These pages are meditations on the mysteries of the creation, the incarnation, and the redemption. They explore the Christian understanding that all men and women are consubstantial in one and the same human nature, and are consubstantial with Jesus Christ as to his humanity. The meditations are based on a layman's reading of the Sacred Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the Theology of the Body as they pertain to the egalitarian complementarity of man and woman, which transcends the patriarchal binary of mutually exclusive male-female opposites. This understanding of the complementary equality of man and woman applies to all the sacraments, sheds light on the great nuptial mystery of Christ and the Church, and would seem to support the ordination of women to the ministerial priesthood and the episcopate.
Apostolic Body Language, Masculine and Feminine
Working Draft - 24 April 2016
PRAELUDIUM 1 - About the Theology of the Body
It is wise to keep in mind that St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body unequivocally confirms what we always knew deep down, i.e., that all human beings, male and female, are somatically homogeneous and fully consubstantial in one and the same human nature.
PRAELUDIUM 2 - About the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia
Likewise, we should keep in mind that Pope Francis' recent apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, is fully consistent with the St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body, with some discreet but not insignificant refinements to further clarify what we always knew deep down, i.e., that men and women are different but called to full communion and fully consubstantial in one and the same human nature.
PRAELUDIUM 3 - About the Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 10 to 15
Canon 1024 - "A baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly."
By meditating on the discernment process narrated in Acts 10 to 15, we should try to understand how this prohibition is consistent with what we always knew, i.e., that every human person is unique and unrepeatable, but homogeneous in the flesh and consubstantial in one and the same human nature.
HUMAN NATURE SUBSISTS IN PARTICULARITY AND COMMUNION
The body is a sacrament of the entire person but is not the entire person:
Colors: Grey = Biblical "Flesh" (Human Nature), Beige = Body, Pink = Female, Blue = Male, Purple = Intersex.
NB: Sex and gender cannot be separated but they can be distinguished. The grey (biblical "flesh," i.e., human nature) subsists under the other colors for all humans. Christ is 100% human and 100% divine. Each person is distinct (solid borders), but all human beings are made of the same flesh.
The human body is male or female or intersex but the gender of the personal subject is in a continuum.
IMAGO DEI
Each and every human being individually is an image of God
The communion of man and woman is an image of God
The communion of all human beings is an image of God
Personhood denotes at once particularity and communion
The body reveals the entire person but is not the entire person
ORIGINAL SIN CORRUPTED MALE-FEMALE COMMUNION
The PHALLOCENTRIC culture of MALE HEADSHIP derives from original sin:
Patriarchy is the old order of things, created by human hands
The patriarchal priesthood of the Old Law conveyed unredeemed body language:
MALE, CLEAN versus FEMALE, UNCLEAN
FROM THE INCARNATION TO PENTECOST AND BEYOND
After the REDEMPTION, the Church is born as the mystical body of Christ:
If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
THE CHRIST-CHURCH MYSTERY IS NOT PHALLOCENTRIC
The Church submits to Christ and Christ submits to the Church:
A rigid patriarchal interpretation of the bridegroom-bride analogy (Ephesians 5:21-33) reduces the Christ-Church mystery to cultural norms that no longer apply after the redemption for the same reason that male circumcision is no longer required for entering the sacramental economy (Acts 10 to 15).
In the new Christ-Church covenant, the Church does have the authority (Mt 16:19, 18:18)
to ordain women to the priesthood and the episcopate
APOSTOLIC BODY LANGUAGE IS NOT PHALLOCENTRIC
The language of the body, male and female, is the language of the Eucharist:
Why should body language around the altar be exclusively male?
Jesus never said, "I am the male of life," did he?
He would have said so if his embodied masculinity was essential for the sacramental economy. The signs of the Eucharist (flesh, blood, bread, wine, lamb...) are not exclusively masculine. The body language of the Eucharist is HUMAN, male *and* female.
Why is it, then, that only males can be ordained to the priesthood and the episcopate?
The sacramental priesthood of the New Law can and should convey redeemed body language:
MALE, CLEAN and FEMALE, CLEAN
COLLOQUIUM 1 - On contraception and abortion
CANON 1024 is an artificial contraceptive of female priestly vocations
CANON 1024 es un anticonceptivo artificial de vocaciones sacerdotales femeninas
CANON 1024 è un contraccettivo artificiale delle vocazioni sacerdotali femminili
CANON 1024 est un contraceptif artificielle des vocations sacerdotales femmes
CANON 1024 é um contraceptivo artificial das vocações sacerdotais femininas
CANON 1024 ist eine künstliche Verhütungs der weiblichen Priesterberufungen
CANON 1024 jest sztucznym antykoncepcji kobiet powolan kaplanskich
Canon 1024 is an abortifacient of female vocations to the priesthood
Canon 1024 es un abortivo de vocaciones femeninas al sacerdocio
Canon 1024 è un abortivo di vocazioni al sacerdozio femminile
Canon 1024 est un abortif des vocations à la prêtrise des femmes
Canon 1024 é um abortivo de vocações para o sacerdócio feminino
Canon 1024 ist ein Abtreibungs der weiblichen Berufungen zum Priestertum
Canon 1024 jest poronne kobiet powolan do kaplanstwa
COLLOQUIUM 2 - On the authority of the Church to ordain women
CCC 1598 - The exclusively male priesthood is a choice (first sentence), and the Church has authority to make the choice (second sentence)
CCC 1598 - El sacerdocio exclusivamente masculino es una opción (primera oración), y la Iglesia tiene autoridad para escoger esa opción (segunda oración)
CCC 1598 - Il sacerdozio esclusivamente maschile è una scelta (primo periodo), e la Chiesa ha il potere di fare la scelta (secondo periodo)
CCC 1598 - Le sacerdoce exclusivement masculin est un choix (première phrase), et l'Eglise a le pouvoir de faire le choix (deuxième phrase)
CCC 1598 - O sacerdócio exclusivamente masculino é uma escolha (primeiro período), ea Igreja tem autoridade para fazer a escolha (segundo período)
CCC 1598 - Die ausschließlich männliche Priestertum ist eine Wahl (erster Satz), und die Kirche hat die Autorität, die Wahl (zweiter Satz) zu machen
CCC 1598 - Ekskluzywnie mezczyzna Kaplanstwo jest wyborem (pierwsze zdanie), a Kosciól ma wladze, aby dokonac wyboru (zdanie drugie)
COLLOQUIUM 3 - Body Language of Male-Female Communion
The Church is "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic," but not necesarily patriarchal
The body language of male-female communion is sacramental, eucharistic, liturgical, and is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
The current social/ecological crisis and the patriarchal mindset of dominant male headship (including religious patriarchy) are INEXTRICABLY CONNECTED