De-ology ‘o dee Bodi

Throw out all the usual teaching devices we take for granted in the States. We have no dry-erase boards or makers; no overhead projectors (no electricity during the day) and thus no copiers or printers, No portable chalkboards either, so everything is orally taught. Oh yeah, and that darn language barrier. I still insisted that Fr. Francis give me one night to talk about Theology of the Body (or “Dee-ology ‘o dee Bodi”).

The Theology of the Body (ToB) is the working title that John Paul II gave to the first major teaching of his pontificate; 129 Wednesday Audiences delivered from 1979 to 1984 have now been assembled into a collective work. It is a biblical reflection that illuminates the human desire of love, a love that God created in us to love as male and female in his image. John Paul insisted that our creation as male and female is not arbitrary, but points to the union within God that we are all called to attain. Our tendency to reduce the human body to something purely biological (and thus see the soul as something ‘trapped’ within) clouds our ability to see our sexuality in its full meaning, and it is not an authentic Catholic teaching. I have been blessed to attend two week-long workshops to deepen my understanding of JP II’s teaching, and I didn’t want to leave Africa withholding this gift.

I spoke very slowly and very clearly to a group of teens, offering them a snapshot of John Paul’s teaching. “So, dee bodi is ‘oly?” one of the girls asked, breaking the ice for a slew of other questions. It’s all about being a gift—our desire is rooted as a yearning to make a sincere gift of oneself to the other and to receive the other’s gift. Authentic love needs to find concrete form, love must become “enfleshed,” and thus we have a simple explanation of God’s physically entering into history. Christ recognized the risk of handing over His body, but as the heavenly bridegroom, He did so with full knowledge of rejection, as He does with every Eucharist. I’m not sure how much sense I made for the teens, but it’s in God’s hands now.


That’s it for my ToB plug in this summer blog. It is a vision of the human person that has transformed my Christian journey and I cannot recommend enough for those reading to explore this teaching in greater detail. As my Saturday morning cartoons taught me, knowledge is power and knowing is half the battle. But don’t take my word for it (cue Reading Rainbow music).


-Bob
written 07/09/11