In this episode, Christopher West of the Theology of the Body Institute comes on the show to chat about Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and a whole lot more — from Descartes to coffee addiction!
We sit back and let the conversation flow about all kinds of things, including:
– How a philosopher who died over 350 years ago is affecting how we think about sex and our bodies
– The real meanings of hot-button words (do you know where the word “gender” comes from?)
– Why you need to open up your messy life to God and what happens if you don’t
– Where to find the marriage imagery in the Bible
– Where the Church is headed and how to live with hope in a post-Christian world
Top off your glass, sit back and relax with us! (Warning: occasional “spicy” language!)
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Hello Mr. Fradd!
This was an incredible show! I was crying, laughing, and convicted to go to confession since I have been turning my wife into an idol that I expect to meet many of my deepest desires. Thank you and Mr. West for talking about fatherhood and falling short as husbands and men because it has scooped me up and placed me back in the lap of my Father. You both are disgusting sinners who have helped improve my understanding of God’s Love and plan for me – thank you!
As I was reflecting on this show during prayer along with today’s Gospel (John 15:9-12), I was struck by an insight about fame and prompted to write you about it. St. John writes Jesus’ words “You will live on in my love, if you keep my commandments” and “This is my commandment, that you should love one another, as I have loved you.” I began reflecting on the cliche to “love thy neighbor” and, because spiritual beings are present where they act, recognizing that our Heavenly neighbors are just as present (and more so) as Jimmy next door. The great cloud of witnesses surrounds us, seeing our every action, knowing our hearts, and knowing our every fault. All of the angels and saints pray for us, cheer for us, mourn our sin, and rejoice in our glory but we barely know them. We cannot know or understand the power of the heavenly beings that view us in our full dignity at all times. The demons also have access to us and can see all of our actions although they lack any view into the essence of love in our souls.
Fame is an icon of our relationship with spiritual beings. They know us intimately but we do not know them except for graces in which we experience limited knowledge of their presence. Just like your fans, the angels and saints praise you for your good. Just like your critiques, the demons and damned souls curse you for your faults. The demons are being punished by leading souls to God against the wills of the demons. The reason that fame feels weird and gross is the same reason that painted icons have distorted features. They are meant to draw us through the icon to God. Fame distorts and stains human relationships to draw us into Heavenly relationships. I love this and the “icon-idol-despise” pattern is illuminating many of the things that I find myself impatient with and despising because I have idolized them. I pray that all men are able to uphold these natural icons as windows to God without falling in love with the window. As the Brother’s Osbourne wrote, “I finally found something worth loving, that’s loving me back.” As a side note, decent music always strives to maintain the icon in the song by clinging to a veiled image of a proposed truth. Most music has lost this and has turned its subject into an idol which results in ear porn.
Cheers in Christ,
– Cooper