Self Gift in TOB

1. What are the three recognized vocations of the Church?

1.1. Marriage, religious life, and priesthood

2. What is our primary vocation? What does this vocation mean?

2.1. To become self-gift is our primary vocation. This means that God has entrusted to each and every one of us the task of giving ourselves in love to him and to one another.

3. What is the Theology of the Body, according to the article?

3.1. The Catholic vision of what it means to be a human person, made in the image and likeness of God.

4. How does the Theology of the Body help the religious understand both the spousal and virginal meaning of their vocation?

4.1. On earth, the religious give themselves body and soul to God, as virgins and brides. Christ is their spouse in the here and now, not just in eternity, and they live their life for him. No one else can claim them or call them their own.

5. • How does the spousal relationship differ between the religious and those in the priesthood?

5.1. Unlike religious, who live that spousal relationship primarily with Christ, the priest lives it primarily with the Church.

6. How does a priest serve his bride as a husband does his wife?

6.1. Seen through the prism of the theology of the body, the priesthood is all about serving the Bride: providing for her through the sacraments and protecting her from sin. For her sake, the priest denies himself marriage and em-braces continence, giving himself as exclusively to the souls entrusted to him as a husband does to his wife.

7. What must we learn no matter what vocation we are called to?

7.1. All of us must learn how to give, not take, and love, not lust, according to the inner demands of the life to which we’ve consented, if not chosen.

8. How does Theology of the Body help us with our vocation of choice?

8.1. It not only tells us what our primary vocation is, but it also shows us the eternal meaning of each earthly vocation and gives us guidance for living it well.

9. Marriage is a perpetual sign of what 3 fundamental realties?

9.1. 1.We are made for communion with others. 2. Marriage reflects the relationship between Christ and his Church 3.When two become one, we learn that the inner life of the Trinity is self-giving, life-giving love.

10. What are some ways married couples can become a “self-gift” to their spouse?

10.1. Married couples need to approach each day with the goal of sacrificing their own needs and desires in order to serve their spouse.

11. What special responsibility is placed upon single people while they are single?

11.1. Single people need to seek out opportunities to live selflessly.

12. How can single people seek out opportunities to live selflessly?

12.1. Through small acts of kindness to strangers, service to friends, and apostolate work among those in need, single people can live the theology of the body by putting their bodies, as well as their souls, in love’s service.

13. “The married person puts their spouse first.” “The celibate puts God first. When you’re single, the next person who crosses your path is the person you put first. That’s who Christ is asking you to give yourself to. That’s how you love him.”