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Lesson 5

The Vocation to Love

Pope John Paul II offered a reflection on the origins of humankind based upon the story of creation found in Genesis 1-3, which has come to be known as Theology of the Body.

Catechism Connections

Lesson Topics
Creation & Creator Dignity of Life Old Testament Sin Suffering & Death
Essential Lessons
Lesson Vocabulary

  • Theology of the Body
    :
    (n.): A series of talks given by Pope St. John Paul II over many months of Wednesday audiences, in which he provided a teaching on the nature of man rooted in the first three chapters of Genesis, and proposed that “the body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine.”
  • Original Solitude
    :
    (n.): The state before the creation of Eve during which God invited Adam to discover his own uniqueness and learn that he was unlike any other creature that God created. He alone was made in God’s image and likeness. Only into Adam did God breathe His very Spirit.
  • Adam
    :
    (n.): Hebrew for “man,” as in mankind or the entire human race. Also, in Scripture, the name given to the first man.
  • Rational Faculties
    :
    (n.): The collective name for human soul’s powers of intellect and free will.
  • Body
    :
    (n.): The material, mortal flesh of the human person. Our bodies are essential to our identity, and express our inner selves, making the invisible visible. Our souls will be reunited with our resurrected bodies on the Last Day when Jesus comes again.
  • Soul
    :
    (n.): That which animates or gives life to a body.
  • Ontological
    :
    (adj.): Having to do with the nature of being.
  • Human Nature
    :
    (n.): The essential traits of human beings, i.e., we are each a unity of body and soul, capable of rational thought, free will, and the capacity for love. Because of Original Sin our nature is wounded, and we are inclined to sin.
  • Original Unity
    :
    (n.): God’s plan of communion and complementarity for the human family experienced by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.
  • Complementarity
    :
    (n.): The relationship between two different persons or things in which each complements (enhances, emphasizes, or makes more complete) the qualities of the other, with their union producing something greater than either could be alone. God created man and woman to be complementary to one another to make for a deeper and more profound union.
  • Spousal Meaning of the Body
    :
    (n.): Pope St. John Paul II’s phrase expressing how the human body includes right from the beginning the capacity of expressing love, specifically the love in which the person becomes a gift and by means of this gift fulfills the meaning of his being and existence.
  • Original Innocence
    :
    (n.): The state in which God created human beings prior to the knowledge of good and evil.
  • Original Justice
    :
    (n.): The original state of human beings before sin. In the beginning there was no suffering or death, man was at peace with himself, there was harmony between men and women, and there was peace between Adam and Eve and all of creation. Original Justice was lost due to the Original Sin.
  • Passions
    :
    (n.): Emotions or feelings that incline us to act or not to act. They are changes the body and soul undergo as a response to something. They are neither morally good nor morally evil until they they are commanded by the intellect and freely accepted or rejected by the will.
  • Original Sin
    :
    (n.): The state of human nature deprived of the original holiness and justice Adam and Even enjoyed before the fall.
  • Concupiscence
    :
    (n.): The tendency or inclination to sin that is an effect of Original Sin. Even though Baptism erases the stain of Original Sin, the tendency to sin remains.
  • Lust
    :
    (n.): A disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure for its own sake, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.
  • Protoevangelium
    :
    (n.): The name given to Genesis 3:15 in which God promises to send a Savior to crush the head of the serpent (Satan), defeating sin and death. It is the first announcement of the Gospel, the Good News of salvation won by Jesus Christ. Latin for “first Gospel.”
  • Redeemer
    :
    (n.): A person who saves or frees others from slavery or oppression. Jesus is our Redeemer because He saved us from the slavery and oppression of sin and death.
  • Fiat
    :
    (n.): Mary’s “yes,” or consent to God’s will for her at the Annunciation and all throughout her life. Latin for “let it be done.”
  • New Covenant
    :
    (n.): The new and everlasting covenant won for us by Christ’s Paschal Mystery. In this covenant is the fulfillment of centuries of prophecies and all of God’s promises for the forgiveness of sins. We are made members of the New Covenant by our Baptism and we renew and participate in the covenant every time we receive the Eucharist. All people are invited to be members of the New Covenant.

    • Plan

    Chapter Powerpoint
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    Vocabulary Review
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    Vocabulary Review Answer Key
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    Teach

    Icon of the Holy Trinity (1425-1427)
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