In the beginning, God created humans in His image, as complementary partners, male and female, who can live self-giving love just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do. The love of the Trinity, represented by the brilliant sun, was shared with us in a special way when Christ gave us Himself. Just as the figures of the man and the woman look to the sun and are touched by the cross, the grace which flows from Christ’s Cross empowers males and females to live the Trinity’s self-giving love, especially within the covenant of marriage or in the consecrated life. The grace of the Cross enables all people to experience redemption while on earth, to grow in union with God, and to participate in the love of the Trinity. The cross in the picture represents Christ, who united heaven and earth when He became human, who wedded the Church on the Cross, and who brings us into the marriage covenant between Himself and the Church.
Ephesians 5:31-32, RSVSCE – “‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ [Genesis 2:24]. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church.” Pope St. John Paul II described marriage as the primordial sacrament, a great mystery which is the sign of and participation in the self-giving love of the Trinity. Since Ephesians says this great marital mystery also refers to Christ and the Church, Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed the spousal aspect all seven of the sacraments. Thus, the term “great mystery” encompasses the profound riches of all Christians’ participation in a spousal relationship with Christ, of sacramental marriage, of sexuality and marriage in general, of living spousal love in celibacy as Christ did, and of the mystery of the self-donating love of the Trinity. (Man and Woman He Created Them 93-99, 102, esp. 95:7, 96:1, 98:2, 102:6)
Adventures in the Great Mystery is a series of exciting fiction books about people of all ages and walks of life discovering what it means to be loved and adopted by God the Father, to be married to God the Son, and to be guided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit. They learn to live self-giving love in their friendships, their romantic relationships, their families, their evangelization, their prayers, and their discernment of vocation. Suffering and struggle are ever-present, as is joy. Read and discover the Church’s vision of what it really means to be human and to be Catholic.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Meditate on this image and see where God leads you.
Thanks to Elizabeth Nguyen (elizabeth.avn@gmail.com) for turning this vision into a picture.
Adventures in the Great Mystery 