Co-creating the body of Christ

The nuptial aspect of the Mass, and the Eucharistic aspect of the sacrament of marriage, became clear to me all of a sudden last Sunday. The priest's prayer over the gifts 'that they may become the Body of Christ' has an extended resonance in Mass celebrated facing West, suggesting also the transsubstantiation of the faithful into the 'body of Christ' in its other, ecclesial sense.

But for the first time it really struck me how this relates to the procreative marital act. Sex is holy precisely because it builds up, co-creates, the body of Christ. There is an intimate link then between that nuptial, procreative mystery on the altar, and the faithful, Eucharistic and priestly action of the married Christian couple in the marital embrace.

All the more reason then for married couples to remain faithful to the sacrament they share, lest the purity of their sexual love becomes adulterated; and for priests for their part to say Mass with a devout spousal love for the Church and a fatherly love for the children they raise for God through the sacraments.