Man is God's gift to woman; Woman is God's gift to man. And what important roles each has in the other's relationship to God! Man, as the initiator of the gift, as the one who gives his love to his bride, signifies in his body and actions the love of God for humanity. It is through knowing man that woman can come to see and understand God's love for her. It is through seeing men in her life crucified for her, through men taking on the scourging and the crowning of thorns and hanging from the cross for her, that woman can come to understand her position of receptivity of the gift as she stands at the foot of their cross. It is through looking up at him crucified that woman learns that God is not a tyrant, will not dominate or manipulate her, but merely asks to receive His love for her, a love that serves and sacrifices. Man must show woman the meaning of the crucifixion. For the man it is through woman coming to receive his sacrifices at the foot of his cross that he both regains his strength and love that he might keep sacrificing, and comes to understand his own relation to God; that of the one who receives the gift. Woman must show man how to be open to God and conceive His life within. Thus it is through man and woman enacting their God-given roles for each other that they may show the other how to love and know God fully.
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