Christopher West is a remarkable young Roman Catholic “evangelist”.  I don’t know what else to call him.  He is a layman.  He’s not really a scholar in the usual sense.  He’s on the road constantly proclaiming the gospel.  His focus is reclaiming a vibrant understanding of Godly sexuality and marriage that leads to LIFE.  I first heard him speak at the ACNA 2013 Assembly.  His seminar changed my (our) life.  I subscribe to his blog.  See what you think of today’s post below.  And if you have time check out some of the others.  They are short and full of insight.

156. In Christ There Is Not Male or Female

In this Sunday’s second reading Saint Paul proclaims, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The modern world promotes neuteredness. Wouldn’t this seem to be a biblical justification? Well, look at Paul’s conclusion: there’s no longer male or female because they are “one in Christ Jesus.” How do the two (male and female) become one in Christ Jesus? “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” Saint Paul quotes this in his Letter to the Ephesians and then adds: “This is a great mystery, and it refers to Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:31-32). Sexual union symbolizes union in Christ. But the only way the two can become one is via the sexual difference. Thus, St. Paul is not leveling that difference. Rather, he’s showing the fruit of that difference properly lived: unity in Christ. The great danger of neuteredness is that we fail to see the divine mystery written in the sexual difference. And that’s precisely why the devil is after our sexuality: to nullify the divine message it proclaims.