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Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for Pope St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press ‘What Christ demands from…all His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount clearly belongs to that interior space in which man—precisely the one who listens—must rediscover the lost fullness of his humanity and want to regain it. This fullness in the reciprocal relation of persons, of man and woman, is what the Teacher demands in Matt. 5:2

I grew up in church, hearing sermons about God’s intentions for man and woman, the preciousness of purity and why we shouldn’t 'give ourselves over to lust.' I internalized the idea that waiting to give myself in marriage meant God would bless it. If I’m honest, I thrive knowing order and limits, and so those boundaries felt securing and envisioning for me. But what does a young girl do when other people destroy those good boundaries? Sexual violation started early for me, w

Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for Pope St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press Before my wife and I were married I struggled with lust-- particularly with pornography. In the beginning of my efforts to free myself from that addiction, a friend of mine shared the idea of redirecting my lust and desire for porn towards my fiancé... bad idea. I didn’t realize just how bad until I began lusting after the incredible w

‘30% of American Millennials (born ’84-’02) now identify as LGBTQ, as do 39% of the youngest of the group—Gen. Z, ages 18-24.’ George Barna study Our kids have been snatched from us. The robber seeks to destroy them at core. He snags them with self-hatred then woos them with a host of selves—gay, lesbian, bi, queer, trans, questioning—anything to wreck their sexual dignity. And render them barren, impotent. He has blinded a generation to their sexual value and thus blunted a

Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for Pope St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press ‘The inner man must open himself to life according to the Spirit…in order to find again and again the value of the body, freed by redemption from the bonds of concupiscence’ (TOB 58:5). Of what value was my body to another? I wondered, given my strange in-between status. At 21, I was full of knowledge about Jesus and His design for sexu

I have a confession; I don’t rejoice in my body. Weird confession for someone writing on ‘Rejoicing in the Body’ huh? I thought so too, but I’m learning how to rejoice in my body, this physical Imago Dei. I’m more familiar with body disintegration. Sin entered the world and we stopped experiencing our bodies as 'gift' way back in the garden. We now tend to experience them through a lens of shame. At 6-years-old, I recall my first visceral experience of shame. That’s when sex

Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for Pope St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press 'This is the body: a witness to creation as a fundamental gift, and therefore a witness to Love as the source from which this same giving springs' (TOB 14:4). In 2010, long before I knew anything about Living Waters or Theology of the Body, I started experiencing symptoms that I now know to be an autoimmune disease. The routine of freq

Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for Pope St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press ‘The fact that theology also considers the body should not astonish or surprise anyone who is aware of the mystery and reality of the Incarnation. Theology is that science whose subject is divinity. Through the fact that the Word of God became flesh, the body entered theology through the main door’ (TOB 23:4). Jesus’ incarnation is a bo

Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press Choosing Jesus amid a host of identity options is key to our clarity. And good love for others. Centered in Christ, looking intently into His mirror of perfect love, we can begin to love clearly. Aligning our will—and the whole of our divided selves—with the Healer frees us to choose love amid disordered desires. I love that! My feelings—sub

‘The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy…’ (Jn. 10:10) Integration is wholeness, and God who created and redeems us, its champion; walking in hope and humility, we make peace with the true, often disempowered aspects of our humanity and do our part to live wholly. We learn to heed the echoes of Eden and rely fully on the grace of Jesus who holds us together. Disintegration is our fallen state, our sadness east of Eden. Its driver is a common ‘enemy’ (Gr. ‘dia-bolos’,

St. Paul counters the slavish sexual immorality tempting Christians by urging them ‘to possess their bodies in holiness and reverence’ (1 Thess. 4:3-5). That means: ‘Forego sensational gymnastics and live like you care more for everyone’s dignity.’ A wiseman, the Apostle wouldn’t ask such self-possession if we weren’t capable of it! St. John Paul II echoed his own version of self-possession when as young philosopher Karol Wojtyla he wrote ‘Person and Act.’ In it he casts a vi

Integration (an ‘integer’ is a whole number but can broaden to include something whole in itself) grants us a map for wholeness. It is a process, and the emerging result of a life lived openly before Jesus and His friends. First, to integrate means to own the parts of our personhood that combine to make us beautifully, authentically human, and yet unique, unlike anyone else. That includes our spirituality, our emotions, and our gendered bodies, all of which contribute to our

Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for St John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press Jesus gave all to give us back Eden. He embodies the God who breaks into our prisons and invites us to paradise. He does so through every season and facet of His life on earth, wholly obedient to the Father: luminous Babe, the Lamb that was slain, and glorious Lord who walks on water, through walls, into our depths. In the authority of His Bl

Every human being is a gift from God. Before we are born from natural descent, tossed and anchored by parental decisions and influences—we are born of God (Jn. 1:12, 13). That is not our first thought. As products of a secular, therapeutic culture, we muse more on the unsteady hands that formed our vessels than on the Maker who marked us as His marvels of creation. We are created by Love, for love. Deeper than our cracks and discoloring lie the blessing of being human: God co

‘You see the trouble we are in…in ruins, our gates burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall…and we will no longer be in disgrace’ (Neh. 2: 17). We witness the gap between a Church vision of sexuality that dignifies all and the indignities foisted upon others by sexually fractured clergy. May I suggest that we shudder out of love for the Church, not disgust? Jesus loves the Church and acts through you and me to close the gap between her glorious truths and living them.

German Catholic bishops and lay persons voted last week to adopt a resolution (168 to 28) to bless same-sex relationships in the national church. Defying a Church-wide ban on such unions, the proposal emerged amid a lengthy German ‘synod’ aimed at resolving the clerical sexual abuse crisis in that nation. A noble goal. We need profound house cleaning for the immoralities that drive Church abuses. (Look no further than this horrifying report released this week from the French

Freedom figures in big to the Gospel: Jesus declares that His truth ‘sets us free’, fully and completely, while St. Paul declares to us that Jesus ‘has set us free from sin’ (Rom. 6:18): ‘For freedom Jesus freed us! Stand firm, then, and refuse the burden of slavery’ (Gal. 5:1)! Freedom matters to St. John Paul II as well, DSM’s 20th century guide to biblical freedom. In his writings, especially Theology of the Body, he spotlights how God gifts us with our humanity, how sin t

Last week, my son Nick asked me to preach the sermon for his ‘institution’ as senior rector. (Nick’s new post takes he and wife Meg from Austin Texas to head a dynamic Anglican ‘Church of the Apostles’ in Raleigh, North Carolina.) A privilege and unexpected honor. Nick’s invitation was like a kiss from the Father. One woman reflected: ‘It felt like you invited us into a father-son confirmation, just the two of you. We were in your living room, eavesdroppers, catching the wisd

Best summer memories: Lit up and teary-eyed, my 95-year-old mom’s face as she looked for first time at two infant great grandkids, one named for her late husband (Tommy). 3-year-old Lily choosing me as her refuge as she braved Pacific surf (in my arms). My four kids flowing like fresh water, naturally supernatural, into lives of wonderful yet little-known relatives (with little faith). Beautiful to see Kingdom come through these believers who love well—smart, fun, interested

Original entry date: Spring 2017 Newsletter Conversion: The realization that a loved one has assumed a false identity invites you to go deeper in Jesus; it may well become more about your conversion than his or hers. Perhaps it challenges your current 'standing' in Christ. All you may be able to do is fall face down and grieve over your sins and the sins woven deeply into our culture. The two are related. You are woven into the fabric of an idolatrous culture; He invites you