As Jesus calls our attention Back to the Beginning...

So does this wonderful version of the Chipotle commercial which Willie Nelson performed the Coldplay hit "The Scientist".  This was made a few years ago but thought was worth sharing.  We try and make things easy via our technology but our hearts pull us "back to the start."  What we are doing in TOB is certainly not easy and as we talked about in our Lenten journey; it will hurt and make us groan, but I think it is a good thing.  Give it a try!  The mystics called it the prayer of Agony.

More Lent Reflections with TOB connections

Transfiguration Prepares for the Way of the Cross by Father Dan Good can be accessed from the link below.  This also ties in with our recent discussions with the redemption of our bodies.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Second-Sunday-of-Lent-Reflection---Transfiguration-Prepares-the-Way-for-the-Cross.html?soid=1101197222912&aid=q3ZeGRfApwQ

Pyramid of Intimacy, drawn by Bill Donaghy from the TOB Institute.

This cool art ties all of Theology of the Body into one piece of art. This is Great!

Is our culture "pretending"?

I have always liked this song by MGMT called "Time to Pretend", but the lyrics seem to reflect today's culture and society. We seem to run in these vicious cycles that continue to play over and over again; thinking that living on sex, drugs and models will satisfy all our desires. Yet in the middle of the song they seem to yearn for a better, simpler time. As Jesus talked in Matthew; "in the beginning it was not so" There are some "weeds" in the lyrics but I have posted the clean video version with the cleaner lyrics below in hopes of shinning on the wheat.

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and **** with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend...

MGMT, "Time to Pretend" from the album Oracular Spectacular

Google Doodle from Valentine's Day

Christopher West posted this on Feb 14th. He says "can this be love? Looking at this through the lens of the Theology of the Body, what do you see going on in there?" 

If you go to the google doodle link below you can spin the wheel and see what I mean.

http://www.google.com/doodles/valentines-day-and-george-ferris-154th-birthday

Fasting is Romantic! Really??

 I found this article on fasting and realized it fit right in with TOB and our beginnings into Lent. I even mentioned in class last week how I was going to come to class looking gloomy  (to look the part) and then read Matthew 6: 16-18 and realized I was falling into the trap like the hypocrites. 

From the article below by Father Boniface Hicks; "Fasting, like chastity, becomes a reverence for the Body.  In short, given the motivation Jesus provides, in which fasting (like chastity) is an expression of longing and a preparation of the body for the Body of the Bridegroom, we might even say, "fasting is romantic."  Click the link below to read the entire article.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Fasting-is-Romantic----A-Reflection-on-Ash-Wednesday.html?soid=1101197222912&aid=nF6nBVN7tuQ

Lent Reflections: Temptations and the choices we make

Good stuff from the article (link) below as we journey through Lent and try and live the Theology of the Body. Around this time of year, the temptations for me is always the new Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue. It is hard to just go into the grocery store and turn the corner and...yep there it is.  I don't even remember what her faced looked like. Sigh. I still have a long ways to go.  Guys, anyone else with this problem?

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/First-Sunday-of-Lent-Reflection---Life-is-a-Series-of-Choices.html?soid=1101197222912&aid=1Y_PBAsWtUI

For those that are single...Feeling left out?

We talk a great deal about marriage and spousal love in Theology of the Body. However, this theology is NOT just for married people. God calls all of us to communion with him. Yet, easier said than done. I am going to link this article below by Mary Beth Bonacci. She quotes from Albert Einstein, "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."  Check it out.

http://www.catholicmatch.com/blog/2012/10/a-single-life-lived-for-others/

How do we view beauty in our culture today?

I think everybody sees beauty in different ways. The culture says we should see someone like Beyonce or other "supermodels" as beautiful and treated like an Icon. Others may see the inner beauty of Mother Theresa or Pope John Paul ll.  Or the beauty in nature.  What do you think he is seeing below? Is he seeing just a double rainbow or something more? Thanks to Christopher West for finding this video.

Body vs Spirit

I have attached a short video clip from Dr. Michael Waldstein who translated Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body with the 2006 "Man and Woman He Created Them." He talks about the struggles we face between the spirit and the body. A good example of what we have been talking about in class.