E
Edward_H
Guest
This notion was passed on to me by a priest who was teaching a bioethics course.
The term “procreative and unitive” has been in use for a while, but I generally have seen the concept/term talked about as parallels, two equal purposes to marital intimacy.
But the priest pointed out an important aspect of these terms, apparently referenced by Pope Pius the XII (?).
These goals or purposes aren’t so much equal and parallel. The procreative has a higher purpose, spreading God’s love beyond an otherwise closed couple. Aquinas pointed out that love is diffusive, to reach its highest state of perfection it must spill out beyond itself.
So the unitive aspect of intimacy serves the procreative purpose.
But in an “elegance” that only God could imagine and create, the “demands” of procreation, in turn, are intended to serve the unitive purpose of marriage…two wills becoming totally united toward some greater good, the good of raising God’s children, of enlarging God’s family.
The demands are mostly daily and little…all the work that parents have to do.
The work - if one cheerfully accepts the various “crosses” of marriage and parenting - in the end, builds a hundred or more virtues in the parents…they grow beyond their selfish selves. They become “more” for God, stronger and more eager instruments of His love for the world.
And the children in such a family will be more apt to want this sort of generously-giving family life for their own as well.
I very much like this more dynamic and interactive, and growth-oriented view of “procreative and unitive”.
The term “procreative and unitive” has been in use for a while, but I generally have seen the concept/term talked about as parallels, two equal purposes to marital intimacy.
But the priest pointed out an important aspect of these terms, apparently referenced by Pope Pius the XII (?).
These goals or purposes aren’t so much equal and parallel. The procreative has a higher purpose, spreading God’s love beyond an otherwise closed couple. Aquinas pointed out that love is diffusive, to reach its highest state of perfection it must spill out beyond itself.
So the unitive aspect of intimacy serves the procreative purpose.
But in an “elegance” that only God could imagine and create, the “demands” of procreation, in turn, are intended to serve the unitive purpose of marriage…two wills becoming totally united toward some greater good, the good of raising God’s children, of enlarging God’s family.
The demands are mostly daily and little…all the work that parents have to do.
The work - if one cheerfully accepts the various “crosses” of marriage and parenting - in the end, builds a hundred or more virtues in the parents…they grow beyond their selfish selves. They become “more” for God, stronger and more eager instruments of His love for the world.
And the children in such a family will be more apt to want this sort of generously-giving family life for their own as well.
I very much like this more dynamic and interactive, and growth-oriented view of “procreative and unitive”.
Last edited: