A day late getting to TOB Tuesday. I got busier yesterday than I thought I would and had no time for blogging, but I did want to point out this thought-provoking article from James Simons at Catholic Exchange (that has generated some great conversation in the combox) on the question of whether it is the man’s responsibility to look away … Read More
TOB Tuesday Bonus: No Marriage in Heaven?
This Sunday we heard in the Gospel reading: “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. (Lk. 20:34-35) This should remind us that, as beautiful and holy as marriage and the marital act really … Read More
TOB Tuesday: The Body Doesn’t Lie
Msgr. Charles Pope has a masterful post on the language of the human body and the many lies our culture tries to speak through or about it: One of the great errors of our day is the implicit rejection of the truth that our bodies have something to tell us about who we are and what we are called to … Read More
TOB Tuesday: Ephesians 5
Today’s first reading is probably one of the most misunderstood passages from scripture, which JP II devoted quite a bit of time to discussing in his Theology of the Body. Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of … Read More
TOB Tues: Sexuality and the Culture War
LifeSiteNews.com has an excellent talk from John-Henry Westen to the Fifth Annual World Prayer Congress for Life in Rome earlier this month: Have you ever noticed that almost the whole of the culture war is centered on sexuality? Abortion, Same-sex ‘marriage’, contraception, adultery, pornography, promiscuity, sex-education, divorce, homosexuality, in vitro fertilization, even embryonic stem cell research are all related to … Read More
TOB Tuesday: Three Thoughts
Writing for the Theology of the Body Institute, Bill Donaghy, reflects on what he things are the “three most powerful thoughts from Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.” Thought #1 – The Body Is Holy: Many of us grow up being conditioned to think that are bodies are somehow dirty, our desires are always sinful and sex is … Read More
TOB Tuesday: TOB in the Marines!
A United States Marine Corps First Lieutenant recently started a small Theology of the Body study group with his fellow Marines serving in Japan: While on board the U.S.S. Essex, I offered TOB classes to my fellow Marines. We had the only Catholic priest in our ship convoy, a simple and holy Vietnamese priest named Fr. Dang. Thankfully, he knew … Read More
TOB Tuesday: The Very Meaning of our Existence
Reflecting on the book of Genesis (2:25), John Paul II writes: The human body, with its sex – its masculinity and femininity – seen in the very mystery of creation, is not only a source of fruitfulness and of procreation, as in the whole natural order, but contains “from the beginning” the “spousal” attribute, that is, the power to express … Read More
TOB Tuesday: The Mystery of Woman
Over at Catholic Exchange, Fr. Samuel Medley, SOLT has a beautiful article in which he reflects on the “mystery” of woman: Woman is a wonderful mystery. Often even to herself, she is an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed. When approaching the topic of womanhood, and especially when approaching women, what is most important is to reveal that each woman is, … Read More
TOB Tuesday: Making Love
Brian Killian has an excellent article up at Catholic Exchange taking a look at the romanticized Hollywood “love” scenes and how we typically view the act of sexual intercourse today: Remember the older Hollywood love scenes? A man and woman are wrapped in each other’s arms in front of gently billowing curtains and moonlight as they tenderly and lovingly kiss … Read More