Welcome to this episode of the Be Filled Podcast! In this episode we continue our conversation about God’s eternal plan for us by discussing Audiences 96-99 of St. Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. We look at how marriage was established from the beginning as the "primordial sacrament” that was meant to help us understand and experience love. 

Quotes: 

“Man is the highest expression in the visible world of the divine gift. He has within himself the “inner dimension of the gift”..marriage is a sign that efficaciously transmits in the visible world the invisible mystery hidden in God from eternity. And this is the mystery of Truth and of Love, the mystery of divine life, in which man really participates.” (TOB 96:1) 

“...the primordial gift given to man by God already included within itself the fruit of election..chosen to be holy and immaculate before Him.” (TOB 96:3) 

“Before sin…man carried in his soul the fruit of eternal election in Christ, the eternal Son of the Father.” (TOB 96:4) 

“Redemption was to become the source of man’s supernatural endowment after sin, and in a certain sense despite sin. This supernatural endowment which took place before original sin, that is, the grace of original justice and innocence…was brought about precisely out of regard for him, that one and only Beloved, while chronologically anticipating his coming in the body.”  (TOB 96:5)

“..the heritage of grace was driven out of the human heart when man broke the first covenant with the creator…marriage as the primordial sacrament was deprived of the supernatural efficaciousness it drew at the moment of its institution from the sacrament of creation in its totality…Marriage never ceases to be the figure of the sacrament, about which we read in Ephesians 5:22-33 and which the author does not hesitate to call a “great mystery”.”(TOB 97:1) 

“The visibility of the Invisible belongs thus to the order of signs, and the “sign” merely indicates the reality of the mystery, but does not “unveil” it.” (TOB 97:5) 

“...as the primordial sacrament, marriage is assumed and inserted into the integral structure of the new sacramental economy, which has arisen from redemption in the form ... .of a “prototype”. (TOB 98:2) 

“Christ nourishes the Church with his Body precisely in the Eucharist.” (TOB 99:1) 

Reflection Questions: 

Resources: 

“The Mystery of Original Innocence” (Be Filled Podcast) 

“In the Light” Sunday Homily Fr. Mike Schmitz

Rachelle’s Mystery Hidden Chart 

Bill Donaghy Commentary

“Eating the Sunrise” by Christopher West

Music from #Uppbeat

License code: MUSVPGKLBSJ2WYKY

Welcome to another episode of the Be Filled Podcast! We have been analyzing with JPII the Sacrament of Marriage. This episode we begin a new section entitled “Sacrament and Mystery” which takes us even deeper into the mystery of God’s love. This episode we will examine Audiences 94-95b. 

Quotes: 

“In him he has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be holy and immaculate in his sight in love…” (Ephesians 1:4) 

“But it is the New Adam who definitively reveals the mystery by leaving his Father in Heaven and leaving the home of his mother on earth to “cleave to his wife” (the Church) and become “one flesh” with her.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained, pg. 408) 

See Scripture for this passage: Isa 54:4–10

“..the true character of the gift that God’s love is for Israel, a gift coming entirely from God’s initiative; in other words, by indicating the dimension of grace, which is contained in this love from the beginning. This is perhaps the strongest “declaration of love” by God, joined with a solemn oath of faithfulness forever.” (TOB 95:3) 

“...saving love which consists in his gift of self for the Church, is a spousal love by which he marries the Church and makes her his own Body”. (TOB 95:7)

“...the gift given by God to man in Christ…is in some sense “all” that God “could” give of himself to man, considering the limited faculties of man as a creature…in this way the analogy of spousal love indicates the “radical” character of grace: of the whole order of created grace.” (TOB 95b:4) 

“...the visible sign of marriage “in the beginning” transposes the eternal plan of love into the “historical” dimension and makes it the foundation of the whole sacramental order.” (TOB 95b:7) 

Reflection Questions: 

Resources: 

“Night” by Elie Wiesel

“He Leadeth Me” by Father Walter Ciszec

Audio: Music from #Uppbeat

License code: RY08CU821XYO4AEB

Welcome to another episode of the podcast! In this episode we are continuing to examine with John Paul II the text of Ephesians Chapter 5 on the “great mystery” revealed in the Sacrament of Marriage and in the love of Christ and the Church. We will be discussing Audiences 91-93. This is a great conversation and one of the more vulnerable episodes we have had in the podcast! Enjoy! Don’t forget you can watch the podcast on our YouTube Channel! We are also on Facebook and Instagram! Follow us and share with a friend! 

Quotes: 

“...the author speaks as if in marriage also the husband were “head of his wife” and the wife “body of her husband”, as if spouses also formed an organic union.” (TOB 91:2) “...the Church is so strongly, so essentially herself in virtue of a union with the (mystical) Christ.” (TOB 91:3) 

“Christ and his Church thus together make up the “whole Christ” (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ.” (CCC# 795) St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person.” 

“And you, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water accompanied by the word, so as to present his Church before himself all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind but holy and immaculate.” (Ephesians 5:25-27) 

“The essential goal of the love of Christ for the Church is her sanctification…(Baptism) is the purification through which Christ’s love for the Church gains a spousal character”. (TOB 91:6) 

“The one who receives Baptism becomes at the same time-by virtue of the redemptive love of Christ-a participant in his spousal love for the Church.” (TOB 91:7) “Christ, therefore with his redemptive and spousal love brings it about that the Church not only becomes sinless, but remains “eternally young”. (TOB 92:2) 

“In the same way, husbands have the duty to love their wives as their own bodies, for the one who loves his wife loves himself. No one, in fact, ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church, because we are members of his body.” (Ephesians 5:28-30) “...the husband is above all the one who loves and the wife, by contrast, is the one who is loved. One might even venture the idea that the wife’s “submission” to the husband…means above all “the experiencing of love.” (TOB 92:6) 

“The expressions referring to care for the body, and above all for its nourishment, to providing food for it, suggest to a number of Scripture scholars a reference to the Eucharist, with which Christ, in his spousal love, “feeds the Church.” (TOB 92:8) 

“For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and unite with his wife, and the two will form one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) (Ephesians 5:31) “By quoting the words of Genesis 2:24, the author emphasizes that the bases of this analogy should be sought in the line that writes, in God’s salvific plan, marriage as the most ancient revelation (and “manifestation”) of that plan in the created world with the definitive revelation and “manifestation”, namely, the revelation that Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her” endowing his redemptive love with a spousal nature and meaning.” (TOB 93:1) 

“This mystery is great, I say this with reference to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:32) 

Reflection Questions:

Resources: 

The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Luisa Piccarreta

Audio: Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/chase-the-sun

License code: Y7RHEFYCSRNIHCCU

Welcome to the show! This episode we are continuing our study on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. Today we are beginning our conversation on Part Two entitled The Sacrament. The Sacrament, as we will find out, is not ONLY referring to marriage. According to JPII, the one “great sacrament” is both the union of husband and wife and the union of Christ and the Church. This episode we will discuss audiences 87-90. This is the beginning of JPII's analysis of Ephesians 5:21-33. 

Quotes: 

“Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, he who is the Savior of his body. And as the Church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be subject to their husbands in everything. And you, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water accompanied by the word, so as to present his Church before himself all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and immaculate. In the same way, husbands have the duty to love their wives as their own body, for the one who loves his wife loves himself. No one, in fact, ever hates his own flesh, but he nourishes and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and unite with his wife, and the two will form one flesh. This mystery is great; I say this in reference to Christ and the Church. Therefore also you, each one on his part, should love his wife as himself, and the woman should have reverence toward her husband.” (Ephesians 5:22-33) 

“The reciprocal relations of husband and wife must spring from their common relation with Christ.” (Pope John Paul II, TOB) 

“The mystery of Christ must be “spiritually present in the reciprocal relation of the spouses-penetrating their hearts.” (Pope John Paul II, TOB) 

Christian marriage only happens when it “mirrors the love that Christ, the Bridegroom, gives to the Church, his Bride AND when the Church seeks to give back to Christ in return. This is the redeeming, saving love, the love with which man has been loved by God from eternity in Christ.” (Pope John Paul II, TOB) 

Reflection Questions: 

Resources: 

Pints With Aquinas: What To Do When Marriage Gets Hard (Jason and Crystalina Evert) 

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/chase-the-sun

License code: VUSKWZEFZEJMLMTR

Welcome to Season 5 of the Be Filled Podcast! Today the ladies sit down to share their experiences over the break! Katie went to a healing retreat, Rachelle went to the Theology of the Body Institute for a TOB class, and Patty traveled to the Holy Lands! You do not want to miss this fun and encouraging conversation. There is so much hope in the midst of what can seem to be dark times. Enjoy the episode! 

Quotes to Ponder: 

“Healing is an ongoing encounter with God’s love” (Dr. Bob Schuchts) 

“Behind every unholy, disordered desire there is a longing for God.” 

“If we look at today’s world, we are struck by many negative factors that can lead to pessimism. But this feeling is unjustified: we have faith in God our Father and Lord and in his mercy…God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs.” (Pope John Paul II, Encyclical on the Mission of the Redeemer) 

Reflection Questions: 

Resources: 

Healing the Whole Person Retreat- In Person

Online Healing the Whole Person Retreat

Be Healed: A Guide to Encountering the Powerful Love of Jesus in Your Life  by Dr. Bob Schuchts

Theology of the Body Immersion Course Online: Scholarship Opportunity 

Pilgrimage Opportunities

Music from #Uppbeat

This is the last of 5 re-released episodes before we launch Season 5! Our first episode of Season 5, we will talk about how God has been working in our lives since Season 4! I hope you will join us! Enjoy this episode! 

This episode we continue our study on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. We are discussing General Audience 20-22 on “Knowledge” and Procreation.  We discuss what it means that man and woman “knew” each other through the “one flesh” union. We also discuss what Motherhood and Fatherhood reveal to man and woman about their masculinity and femininity. 

Scripture:  

“Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD. (Genesis 4:1) 

Quotes to Ponder:

“A word on this “unrepeatability” of the person: a husband and wife who truly “know” each other have arrived at the irreducible core of the person, and each loves this person-not merely spiritual or physical attributes of the person, but the person himself (herself). At this level, they continually recognize and affirm the unrepeatability of the other; he (she) is utterly unique and cannot be repeated or replaced.” (West, Theology of the Body Explained, p.154)

“...we should observe that in Genesis 4:1 the mystery of femininity manifests and reveals itself in it’s full depth through motherhood, as the text says, “who conceived and gave birth.” Woman’s motherhood reveals to the man the mystery of his masculinity, “that is, the generative and “paternal” meaning of his body.” (TOB 21:2) 

“Despite all the experiences of his own life, despite the sufferings, the disappointments in himself, his sinfulness, and, finally, despite the inevitable prospect of death, man always continues, however, to place “knowledge” at the “beginning” of “generation”; in this way he seems to participate in that first “vision” of God himself: God, the Creator, “saw everything…and indeed, it was good.” And always anew he confirms the truth of these words.” (TOB 22:7) 

Resources: 

Barbie Movie Opening Scene

Christopher West Commentary on the Barbie Movie

Bill Donaghy Commentary

We are 2 weeks away from the launch of Season 5! This is a re-release from Season 3 that will help us prepare for Season 5.

This episode we continue our study on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. We are discussing General Audience 16.3-19.6 on the Mystery of Original Innocence. With JPII, we are “zooming in” on the Communion of Persons between man and woman. We discover the source of this Original Innocence and it allows man and woman to become a “disinterested gift of self”. 

Quotes to Ponder: 

“This innocence belongs to the dimension of grace contained in the mystery of creation, that is, to that mysterious gift made to man’s innermost [being]—to the human heart—that allows both the man and the woman to exist from the “beginning” in the reciprocal relationship of the disinterested gift of self.”  (TOB 16:3) 

“The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.” (TOB 19:4) 

Reflection Questions: 

Resources: 

Commentary 

Rachelle’s Visual Aids 

We are continuing our study of Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. This episode we are beginning a new section of the text entitled “Man In The Dimension of Gift”. This is the first of two episodes in this section. Today we are discussing General Audiences 13.2-16.2 on The Spousal Meaning of the Body. 

Guiding Quote: 

“The dimension of gift is decisive for the essential truth and depth of the meaning of original solitude-unity-nakedness.” (TOB 13:2) 

Reflections Questions: 

Resources: 

Double Rainbow Guy

A Meditation on Givenness by Pope John Paul II 

Wonderfully Made! Babies: A Catholic Perspective on How and Why God Makes Babies (for ages 9 and up) by Ellen Giangiordano

Commentary on Audiences 13.2-16:2

Next episode we will be discussing Audiences 16.3-19.6 on The Mystery of Original Innocence. If you have questions or comments, we would love to hear from you. We can reached by email at [email protected].

This week we are re-releasing an episode from Season 2. This is in preparation for the launch of Season 5 on October 1st! Enjoy!

We are continuing our study of Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. This episode we are discussing General Audiences 11.1-13.1 on Original Nakedness. We discuss the meaning of “nakedness” and what it meant that the first man and woman did not experience shame. 

Scripture: 

“And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25) 

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7) 

Reflections Questions: 

Resources: 

Commentary on Audiences 11-13.1

For more information on the Ruah Woods Curriculum click here.

Next episode we will be discussing Audiences 13.2-16.2 on the “Spousal Meaning of the Body.” 

The first of five "throwback" episodes in preparation for Season 5 on the Sacrament of Marriage. This episode originally aired on February 24, 2024.

Scripture: 

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,  “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21-24)

Quotes: 

“...one must first recognize that this Genesis torpor (sleep), in which, by the work of Yahweh-God, the man is immersed in preparation for the new creative act…” (TOB 8:3) 

“...the torpor into which God lets the man fall underlines the exclusiveness of God’s action in the creation of the woman. Man had no conscious part in it.” (TOB Footnote 12, p. 158)

“...man falls into this “torpor” with the desire of finding a being similar to himself…the circle of the human person’s solitude is broken, because the first “man” reawakens from his sleep as “male and female.” (TOB 8:3) 

“...man becomes the image of God not only through his own humanity, but also through the communion of persons, which man and woman form from the very beginning….Man becomes an image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion.” (TOB 9:3) 

 “...femininity in some way finds itself before masculinity, while masculinity confirms itself through femininity.”(TOB 10:1)

“When they unite with each other (in the conjugal act) so closely so as to become “one flesh,” man and woman rediscover every time and in a special way the mystery of creation, thus returning to the union in humanity that allows them to recognize each other reciprocally and to call each other by name, as they did the first time.” (TOB 10:2) 

“The fact that they become “one flesh” is a powerful bond established by the Creator through which they discover their own humanity, both in its original unity and in the duality of a mysterious reciprocal attraction.” (TOB 10:2) 

Reflections Questions: 

Resources: 

Human Love in the Divine Plan Print

Commentary on Audiences 8-10