No lie, I was definitely inspired by today's readings to start up again. For all you non-Catholic readers, the entire Catholic church gets a uniform set of scripture readings for each Mass. Today's happened to be Genesis 2: 18-24:
The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep,
he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib
that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman, '
for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep,
he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib
that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman, '
for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
Now think about it this way. This is the first love story ever! The man is searching for somebody to love, somebody to fulfill his needs. God gives Adam animals, but he's like "no, there's just something not right there." So God uses part of Adam to create Eve. Adam wakes up and he's like: "WOW!! Look at this! Look at you! You are the most amazing thing I've ever seen". God could have given humanity any method to reproduce, but he chose to put together two creatures that go perfectly together. How do you think they become one flesh? In the garden, Adam and Eve were able to give themselves completely to each other and receive each other's love. There was no shame and no use.
That's a short reflection on today's scripture passage. And considering this is where JP2 gets the majority of his material for Theology of the Body, it's sort of important.
Dear Lord, you created love. You orchestrated the first love story ever! Please help me to love everybody, no matter what our relationship is, in the way you want. Amen.
