St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is often thought of as a resource primarily geared towards those who are not yet married, so they can understand they were made for true, authentic love, only God can provide.
The Catholic Weekly, recently sat down with Christopher West, author and founder of Theology of the Body Institute. West likes to say, if you have a body, this theology is for you. It doesn’t matter whether one is married or not.
“We are awash in the modern world in utter chaos and confusion when it comes to why did God make us male and female, right?” West said. “This used to be just taken for granted — a fact of life.”
St John Paul II delivered this teaching during his Wednesday audiences between the years 1970 and 1984, bringing to the modern world a long-forgotten inheritance of the church.
“In church history the presentation of this theology is relatively new. We are at the very beginning point of the church at large receiving what St John Paul II has given us,” West said.
Through the theology of the body, the church has been given a vision of the ultimate plan God has for everyone, without which as scripture says, ‘the people perish.’ Evident through the collapse of many marriages who have lost the meaning of and point of the sacrament.
“Yet the ultimate marriage, the marriage supper in heaven is what we are called to. That alone will satisfy the desire of the heart,” West explained.
“The Bible begins with the marriage of man and woman, but it ends with the marriage of Christ and the church.
“The purpose of this gives us a figure of what we’re destined for. It’s meant to be just a sign that points us to and sacramentally leads us to the ultimate marriage.”
In a society that is often hypersexualised and focused on self-gratification, the notion of self-sacrificing love can be a difficult concept to live out and understand. Much less the idea that marriage on earth is a mere reflection of the heavenly banquet that awaits us.
“There’s no magic trick that just because you got married means you’re no longer going to be using one another,” said West.
“There’s no magic trick that suddenly makes what you’re doing on your wedding night a beautiful, loving act. We need to train and discipline ourselves.”
After years of struggling with his own desires, West cried out to God asking him whether he had a plan for him and what it was. What was he to do with these desires? What was the plan?
This prayer set him on a 30-year path of learning, preaching and helping people understand that they are “indispensable, irreplaceable and unrepeatable.”
Eventually he helped establish the Theology of the Body Institute to provide resources, talks and courses on the “antidote to the crisis of our times.”
“There is this terrible trickle-down problem. The pope delivered it 40 years ago, yet it doesn’t mean the whole church has heard it and received it,” West explained.
“I’ve been spreading this teaching for 30 years around the world since the early 1990s. And the number one response I get is ‘I’ve been in the church my whole life, why haven’t I heard this before?’”
Thankfully, Sydney will have the opportunity to learn more about the theology of the body from renowned international speaker Bill Donaghy, who will be discussing the writings of St John Paull II on gender, marriage and family during the immersion course from 19-24 January 2025.
“Let me first say how excited I am about the relationship that the Theology of the Body Institute has formed with the Archdiocese of Sydney,” West said.
“This year, my esteemed colleague and dear friend, Bill Donaghy, will be coming to teach a course that we call ‘The Writings of John Paul II on Marriage, Family, and Gender.’
“In this course, Bill will explore documents such as on ‘The Christian family in the modern world,’ one of the most important documents of the entire pontificate of John Paul II.
“He will explore a document called ‘On the Dignity and Vocation of Women,’ and a document called ‘The Letter to Families’ among others.
“These documents are packed with gems and treasures to respond to the crisis of our times. And Bill has a tremendous gift and ability to do that.
Having known Donaghy for 20 years, West knew right away he had a gift and charism for the Theology of the Body.
“He developed this course himself…and I always learn so much more from his teaching. He shares the charism of the Institute, which is really a connection between the intellect and the heart.
“This man is a man who sees the whole world sacramentally, meaning he sees everything in creation as a sign of the divine.
“And he just has this passion for wanting to reveal to others and help others see the world as he has come to see it. You will be stunned.
“You will never see the world the same way again after sitting at the feet of Bill Donaghy.”
For more information on the retreat please visit the following link.
