I have always been intrigued and mystified by what our Lord meant when he said that in marriage, “the two become one flesh”. Clearly their physical flesh does not meld into one another, so it must be on a different level. John Paul II speaks about this:
 

The unity of which Genesis 2:24 speaks–”they become one flesh”–is undoubtedly expressed and realized in the conjugal act. The biblical formulation, extremely concise and simple, indicates sex, femininity and masculinity, as that characteristic of man–male and female–which permits them, when they become “one flesh”, to submit their whole humanity to the blessing of fertility.
 
Uniting with each other (in the conjugal act) so closely as to become “one flesh”, man and woman rediscover, so to speak, everytime and in a special way, the mystery of creation. They return in this way to that union in humanity (”bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”)….That they become one flesh is a powerful bond established by the Creator. Through it they discover their own humanity, both in its original unity, and in the duality of a mysterious mutual attraction.

 
Man was created male and female, and before the fall, they were in “original unity” with one another, forming a perfect communion of persons that imaged the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fact that in marriage–created, redeemed, and sanctified by Christ–the husband and wife can return in some sense to this original unity and rediscover their own humanity, is awesome!

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