Ask Christopher West

We're a young couple in college and we're very much in love. What advice do you have for keeping our relationship chaste? What do you think about cursing during prayer? What does TOB teach on tattoes?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute? Become a Patron!

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Q1: What advice could you give to a young couple in college who are striving for a chaste, pure relationship. We’ve been friends for 2 years and dating for 6 months. And with the intense level of emotional closeness we feel, it’s hard for the desire for physical closeness to be kept at bay.

Q2: What is your take on cursing during prayer?

Q3: Does TOB have any insights on tattoos? I feel like everyone has a tattoo these days for their own personal reasons. Are tattoos seen as a way of dishonoring the body in the light of TOB?

Resources mentioned this week:

TOB Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

How can TOB help me as I give spiritual directions to others, particularly young people? What light can TOB shed on the spiritual significance of menstruation?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute? Become a Patron!

Q1: Are there any resources I can use to help me incorporate TOB in giving spiritual direction, specifically to young adults and teens?

Q2: What is the theology of the menstruation?

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

'Love Is Patient but I'm Not' book

January 2019 TOB: Head and Heart Immersion Course in Spanish

Full TOB Course Schedule

Image of Virtue of Charity at St. Peter Basilica

Image of Virtue of Chastity at St. Peter Basilica

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

As Christopher and Wendy take a week off, we share a very special talk from Christopher in the Sistine Chapel, which John Paul II called "The Shrine of Theology of the Body". It was recorded at the TOB Institute Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in Fall of 2018.

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute? Become a Patron!

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

John Paul II's Speech for the Rededication of the Sistine Chapel - April 8, 1994

Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel

Join us on a pilgrimage!

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

My wife and I spent many years living in a state of serious sexual sin. How do we deal with this now that we have decided to change our lives? As a young woman experiencing same-sex attraction, how am I meant to experience intimacy in life? What should I do when my boyfriend is not ready for marriage, but I very much am?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Love the podcast? Become a patron of the TOB Institute and help make it happen!

This week’s questions:

Q1: Dear Christopher, my brother in Christ Jesus, Praise the Lord! I am a Catholic from Hyderabad, India. We received very liberal teachings (in fact, doctrinally wrong teachings) on birth control, family planning, our sexual lives by our Church here and we've made such horrible mistakes in the bargain, because we got it all wrong. it is our fault. Both me and my beloved wife are ashamed of ourselves. I feel as if I can beg for mercy from the lord, all my life, but I will always carry this burden of guilt and sin. Shat I need to do to tame my body and keep it purified as the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Q2: I am a same-sex attracted woman in my twenties. What level of intimacy can even exist for such a one as I? And what is the gift I can give to the one I’m drawn to unite with? In other words, what kind of intimate relationship is possible for same-sex attracted people?

Q3: I’m struggling very much with being able tcome to terms with my boyfriend not being ready fir engagement and marriage quite yet. I feel. Like I’ve been ready to enter into this vocation, and he and I both want to be together, but for him, just not yet. How do I come to terms with this? Is it a sign that God doesn’t want us to be together because we’re not ready at the same time?

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

Eden Invitation

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

My husband and I are unable to have physical relations at the moment. How do we maintain our intimacy? Why did we inherit the Original Sin of Adam and Eve if we did not personally commit it? Why did the salvific act of Jesus bring salvation to all of us?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

If you love the work of the TOB Institute, become a patron!

This week’s questions:

Q1: (Continued from last week's episode) My husband and I have been happily married for 30 years. Living our Catholicism as married persons is very important to us. Our history of marital relations has been complicated because of some sexual abuse, body image issues and depression for me and brief period of pornography plus difficulty with emotional intimacy for my husband. We have worked hard to keep working at our relationship. Our marital relations have rarely been easy but we keep trying because we love each other and want to honor our spousal relationship. Most recently I have had some medical issues and surgery which has made having intercourse temporarily not possible. It has been over 6 months since we tried. We have gradually grown less affectionate because I don’t want to unfairly arouse my husband. Sometimes I am relieved but feel guilty about it, to have the medical excuse because the difficulties trying to be intimate are so emotionally painful. We are both so vulnerable and I am concerned our affection and sexual intimacy will never improve. Discouraged. Please advise. Many thanks.

Q2: Hello Wendy and Christopher, thank you so much for this podcast! I absolutely love it! I would like to ask a question very close to my heart. It has haunted me for a strange reason since I was young. ... My question is about the original sin and I guess about the whole meaning of salvation.

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

The Good News about Sex and Marriage

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

Why is the Church referred to as a "She?" What's going on with the JPII Institute in Rome? My health makes it difficult for my husband and I to have marital relations, and I'm concerned. What should I do?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

This week’s questions:

Q1: Why is the church always referred to as a “She”? Obviously, we learned this from Jesus who will Himself marry His bride: the Church. But there must be reasoning beyond this. For instance, a ship is always referred to as a female. Does referring to the church as a "she" somehow refer to a woman’s womb? Like a ship, the womb is a safe dwelling place. Or am I making this all up?

Q2: I've been hearing a lot about trouble with the JPII Institute in Rome? What's going on there?

Q3: My husband and I have been happily married for 30 years. Living our Catholicism as married persons is very important to us. Our history of marital relations has been complicated because of some sexual abuse, body image issues, and depression for me and a brief period of pornography plus difficulty with emotional intimacy for my husband. We have worked hard to keep working at our relationship. Our marital relations have rarely been easy but we keep trying because we love each other and want to honor our spousal relationship. Most recently I have had some medical issues and surgery which has made having intercourse temporarily not possible. It has been over 6 months since we tried. We have gradually grown less affectionate because I don’t want to unfairly arouse my husband. Sometimes I am relieved but feel guilty about it, to have the medical excuse because the difficulties trying to be intimate are so emotionally painful. We are both so vulnerable and I am concerned our affection and sexual intimacy will never improve. Discouraged. Please advise. Many thanks.

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

[Prof. Stanislaw Grygiel's Interview on the JPII Institute](eng.pch24.pl/the-twilight-of-the-john-paul-ii-institute--an-interview-with-prof--stanislaw-grygiel,70372,i.html)

The Humanum Series : See Episode 3 for Peter Kreeft on Man and Woman

I Am Legend Movie

Eclipse of the Body by Christopher West

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

What does the Anima Christi prayer tell us about TOB? Should I be using NFP to avoid pregnancy? How do I talk to my daughter about transgenderism?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

This week’s questions:

Q1: What light does the Anima Christi prayer shed on the TOB?

Q2: I am 41 years old and my husband and I have been married for 8 years. We have been trying to get pregnant for the last seven years, we have had two miscarriages. I still feel that I would like to become a mother but I am concerned that I will be too old if it happens. I told my husband that there is part of me that wants not to have children anymore and perhaps use NFP to avoid getting pregnant from now on. He said that this would go against the teaching of the church and will be a sin. I would like your opinion on this.

Q3: I need some help with lovingly discussing transgenderism with my 14 year old daughter. This has sadly become quite a popular thing in school and it seems to be viewed as "cool". My daughter has a female friend who says she identifies as a male and has gone so far to have her friends call her by a boy's name. How can I most lovingly admonish this friend's behavior without seeming judgemental or unkind? Whenever I try to steer her away from thinking that this isn't okay she becomes very defensive and says she "just doesn't see anything wrong with it".

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

The Good News about Sex and Marriage

You: Life, Love, and The Theology of the Body from Ascension Press

Upcoming TOB courses

TOB Pilgrimages

Anima Christi Prayer:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.

Ode to Wine from Sirach 31

_Let not wine be the proof of your strength

Wine is very life to anyone if taken in moderation.

Joy of heart, good cheer, and delight

Wine in excess is a snare for the fool

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

How have criticisms of your work changed how you teach TOB? What is the "disinterested gift of self"? Is hell real?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Want to support the podcast? Become a patron of the TOB Institute!

This week’s questions:

Q1: What are some of the lessons you’ve learned about how you present TOB from listening to your critics? How have you changed your approach based on feedback you’ve received?

Q2: What is the “disinterested gift of self”?

Q3: Is there really a place called hell? Or is hell what we experience when body and soul are divided?

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

Gaudium et Spes - Christopher references Chapter 24 in this episode

TOB Institute Pilgrimages

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

What does TOB teach about individuals with physical, emotional, or intellecutal disabilities? What is "the interior gaze" and why does it matter? How do I recover from bullying?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Want to support the podcast? Become a patron of the TOB Institute!

This week’s questions:

Q1: What does TOB teach about individuals with disabilities? It has been my personal vocation and privilege to educate children with a variety of special needs (e.g., physical, emotional, intellectual, etc.). These children and families encounter serious difficulties due to bodies and I'm not sure how to reconcile the truth of TOB with this. How do you think TOB could resonate with these children and their families?

Q2: Could you talk to me further about the peace of the interior gaze and how that is developed between husband & wife.

Q3: How do I learn to see myself as beautiful/valuable after years of bullying?

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

TOB Institute's Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.

Does the Church need to "get out of the marriage business?" Can I encounter God through rap music? What's your opinion on married priests?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

Want to support the podcast? Become a patron of the TOB Institute?

This week’s questions:

Q1: What would you say to a priest who says “We (as in the Church) need to get out of the marriage business?”

Q2: What if the language of my students’ hearts is rap music, riddled with vulgarity and distortions of the truth? Will they find messages about who they truly are in that music?

Q3: What is your opinion on married priests?

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

The Catechism on priestly celibacy

Stanislaw Grygiel on the Rainbow

Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!

Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.