"COMPLEMENTARITY IN MARRIAGE AND IN THE FAMILY"[1]
By
Rev. Jeric C. Cortado, 2015
In his address, Pope Francis finds
the meaning of complementarity in the first Letter of Apostle Paul to the
Corinthians (chapter 12:4-27) declaring that, “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are
varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working,
but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the
utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing
by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to
another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of
tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by
one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he
wills. For just as the body is one and
has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,
so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ……God arranged the organs in the body, each
one of them, as he chose.…there are many parts, yet one body. …..members may have the same care for one
another. … If one member suffers, all
suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and
individually members of it.”
First, Pope Francis defines complementarity in the context of
marriage wherein both husband and wife learn to appreciate one another as a gift and with a gift to enjoy by both and
by their family. Complementarity in the context of marriage means harmony just of the human body who work
together for the benefit of each and their family. Acquiring the arts of
living together which provides a place where both and their family breath a new values and culture as Christic
Stewards and Peacebringers. Second,
Pope Francis pointed out tensions as reality to family but provided frameworks
on how to resolve it. He defines complementarity in this context that both
husband and wife will nurture their reciprocal
symbiosis in bringing their contributions to their marriage and to the
formation of their children. The husband and wife should be willing to pour out their energy and effort into an ideal relationship of oneness. Third,
Pope Francis stressed the decline of marriage culture due to the increasing
poverty, corruptions, violence in our society wherein elderly, women and
children are the most vulnerable. According to the government, most of the
Filipino family are living in extreme poverty suffer from hunger, malnutrition,
and ill-health. Women and children are vulnerable to various forms of abuse. In
such situations, the pope challenged us to promote the fundamental pillars that
govern our nation which is the family.
Complementarity in the context
of the family is a perpetual commitment
of both husband and wife in living out solidarity, fidelity, and fruitful love.
Complementarity in context of marriage and family means allocating certain
times of the day for the purpose of just talking together as family, enjoying
the reciprocal symbiosis; listening without interrupting; understanding each
other; and live out the principles that the dignity of a couple is the one who
decide how many children. The address of Pope Francis, reminded us (Lumen
Gentium) that family is a domestic church which deliver a new citizens of human
society. The husband and wife sealed in the marriage life through the sacrament
of matrimony should become first preachers and teachers of faith by word and in
deed to their children. Although both husband and wife have their own personality
and individuality but they are one establishing and nurturing a family. Amen.
[1] Reflection
Paper based on the Pope Francis’s address entitled “The Complementarity of Man
and Woman in Marriage”
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