Yes, you guessed it. Here is your Theology of the Body Advent reflection for week three. This time from Fr. Martin Connor, LC: In 2000, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, made the following comment: “The deepest poverty is the inability of joy, the tediousness of a life considered absurd and contradictory… the inability of joy presupposes … Read More
TOB Tues: And With Your Spirit
Here’s another great Theology of the Body Advent reflection, this time from Damon Owens: In the United States, we mark both the second week of Advent and our second week with a new English translation of the Roman Missal. Every day while traveling this week, I have found myself at a different parish fumbling with both the pages and the … Read More
TOB Tues: Hollow Hearts Waiting to be Filled
A Theology of the Body Advent reflection from TOB Institute‘s Bill Donaghy: Hollow Hearts Waiting to be Filled Six hundred years before the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, Isaiah was dreaming. In a very modern sounding lament, he was yearning for a glimpse of the glory of the “old days” when God was more, shall we say, visible: … Read More
TOB Tuesday: The Anatomy of Attraction
Sorry for the lack of TOB Tuesday posts for the past few weeks. This week, take a look at Dr. Edward Sri’s post at The Integrated Catholic Life on the anatomy of attraction drawn from JPII’s Love and Responsibility: A man eating lunch at a restaurant notices an attractive woman at another table, and is immediately drawn to her beauty. … Read More
TOB Tues (on Wed.): Emotional Chastity
When we talk about the Theology of the Body, we usually talk about guarding our eyes and not revealing too much of our bodies, but what about our guarding our hearts and not revealing too much of our emotions? The TOB is about the whole person, body and soul, and that certainly includes our emotions. Therefore, emotional chastity is just … Read More
TOB Tues: Pornography Shows Too Little of the Human Person
This is a wonderful interview with Matt Fradd, founder of The Porn Effect, in which he explains that the real problem with pornography is not that it shows too much, but that it shows much too little of the human person: Previous post: Porn Kills Love
TOB Tues: Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong
Love lift us up where we belong Far from the world we know Up where the clear winds blow You know, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes really were on to something. Just beautiful: [L]ove is a much deeper affair than many lovers realize, for it calls on them to receive each other as God’s gift and in so doing to … Read More
TOB Tues: TOB on Tour!
How have I never heard of this until now?? Christopher West and the folk-rock group Mike Mangione & The Union have been going on tour together to promote the Theology of the Body to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. From the ‘Fill These Hearts’ website: Furrow 24 Productions, in association with the Theology of the Body Institute and Ascension Press, is … Read More
TOB Tues: A Risk Worth Taking
For today’s TOB Tuesday, I chose this passage from Called to Love: Approaching John Paul II’s Theology of the Body because, well, I’m kind of feelin’ it a little bit right now: It’s true, of course, that everyone who loves sooner or later gets hurt. Yet this very risk of pain has a positive side: By taking us out of … Read More
TOB Tues.: Picking Rotten Fruit
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