Communio Personarum

"This is so because, right from the beginning, that unity which is realized through the body indicates not only the body but also the incarnate communion of persons -communio personarum - and calls for this communion"


Pope John Paul II, General Audience of November 14, 1979
excerpted from The Theology of the Body, Human Love in the Divine Plan




One of the key features of John Paul II's teaching on the meaning and nature of the human person is the idea that the human person is expressed through the body. Moreover, the body itself has intrinsic meaning and expresses, in its very existence, fundamental truths about Man and the created world. As this excerpt indicates, one of those inherent truths expressed by the body is the communio personarum - that man was created for communion with other persons. The body, in itself, calls for the creation of community.

This truth occurred to me after reading this article. I find it rather amazing that, although Donor 401 did everything within his power to negate the intrinsic meaning of his body and its sexual acts, his actions still created a community of persons. The body still has a tendency to reveal the truth about the human person, no matter how we try to escape it.


It also occurred to me that, while God can (and is?) bringing good out of evil acts, the "family" depicted here is nothing less than a Satanic parody of God's design for families, a counterfeit counter-icon of the Holy Family. Kyrie eleison.