Pondering God’s Word on the Body
January 10, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
“Brothers and sisters: The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body”
(1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20)
I recently sat down with a young couple getting married later this year. I’ve known the young man for many years, but had never met his fiance. We had a great time and spoke about a number of things – how they met, where God was in the relationship, what they were finding most helpful in the marriage preparation process that they were part of, and what they wanted to go deeper on. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that one of the things they wanted to know more about was St. John Paul II’s “theology of the body,” a series of teachings the late Holy Father left as a wondrous gift to the Church and the world on God’s plan for the person, marriage and sexuality. It turns out they had stumbled upon some podcasts and books that had begun to break open this revolutionary work and it was bringing them both remarkable healing. “When I was growing up,” the young man said, “I was always and only told not to do this, or not to do that with regards to sex. No one ever told me what to do. No one ever told me what it was all about – the goodness of God’s plan for sexuality.”
That conversation comes to mind as we hear St. Paul’s words to the Church in Corinth this coming Sunday. Corinth was a lot like our modern culture with regards to sexuality. For that matter, the ancient Roman world was a lot like our modern culture with regards to sexuality. Like ours, the Roman world was hyper-sexualized. Every time I hear someone lament about our day and age, I pull out this quote from a Roman author: “Mistresses we keep for pleasure, concubines for the sake of daily intercourse, wives to bear us legitimate children.” Yes, things are crazy right now, but they’ve been crazy since that very bad day in Eden a long time ago.
I was fortunate after ordination to the priesthood to spend several years studying the theology of the body in depth. I can still recall as if it was yesterday an experience I had sitting outside reading the Holy Father and suddenly realizing I was starting to sit up straighter. It was as if I was finding myself “growing up,” for my experience had been a lot like that young man’s soon to be married. John Paul II, for the first time, was helping me understand what the body, sexuality, and marriage was for.
A teacher of mine frequently used to say that Scripture is healing. In other words, making time to let God speak to us in His Word brings restoration, strength, peace and so much more to our minds, desires, memories and lives. Throughout the Christmas season we heard how Mary pondered various things in her heart. I might suggest we ask her intercession to do the same with God’s word through Paul in the days ahead. Living in a culture that is at one and the same time increasingly promiscuous and unsatisfied, any or all of the following passages could be fruitful meditations for us, mindful that most of us are sexually disordered in one way or another. How could we not be, given the stories, images and more that we’re bombarded with all day long? But the Word of God heals, restores, makes strong, and brings hope, no matter our struggles. Truly, the Gospel is good news!
“The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.”
“Avoid [flee!] immorality.”
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
“You have been purchased at a price.”
“Glorify God in your body.”
*There are so many great resources available for those looking to learn more about "the theology of the body" but a great place to start is The Theology of the Body Institute.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
Protection for us, our mission and our families.
All the Bishops, priests and lay leaders we are ministering to this month.