take the time to reflect upon the virtues and the moral and religious values that unite your family and need to be passed on to your children. Remember that the Scriptures charge you with a special responsibility for the religious upbringing of your children.32

* Love your wife. This is a great gift not only for her, but also for the family. Actively care for her and be attentive to her needs, as she is to yours. Be sure to support her, affirm her and tell her that you love her. You may believe that your actions will make your love for her clear, but also remember that she needs to hear you say it. Make it clear to her that you are partners in marriage and in the responsibilities of raising the children.

* Be present to your family, that is, spend time with them and make the time you spend with them an expression of your love. Listen to them. Share with them. Make sure that family time involves worship, prayer and religious formation as well as recreation and the simplicity of just being together. You have something important to contribute to the life of your family; be resourceful in leading them.

*Do not unfairly abandon the duty of the human and religious formation of your children to your wife. In each of these areas, men and women complement each other's efforts. As you form your children, set their sights upon the Kingdom of Christ and a life lived from a supernatural perspective.

* Guard the moral environment of your family, understanding that we live in a culture that is often hostile to our faith and unsympathetic to the moral teaching of Christ. The virtues of an adult Christian are not formed automatically. It requires effort and patience to pass these on to your children. Strive to practice the same virtue you want to form in them. Be especially attentive to them as they enter adolescence. The best friendship that a father can offer his children is to remain their father. Be loving but firm. Know that "no" can be a loving word too. Their teenage years can be difficult for you and for them. Sometimes parents are called to heroic patience as they struggle to challenge their children to be faithful and virtuous. Do not abandon your children to the spirit of the age, but prepare them to be living witnesses of Christ in the world. In particular, do not neglect their formation in virtue and in sanctity of sexuality and married love. Exercise care as your children grow in friendships with their peers and as they begin to seek relationships with the opposite sex.33

* Join with other men and with other families in trying to change, to renew and to offer mutual support and encouragement. As our own families are a source of strength to us, we must also learn to depend upon other families and fathers of other families who share the vision of Christian fatherhood and family life.

* Single men, too, are called to holiness, to lives worthy of sons of God. The same basic spiritual principles obligate them as they live Christian lives. They have the special responsibility and opportunity to help create a social atmosphere which rejects the promiscuous lifestyle and encourages and supports chaste marriage and family life.

* Priests and those who have embraced chastity and celibacy by vow or in some other public way are identified with Jesus through this additional loving commitment. They will grow in love and find spiritual fruitfulness in sacrificing themselves in service to others as the Church directs them. In a profound sense, they share in the Fatherhood of God as He generates life in abundance.

VI. Final Exhortation and Prayer

It is a great gift to be a child of God, created in His image and likeness. Do not be ashamed of the talents and gifts that God has given you as a man for your own happiness and for the service of others. Do not be intimidated by the age, but take upon yourself the dignity of proclaiming the fidelity of the Father to the world. Serve Him with justice and courage as you evangelize others, spreading the Good News that we have a Father in heaven. "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him may not die, but may possess everlasting life."34 Be confident in the power of grace, and be fruitful, so that the Father will be well pleased in you and in the fruits of your sacrifice.

Please know of my daily prayers, remembrance at Mass and at other moments of prayer. I seek your prayers and support as I strive to be the shepherd of the Church in the Diocese of Peoria. Already the Holy See has recognized Mary as the Patroness of the Diocese of Peoria, under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Let us also never hesitate to turn to St. Joseph, seeking his paternal intercession with his Divine Son. With this devotion in mind, I commend the Diocese of Peoria and all its members in a particular way to the protection of Saint Joseph. A new statue of him has been placed in the Cathedral of Saint Mary near the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have provided that the liturgical celebration of Saint Joseph the Worker on May 1 be raised to the level of a feast on the diocesan liturgical calendar which is now in preparation.

Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, strong and prompt before the throne of God, we entrust to you our hopes and aspirations. Guardian of the Father's only Son, teach us the true meaning of fatherhood.
Joseph, you are the saint of the carpenter shop, the one who used the ordinary events of daily life to become holy. You remind us that hard work is noble. Like most of us you never performed a miracle while on earth, never wrote a book and never even left one quotation.

Joseph, you were the husband of Mary, the Mother of God. Help us, in loving Mary, to give honor and reverence to all women, particularly those who are near to us.

Joseph, chaste and faithful, hardworking, simple and just, you remind us that a home is not built on possessions but goodness; not on riches, but on faith and mutual love.

Dear father, Joseph, we do not grow weary contemplating you with Jesus asleep in your arms. Help us to share the dignity of fatherhood, generously to give life and not to grow tired of forming and protecting others in the ways of our heavenly Father.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Given at my Chancery, to the glory of God the Father, this 19th day of March, 1997, The Solemnity of Saint Joseph.

Most Reverend John J. Myers is the Bishop of Peoria, Illinois.

End Notes

12. Ps.139:14.
13. Heb. 10:31.
14. Gn. 1:28.
15. "Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, 'that all may be one...as we are one' (John 17:21-22) opened up vistas closed to human reason, for He implied a certain likeness between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God's sons in truth and charity. This likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself." Vatican Council II, Gaudium et Spes, "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World," no. 24.
16. "The first year, 1997, will thus be devoted to reflection on Christ, the Word of God, made man by the power of the Holy Spirit. The distinctly Christological character of the jubilee needs to be emphasized, for it will celebrate the Incarnation and coming into the world of the Son of God, the mystery of salvation for all mankind. The general theme proposed by many Cardinals and Bishops for this year is: 'Jesus Christ, the one Savior of the world, yesterday, today and forever' (cf. Heb 13:8)." Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, "As the Third Millennium Draws Near," no. 40.
17. "The key to intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is to follow Christ in such a way that we not only imitate but even identify ourselves with him. Only thus is Jesus the firstborn among many brethren while still the only-begotten Son of the Father. We aren't the Father's children each on his own account; while still ourselves, we are his children because we are Christ." Fernando Ocariz, God as Father in the Message of Blessed Josemaria Escriva, (New Jersey: Scepter, 1994), p.18.
18. "...I have often said that the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room." Blaise Pascal, PensŽes, trans. A. J. Kailsheimer, (New York: Penguin, 1966), p. 67.
19. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).
20. Gen. 1:28.
21. "The loving providence of God determined that in the last days He would aid the world, set on its course of destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ. A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith. His descendants are therefore compared with the array of the stars. The father of all nations was to hope not in an earthly progeny but in a progeny from above." Saint Leo the Great, Sermo 3 in Epiphania Domini, 1-3. 5: PL 54, 240-241.
22. "Now those who propagate and order in the bodily life are marked by two things: namely, natural origin, and this refers to parents; and the political regime by which the peaceful life of man is conserved, and this refers to kings and princes. It is, then, also like this in the spiritual life - for some propagate and conserve the spiritual life in a spiritual ministry only, and this belongs to the sacrament of orders: and some belong to the bodily and spiritual life simultaneously, which takes place in the Sacrament of Matrimony when a man and a woman come together to beget offspring and to rear them in divine worship." St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, 4, 58, trans. by Charles J. O'Neil, (Garden City, New York: Hanover House, 1957).
23. "Christ is the Bridegroom because 'he has given himself:' His body has been 'given,' His blood has been 'poured out' (cf. Luke 22:19-20). In this way 'He loved them to the end' (John 13:1). The 'sincere gift' contained in the Sacrifice of the Cross gives definitive prominence to the spousal meaning of God's love. As the Redeemer of the world, Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of our Redemption. It is the Sacrament of the Bridegroom and of the Bride. The Eucharist makes present and realizes anew in a sacramental manner the redemptive act of Christ, who 'creates' the Church, His Body. Christ is united with this 'body' as the bridegroom with the bride. All this is contained in the Letter to the Ephesians. The perennial 'unity of the two' that exists between man and woman from the very 'beginning' is introduced into this 'great mystery' of Christ and of the Church.'

Since Christ, in instituting the Eucharist, linked it in such an explicit way to the priestly service of the Apostles, it is legitimate to conclude that He thereby wished to express the relationship between man and woman, between what is 'feminine' and what is 'masculine.' It is a relationship willed by God both in the mystery of creation and in the mystery of Redemption. It is the Eucharist above all that expresses the redemptive act of Christ the Bridegroom towards the Church the Bride. This is clear and unambiguous when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist, in which the priest acts 'in persona Christi' is performed by a man." Mulieris Dignitatem, no. 26.
24. Eph. 5:25.
25. Jn. 15:13.
26. Is.38:19-20.
27. Mt. 1:20.
28. Phil. 2:8.
29. "The sign of man's familiarity with God is that God places him in the garden. There he lives 'to till it and keep it.' Work is not yet a burden, but rather the collaboration of man and woman with God in perfecting the visible creation." Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 378.
30. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Redemptoris Custos, "On the Person and Mission of Saint Joseph in the Life of Christ and of the Church," no. 23.
31. Redemptoris Custos, no. 22.
32. Gen. 18:19; Ps. 78; Eph. 6:4.
33. Please refer to my pastoral letter regarding chastity education: "A Fresh, Spiritual Way of Thinking."

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