The Spousal Act as Sacred Sign according to Pope John Paul II
For Pope John Paul II, since God entered human history when the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us”, our faith is a “face to face” encounter with the true man Jesus, Christ, who was crucified and risen. As such, it is much more than mere ideology, philosophy or morality, even more than “revealed” truth as spoken by God through prophets of old. In Christ, God is “face-to-face” with man, explains Scripture itself, revealing both the depths of God and of our humanity; this is Christology as anthropology or Christian Anthropology. In this, our faith is truly the “Gospel of the Body”, since the same person of the Trinity, who creates man in God’s likeness in Creation becomes Incarnate and then Redeems mankind; it is clear that creation and redemption are inseparably tied together as one act, in order to perfect man in “the image and likeness of God”. Sacred signs are the incarnate and efficacious means that we need as incarnate persons to receive grace and holiness from God in this world and communion with Him in heaven.