Be Filled

We continue our discussion on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. This episode we discuss Audiences 42 and 43 in which Saint Pope John Paul II analyzes the words of Christ found in Matthew 5:27-28: “...has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” 

Quotes: 

“The concupiscence that arises as an interior act on this foundation changes the very intentionality of the woman’s existence “for” the man by reducing the wealth of the perennial call to the communion of persons, the wealth of the deep attraction of masculinity and femininity, to the mere satisfaction of the body’s sexual “urge”.” (TOB 43:3) 

“...the knowledge about man that allows us-as we emphasized elsewhere-to unite the awareness of human sinfulness with the perspective of the redemption of the body.” (TOB 42:7) 

“Christ makes the moral evaluation of “desire” depend above all on the personal dignity of the man and the woman; and this is important both in the case of unmarried persons and-perhaps even more so in the case of spouses, husband and wife.” (TOB 43:1)

“Adultery in the heart” is not committed only because the man “looks” in this way at a woman who is not his wife, but precisely because he looks in this way at a woman. Even if he were to look in this way at the woman who is his wife, he would commit the same adultery “in the heart”.” (TOB 43:2) 

"...A man can commit such “adultery in the heart” even with his own wife if he treats her only as an object for the satisfaction of drives.” (TOB 43:3) 

“...the grace of marriage offers a healing of concupiscent desire. Through the healing power of the redemption of the body, men and women can progressively (re)experience sexual desire as God created it to be-the desire to love as he loves in the sincere gift of self.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained, pg. 225) 

“...man must rediscover the lost fullness of his humanity and want to regain it.” (TOB 43:7) 

“Human life is by its nature “co-educational” and its dignity as well as its balance depend at every moment of history and in every place of geographic longitude and latitude on “who” she shall be for him and he for her.” (TOB 43:7) 

“Should we fear the severity of these words or rather have confidence in their salvific content, in their power?” (TOB 43:7) 

Reflection Questions: 

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Resource:

Rachelle wrote this article describing the Theology of the Body Summer Program we need for kids. It contains a link to a document with the list of movies we used. 

This is our second episode discussing John Paul II’s analysis of Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:27-28. This episode we will be looking with JPII at the words, “Whoever looks to desire” found in Audiences 38-41.

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Quotes:

“Christ did not die on a cross and rise from the dead merely to give us coping mechanisms for sin (we already had plenty of those without a savior). Christ died and rose again to set us free from sin…The more we gaze with faith upon Christ, the more “his gaze purifies our heart.” In turn, the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in light of his truth.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained, pgs.213-214) 

“Desire, blazing like a furnace, will not die down until it has been satisfied; the man who is shameless in his body will not stop until the fire devours him; to the impure man, all bread is sweet, he will not grow tired until he dies. The man who is unfaithful to his own marriage bed says to himself, “Who can see me? There is darkness all round me, the walls hide me; no one can see me, why should I be afraid? The Most High will not remember my sins.” What he fears are human eyes; he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun; they see all the acts of men and penetrate into the most secret corners…Likewise the woman who abandons her husband, who provides him with heirs received from a stranger. (Sir 23:16-22)” 

“...the comparison between concupiscence of the flesh and fire: flaring up in the man, it invades his senses, arouses his body, draws the feelings along with itself, and in some way takes possession of the “heart”. Such passion, springing from carnal concupiscence, suffocates the sense of responsibility before God…It is true that, when passion is set into the whole of the spirit’s deepest energies, it can also become a creative force; in this case, however, it must undergo a radical transformation.” (TOB 39:2) 

“Once the inner man has been reduced to silence and passion has, as it were, gained freedom of action, passion manifests itself as an insistent tendency toward satisfying the senses and the body…This satisfaction…ought to extinguish the fire; but, on the contrary, it does not reach the sources of inner peace…the man whose will is occupied with satisfying the senses does not find rest nor does he find himself, but on the contrary “consumes himself.” (TOB 39:2) 

“If we allow our passions to “undergo a radical transformation,” they can become, once again, the desire to love as God loves.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained, pg.216) 

Reflection Questions: 

This is the first of three episodes covering a new section of Saint John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body entitled “Commandment and Ethos”. We discuss the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, “It was said, “Do not commit adultery” in audiences 34-37. 

Quotes: 

“...the human being of every time and of every place feels himself called in a manner that is adequate, concrete, and unrepeatable, because Christ appeals precisely to the human ”heart”...With the category of “heart,” everyone is identified in a singular manner, even more than by name; he is reached in that which determines him in a unique and unrepeatable way; he is defined in his humanity from within.” (TOB 35:4)

“The discernment of good and evil inscribed in the human conscience can turn out to be deeper and more correct than the content of a legal norm.” (TOB 35:5) 

“One can say that this law, while combating sin, at the same time contained in itself the “social structures of sin”; in fact, it protected and legalized them.” (TOB 36:1) 

“...the less the heart conforms to truth, the more the need arises for laws that must corral the people into maintaining some semblance of order.” (Theology of the Body Explained, Christopher West, pg. 208) 

“In the revelations of the prophets...the God of the covenant, Yahweh, is often represented as Bridegroom, and the love with which he joined himself to Israel can and should be equated with the spousal love of a couple.”(TOB 36:5) 

“Out of love, God-Yahweh makes the covenant with Israel; for Israel he becomes a Bridegroom and Husband who is most affectionate, attentive, and generous toward his Bride.” (TOB 37:3) 

“Adultery is a sin because it is the breaking of the personal covenant between the man and the woman.” (TOB 37:4) 

“...in order to determine what is good, we only need to ask a simple question: Does this sexual attitude, thought, or action truly image God’s free, total, faithful, and fruitful love?” (Theology of the Body Explained, Christopher West, pg. 211) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. Do you prefer a list of rules over really listening to your heart? Pray with this and ask God to show you what fears may be getting in the way for you. 

Resources: 

“Male, Female, Other?: A Catholic Guide to Understanding Gender by Jason Evert

Navigating Gender with Charity and Clarity: A New Course by Jason Evert

Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery

Bill Donaghy Commentary Audiences 34-37

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Welcome to another episode of the Be Filled Podcast! We are continuing to discover the beauty of Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. We have spent the last two episodes discussing the “Man of Concupiscence”. This episode we are discussing Audiences 31.5-33 which is entitled “The Corruption of the Spousal Meaning of the Body”. 

Quotes: 

“Historical man has this lifelong task: to give voice to the deepest aspirations of his heart by accepting the grace of ongoing conversion.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained)

“That “meaning” does not modify the reality in itself, that is, that which the human body is and does not cease to be in the sexuality that belongs to it, independently of the states of our consciousness and our experiences.” (TOB 31.5)

“The human body in its masculinity and femininity has almost lost the power of expressing this love in which the human person becomes a gift…The “heart” has become a battlefield between love and concupiscence.” (TOB 32:3) 

“From John Paul’s analysis we learn that if men and women are to “belong” to each other in the full expression of the communion of persons, they must first belong to Christ. They must first be in communion with him. The road to restored communion between the sexes passes by way of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And there is no detour.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. When you think about your body, what comes to mind? Do you seek to glorify yourself through your body or glorify God (or a little of both)? Pray with this and ask God to reveal any ways in which you idolize your body.

Resources:

Lectio Divina Guide

Love is a Battlefield 

Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Holy Family School of Faith Rosary Podcast: The Mission of Marriage 

Bill Donaghy Commentary 

Meditation on Givenness by Pope John Paul II 

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This episode we discuss Audiences 29-31.1 in the text of Man and Woman He Created Them by Saint Pope John Paul II. We look at how man and woman’s new experience of shame and the subsequent covering of their bodies (in particular the parts that make them male and female) impact the communion of persons between them. 

Quotes: 

“Above all...that shame-which...makes the man and the woman hide their own bodies before each other, and especially their sexual differentiation-confirms that the original power of communicating themselves to each other....has been shattered.” (TOB 29:2)

“Since after original sin, man had lost the sense, so to speak, of the image of God in himself, that loss manifested itself by shame.” (TOB 29:3)

“This is the tragedy of concupiscence: It exchanges a self-seeking gratification for the sincere gift of self; it uses the other as an object made for my sake, rather than loving the other as a subject made for his or her own sake.” (Theology of the Body Explained, Christopher West) 

“Because of sin, woman now experiences a particular “reduction” in comparison with man. Her special giftedness as woman-the fact that she embodies receptivity in relation to God, the man, and the gift of new life...” (Theology of the Body Explained, Christopher West, pg. 194-195)

“...we reject our posture of receptivity  as “feminine-bride” in favor of being our own “masculine” lords. We want to be “like God” but without God.” (Theology of the Body Explained, Christopher West, pg. 195)

“...shame…reveals the moment of concupiscence, at the same time it can provide weapons ahead of time against the consequences of the threefold component of concupiscence.” (TOB 31:1)

Reflection Questions:

1. How can man and woman complete the image of God in the visible world? Is this something you have ever considered? 

Resources:

Bill Donaghy Commentary

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We are continuing our journey through the text “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” by Saint Pope John Paul II. In this episode we are discussing General Audiences 26-28. John Paul II’s analysis will help us to understand what happened in the heart of man at the Fall which led us to be prone to sin. We also discuss how shame impacts the man and woman in the following areas: relationship with self, relationships with creation, relationship with the Creator, and relationship with each other. 

Quotes: 

“All that is in the world, the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16) 

“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:4-6)

“By casting doubt in his heart on the deepest meaning of the gift, that is, on love as the specific motive of creation and the original covenant, man turns his back on God-Love, on the “Father”. He in some sense casts him from his heart.” (TOB 26:4) 

“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:7-10)

“Shame touches in that moment the deepest level and seems to shake the very foundations of their existence.” (TOB 27:1) 

“In reality, what shows itself through “nakedness” is man deprived of participation in the Gift, man alienated from the Love that was the source of the original gift, the source of the fullness of good intended for the creature.” (TOB 27.2) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. What was most powerful to you in this episode? 

Resources: 

Bill Donaghy Commentary on Audiences 26-28

Man of Original Innocence/Original Concupiscence Comparison Chart 

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Welcome to Season 3 of the Be Filled Podcast! This episode we begin a new chapter in the text “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” by Saint Pope John Paul II. We are beginning to look at Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount regarding “looking to desire” and what it means to commit “adultery in the heart”. We are now on YouTube! If you would like to watch the show please follow us

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Quotes: 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you: whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) 

“Moral value is connected with the dynamic process of man’s innermost (being). To reach it, it is not enough to stop “on the surface” of human actions, but one must penetrate precisely the interior.” (TOB 24:3) 

“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) 

“”Adultery in the heart”, committed by a man when he “looks at a woman to desire her,” signifies a clearly defined interior act.” (TOB 25:3) 

“Through the “heart”, man “is defined in his humanity ‘from within’” (TOB 34:4). Emotions, thoughts, and affections originate in the heart. The heart, then, is where we know and experience the true meaning of the body, or, because of the hardness of our hearts, fail to do so.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. What comes up for you when you hear Jesus’ words, “Whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”? Does this bring up old wounds in your life? Does it leave you feeling discouraged about the state of your heart? Notice what emotions/thoughts come up and pray with them. Ask the Lord to meet you there and to gently show you what He wants you to know. How could your personal experience help you connect with this teaching? 

2. Ponder this question: If God is dwelling in your heart, who is He living with? Who are His roommates? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and ask him to make known to you anything dwelling in your heart that needs to be purified. 

3. How do you view the word “desire”? What are the deepest desires of your heart? What is it that you really want? How could all of your desires point you to God? 

4. What “nutrients” are you putting into your heart? How does what you put in your heart impact your thoughts, feelings, and behavior? Is there anything you may need to let go of in order to be free to hear God’s voice in your life? 

5. Do you believe that Jesus has the power to really change your heart and life? 

Resources: 

Bill Donaghy Commentary 

Hello!! Season 3 will begin September 4, 2024! Listen for some exciting news about a new way to enjoy the show! 

Here are the links mentioned:

Season 3 Reading Schedule 

YouTube Channel 

Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single episode!! 

This is the final episode of Season 2! This episode we discuss Audience 23 in the text of Saint Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. We also talk about how God has worked in our lives and how the podcast experience has been so far. We share briefly what you can expect for Season 3 and then share resources for more study. 

Reflection Questions:

1. What are you hearing in the culture that shocks you? When you heard that Jesus is not “surprised” by what we encounter, how did you feel? 

Resources: 

Theology of the Body Institute has many resources to learn more!  The Institute also offers “TOB Patron” for individuals and “TOB Parish” for Churches. Both of these resources have multiple programs for adults, teens, and middle school students. They also have virtual retreats, talks, and e-books. 

“Dignitas Infinita”  is a new document on the Church’s teaching regarding the dignity of the human person and how it is applied to multiple modern day issues. 

Forever: A Catholic Devotional For Your Marriage by Jackie Angel and Bobby Angel

Catholic Women’s Conference Registration 

Called To Be More: Theology of the Body for High School 

Scripture Study: Daily Readings and Bible In a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz 

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