Human Love in the Divine Plan

A new reprint by LEV of John Paul II’s Catecheses on Love is in the bookstores
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 The Catecheses on human love pronounced by John Paul II over thirty years ago have been reprinted by LEV in a book edited by Gilfredo Marengo: “The two phrases that form the title of the new edition, “Human Love in the Divine Plan. The redemption of the body and the sacramentality of marriage in the Wednesday Catecheses”, typical of the author’s language,—writes Francesco Pesce, in his presentation—are placed at the beginning of the last catechesis with the clear intention of representing two possible synthetic titles for their entire course. The choice of this title, while highlighting the specific details of this edition, allows us to evoke once again the Pope’s intention in giving the Church the Wednesday catecheses.”

In John Paul II’s reflection, the presentation continues, “the understanding of human love is to be situated within the divine plan, and precisely this place is the fundamental element for developing an adequate anthropology: the light of love opens, for man, the road to dealing with the enigma of his own life.” John Paul II’s way of approaching man through love, Pesce adds, “is particularly relevant for knowing contemporary man and interpreting the complexity of life, precisely by starting from the experience of love which is shared and accessible to all.”

The novelty of this edition is “the original perspective in which human love is considered in the Catecheses. The title already indicates not only that these texts offer an adequate understanding of human love, but it goes still further: the expressions ‘catecheses on human love’ or ‘theology of the body,’ in fact focus on a particular aspect but fail to express the original wealth of the teaching they contain.” These Catecheses actually “deal with the theme of the connection between the sexual difference and the Mystery of God: the experience lived by man and woman, beginning with the difference between the male and female bodies, is regarded as the access to the divine Mystery revealed as God’s total gift to man in Christ.”

The book is enriched by a critical apparatus that allows a scientific approach to these catecheses and facilitates their study. The synopsis of the new edition with that of 1985, the indices of biblical quotations, of texts of the Magisterium and of names, help to penetrate the text’s wealth, while highlighting its biblical roots as well as their place in the tradition of the Church, and make this volume an indispensable tool for further research.

 To read the presentation, click here:

or on the following link: http://www.istitutogp2.it/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=396

16 February 2017