Biblical Studies Conference Explores Sexuality and Sanctity in Scripture

July 28, 2004 - 12:00 PDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Catholic PRWire

STEUBENVILLE, OH-- Should Catholics be surprised to find "the good news of sexuality" in the good news of the Gospel? Not according to Pope John Paul II and a group of biblical scholars at the Applied Biblical Studies Conference held July 21-23, at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

"It is a great road map, a beautiful plan for marriage, for family, for relationships, for love and sexuality," explained Dr. Ted Sri, assistant professor theology at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, referring to the "theology of the body."

"Living the Mysteries: Sexuality and Sanctity in Scripture" was the theme of the conference, which drew about 300 participants, and was hosted by Dr. Scott Hahn, biblical theology professor at Franciscan University and founder of the St. Paul Institute for Biblical Theology.

The conference offered participants intellectual and spiritual refreshment through Mass, benediction, the sacrament of reconciliation, private reflection, and workshops featuring thought-provoking speakers.

Many presentations discussed the theology of the body, a phrase coined by Pope John Paul II for his Christ-centered vision of the human person, marriage, and sexuality.

Dr. Sri said the theology of the body is based in Genesis 1-3, which reveals the unity of man and woman who are made "in the image and likeness" of the Trinity.

"The Father gives himself in total love to the Son, and the Son pours himself out back to the Father, and the love between them is so real it forms a third person, the Holy Spirit," he said.

"We are made to live like the Trinity--we're made for relationships, for self-giving love."

The body has a nuptial meaning, he said, referring to the verse, "The two shall become one flesh."

"The union of the body is meant to express a union of the persons. What we do in our bodies expresses our souls," he said. "Many people have a childish understanding of our identity and relationships. Our culture thinks sex is just a meaningless bodily act just to give pleasure."

In contrast, Pope John Paul II stresses that sex is "an expression of total love and total trust, a total giving of themselves. In giving their bodies, they give themselves."

Deacon James Keating, PhD, discussed the "Christian Meaning of Romantic Love," comparing romance in a couple's relationship with the romance between a believer and Christ. It is vital for married couples to pray together, he said, to establish that communion with each other and with God.

"It is prayer that is the most romantic of all realities--I give to God adoring attention," said Dr. Keating, an author and associate professor of moral theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

"What is borne from such adoring attention? Freedom from the ego. All love ends in a death. And the first casualty of authentic love is the ego. We are to love until the selfish self is forgotten."

The maturing nature of love allows us to ask our beloved "what do you need?" "The real fruit of romance is not a nice tingly feeling. It comes accidentally from willing the good of the other. The holy couple comes to anticipate the needs of the other.

"The most romantic words ever spoken were 'not my will but thy will be done,'" he said, referring to Christ's words to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Dr. Mary Healy, speaking on the "Theology of the Body as a Temple," said the Church's teaching on purity does not deny or repress sexuality--nor does it set unreachable expectations for the faithful.

"'Handle with care' is obviously not to say 'this is bad,'" she said. When Jesus taught that looking lustfully at a woman means committing adultery (Matt. 5:27), "he's not just giving us a higher, impossible standard, he's empowering us. His very words have power. If we only listen to him, we can do that."

She said the theology of the body is not just appropriate for married couples, but also for those who are single, widowed, divorced, and consecrated to celibacy.

"Specifically, there is a feminine or masculine way to be a gift of self with those around you," said Dr. Healy, a theology professor at Campion College in Washington, DC. "We see this with a priest who becomes a father to those around him. Or in a feminine way, with your heart in tune to others' needs."

Kimberly Hahn, author of Life-Giving Love and wife of Dr. Hahn, explained 10 ways the sacraments of marriage and the Eucharist are similar in expressing intimacy.

"Both express a total gift of self that creates an indissoluble bond of love," she said. "And both illustrate that the gift of self is sacrificial. It's not possible to give yourself and not have it hurt, to be a challenge."

"Jesus has called us into intimate communion through the Eucharist," Mrs. Hahn explained. "We have the privilege in the vocation of marriage to reflect for the whole world an image of Jesus' relationship to the Church."

Dr. Hahn said the Scriptures reveal "the intimate marital covenant of God with his creatures" as seen throughout salvation history, and in which we now participate through the seven sacraments.

It is important to recognize the first covenant God made with man was in the marriage of man and women with Adam and Eve, he said.

"Scripture begins with a wedding and that's how it ends--with the wedding supper of the Lamb," in the Book of Revelation, Dr. Hahn said. "The happiest marriage would look broken compared to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the marital covenant with the Church that will last forever."

The Applied Biblical Studies Conference was one of 22 conferences hosted by Franciscan University this summer, held on campus and across the country. The conferences offer programming for lay men and women, young adults, high school teens, priests, religious sisters, and deacons.

For more information, call 1-800-437-8368 or visit www.franciscanconferences.com

--30--

Contact

Franciscan University of Steubenville
http://www.franciscan.edu
OH, US
Tom Sofio - public relations, 740 283-6450

Keywords

Theology of the body

Category

Catholic Schools & Religious Education

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