An Adequate Anthropology
“The fact that theology also includes the body should not astonish or surprise anyone who is conscious of the mystery and reality of the Incarnation.” TOB 23:4.
Artwork by Natalie Pratt
1. The Personalistic Norm
Kate Macdonald
Kate shares how we are called to love people rather than use them as a means to an end. Her reflection shares practical examples of what it means to live out the personalistic norm in day-to-day life.
“A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love” (Love and Responsibility, 41).
2. Gift of Self
John Pratt
John shares how living our lives as a gift for others is central to Theology of the Body as well as the key to finding purpose and meaning in life. He shares how endurance sports provided a lens to reflect on the gift of self more deeply.
The human person “cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” Gaudium et Spes, 24:3
3. The Interior Gaze
Fr. Agustino Torres CFR
Fr. Agustino shares practical tips on what it means to cultivate an “interior gaze” (a way of viewing others that sees and honors the entire person). He offers suggestions and challenges for developing this purity of heart and soul.
“They see and know each other, in fact, with all the peace of the interior gaze, which creates precisely the fullness of the intimacy of persons.” – TOB 13:1.
4. Shame vs. Reverence
Fr. David Pellican
Fr. David Pellican shares the distinction between reverence and shame in the context of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.
Witness: Finding My Identity in Jesus
Ali Kloska
Ali Kloska played soccer for the University of Notre Dame as well as the junior national team for the United States. Follow her story of identifying herself as “Ali the soccer player” to “Ali of Jesus.”
Witness: Celibacy for the Kingdom
Fr. David Pellican
Fr. David Pellican shares about the call to priesthood and celibacy (and shows how to build a snow chapel!)