Autor: Little, Joyce

Buch: The Church and the Culture War

Titel: The Church and the Culture War

Stichwort: Freiheit und Geschenk (Johannes Paul II: höhste Form d. Freiheit); Veritatis Splendor; Verlust d. Selbstbeherrschung: Relation d. Geschenks -> R. d. Besitznahme; Genesis 2:24 (ein Fleisch)

Kurzinhalt: "The Crucified Christ reveals the authentic meaning of freedom; he lives it fully in the total gift of himself and calls his disciples to share in his freedom" (VS 85).

Textausschnitt: Freedom and Gift

120d The highest level of freedom is what the Pope calls "the freedom of the gift", by which he means the freedom to give oneself totally to another person. And the place we find this revelation of freedom is in Jesus Christ himself: "Contemplation of Jesus Crucified is thus the highroad which the Church must tread every day if she wishes to understand the full meaning of freedom: the gift of self in service to God and one's brethren. Communion with the Crucified and Risen Lord is the never-ending source from which the Church draws unceasingly in order to live in freedom, to give of herself and to serve" (VS 87). (Fs; tblStw: Freihei) (notabene)

121a Christ is the revelation of this freedom most especially in the fact that he lived out the freedom of the gift for our sake: "The Crucified Christ reveals the authentic meaning of freedom; he lives it fully in the total gift of himself and calls his disciples to share in his freedom" (VS 85). (Fs)

121b If we find the full revelation of the freedom of the gift in Christ, we discover its original revelation in Genesis, where man is created male and female in the image of God. The two are called to become "one flesh" (2:24), a reality which can only be realized in the total giving of themselves to one another. But such self-giving is possible only if each is master of himself or herself. We can give only that which we have mastered. That is why, as already noted, the Pope speaks of Adam and Eve as enjoying the freedom of self-mastery, since only by being masters of themselves is it possible for them to "remain in the relationship of the 'sincere gift of themselves' and to become such a gift for each other through the whole of their humanity made of femininity and masculinity...."1 Indeed, only by recognizing the nuptial character of the body which is bound up with our imaging of God as male and female are we able to appreciate the full implications of our freedom. John Paul II declares, "Understanding of the nuptial meaning of the body in its masculinity and femininity reveals the depths of their freedom, which is the freedom of self-giving."2

121c By the same token, man's original misuse of the freedom of choice had and continues to have ramifications for his freedom as self-mastery and as self-giving. By choosing to be disobedient, Adam and Eve brought about the disorder of concupiscence, which makes self-mastery all but impossible to achieve, and that in turn undermines the freedom of the gift of self-giving. The Pope states, "Concupiscence entails the loss of the interior freedom of the gift.... Man can become a gift—that is, the man and the woman can exist in the relationship of self-giving, if each of them controls himself." With the loss of self-control, however, "The relationship of the gift is changed into the relationship of appropriation".3 Only the grace of Christ can restore to us the freedom of self-mastery which once again makes possible the freedom of the gift. Thus, "The satisfaction of the passions is, in fact, one thing, and the joy that man finds in mastering himself more fully is another thing, since in this way he can also become more fully a real gift for another person."4 (Fs) (notabene)