Who would have thought that a Bruce Springsteen song could be used to explain papal teachings?
Author and lecturer Christopher West did just that, singing, “Everybody’s got a hungry heart,” to introduce his presentation on “God, Sex and the Meaning of Life: An Introduction to Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.”
West’s presentation was part of the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s annual Adult Lecture Series on April 5, and it drew a packed house of more than 500 to St. Paul Seminary.
The crowd was diverse and multigenerational, with students scribbling notes, grandparents smiling as infants babbled in the arms of their parents, and clergy being applauded for their example.
West is a noted expert on theology of the body, having authored three books, recorded numerous presentations and delivered live presentations in more than 150 cities on four continents.
West explained that theology of the body refers to a collection of 129 talks delivered by Pope John Paul II between 1979 and 1984. Its application is universal, West noted. “If you’ve got a body, this theology applies to you!”
Although the phrase “theology of the body” seems to be self-contradictory (theology being a study of the spiritual and the body being earthly), West explained that when seen in the light of Christianity, its purpose becomes clear. Much of Christianity is making visible of the invisible, and the central tenet of Christianity is that God made himself visible in the person of Jesus Christ. “The theology of the body gets us in touch with the ‘Word made flesh,’” West said.
He explained that the human body was created by God to “make visible the reality hidden in God from eternity”: that God himself in the Trinity is an eternal exchange of love, and he has destined us to share in it. The marital embrace itself is a glimpse of God’s free, total, faithful, life-giving love.
West said our “hungry hearts,” our natural human longing for life, is actually a manifestation of our longing for God. “God’s love is what those ‘housewives’ are really ‘desperate’ for,” West noted, also quoting G.K. Chesterton, who wrote, “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is actually looking for God.”
Amazing what happens whey you actually teach the faith and the deep beauty of it instead of crap like the musical erotica.
10 comments
Christopher West is awesome; he is a fantastic speaker and he changed my life. I just wanted to post, because I am a traditionalist Catholic, and many traditionalists have this phobia about the Theology of the Body. Part of the phobia is understandable to me, as they are rightly concerned about the distancing of the Church from Thomistic scholastic theology and into ambiguity. However, as West clearly points out, JPII’s phenomenological approach may emphasize the experience of God’s plan of sexuality, but it in no way denies the objective truths about the primary end of marriage being procreation. Rather, it supplements it quite well, and can reach the modern, non-intellectual person raised in the contraceptive sexual wasteland.
Just my two cents. If you get a chance to see West, or read his stuff, do so.
I have also had the privilege of seeing him in person, and the article is right on. Wow.
Just in case you are wondering about that “brothel” quote – according to the Quotemeister, there is no evidence as yet that GKC actually said it.
Also, I myself have looked for it; to my knowledge it does not appear in any of the major works of GKC.
The Mary Foundation has a free CD with a talk given by Christopher West. It’s a great mini-introduction to the Theology of the Body. Get it here –> HERE
The Gift Foundation is practically giving away (for $3.90 plus shipping) a more comprehensive, 10 CD set introduction to TotB here –> HERE
I hate to admit that reading the Holy Father’s addresses on these topics is slow going for me, so listening to Christopher West has been great. I listen to them when I’m in the kitchen.
I’ve got the Gift Foundation 10 CD set, and it’s excellent! It’s broken up into the major sections of the Theology of the Body, and Christopher West does an excellent job of explaining each section clearly. Well worth getting! (Besides, when’s the last time you paid that little for 10 CDs?)
Chistopher West will be in Manchester, NH @ Ste. Marie Church May 6th for a day seminar on The Theology of the Body from 8am to 3:30pm with Mass following @ 4pm.
Cost is $30 before 4/28, $35 after 4/28.
Couples cost is $50 before 4/28, $60 after 4/28.
Group discount available.
Call Vita Nova @ 603-623-6682 for tickets and more information.
“Although the phrase �theology of the body� seems to be self-contradictory (theology being a study of the spiritual and the body being earthly)”
That is incorrect. Theology has to do with God. It tends to deal with the spiritual because God is pure spirit. However, God took on a body at the incarnation, and He made man in His image and likeness, therefore it also has to do with the body.
Strange to say, those two events are pretty much the basis of the entire theology of the body. 🙂
As we always sing at our parish: “You satisfy the hungry heart; …. everybody’s got a hungry heart, everybody’s got a hungry heart, etc.”
I personally find Christopher West too superficial. “The Theology of the Body” isn’t just about sex. It explores many aspects of what it means being human beings made of body and soul. Maria made a comment about the Incarnation, a topic the Holy Father explores that West never delves into deep enough. Christopher West isn’t doing enough for “The Theology of the Body” when he’s teaching “The Theology of the Genitals”.
Christopher West has done some awesome work on the TOB. His presentations focus on sexuality beacuse, I think, the need for solid teaching is most desperate in this area.
In his book Theology of the Body Explained, he does go into greater depth on a larger range of topics.
His work in making JPII’s teachings accessible to the common person has been invaluable, and his contributions in this area are immense.
If you ever try to teach TOB, as I do to high-schoolers, you will quickly realize how much help it is to have someone like him who has already laid so much groundwork.
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