In a recent interview, singer Kelly Clarkson perfectly articulated the reason for the breakdown of the family in our society and therefore the breakdown of our society in general:

“My point of view is that I shouldn’t be a mother at all, because I’d be horrible,” she confessed to Elle magazine. “I’m not willing to be that selfless.”

We have lost our sense of self giving. It is easy to give money or to donate a portion of our time and talents to some charity or organization. But to be a parent, to be a spouse especially, means to give the gift of your entire being. This concept is completely lost on our highly individualistic society, but it’s what we were made to do.

Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh. (Gen. 2:23-25)

Man can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself (Gaudium et Spes, 24). We are called to be one just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one; three persons united in the complete giving of themselves in love to one another (Jn. 17:21-22). This is the amazing uniqueness of the human person! This is what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God; that we are able to love in such a way that we give our entire selves in love and service to others – not only to others, but also in service to God:

Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? (Lk. 9:23-25)

Also check out:
Man and Woman: A Mutual Gift for Each Other and other General Audiences that make up JPII’s Theology of the Body

Back to the Garden: Theology of the Body from Eden to Today by Edward P. Sri