The Theology of the Body is a title given to a series of speeches by St. John Paul II that he gave at the beginning of his pontificate, Catholic speaker Jason Evert said.
Combined, the speeches add up to roughly 600 pages “of some pretty thick theology,” Evert told “Practicing Catholic” producer Rachael McCallum in a program set to air at 9 p.m. Feb. 21 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
“But in the midst of that mountain of theology, there are these pockets of gems, really beautiful teachings of God’s plan for love,” Evert said. The big, basic, core idea is that we’re made in the image and likeness of God. We know that. But God is love. And so, we’re made in the image and likeness of love. God, in his very essence, is a communion of life-giving love. … Human love is supposed to be (a) reflection of the divine.”
Evert said that the series of speeches changes the perspective of the Church’s teachings on sexuality. Rather than being seen as a “litany of prohibitions and rules and regulations,” the Theology of the Body argues that the Church advocates for the beautiful vision of God’s plan for human love, he said.
“It’s a beautiful proclamation of the Church’s teaching on sexuality, chastity and how to make a gift of yourself,” Evert said. “I find that young people realize after they discover Theology of the Body that chastity frees them to love, because (they realize) ‘if I don’t have self-control, I can’t really make a gift of myself.’ But it also frees them to know if they’re authentically being loved. Because if a person is not willing to be with you unless you do those certain things with them, then it’s pretty much a sign they don’t really love you, they just want the pleasure they can extract from you.”
Evert said young people face the danger of finding “counterfeit love” on their phones. This happens when young people, girls and boys, scroll through social media or look at pornography and experience increased anxiety and loneliness or what Evert called a “warped view” of human love.
“One super practical piece of advice: don’t use social media while you’re lying down,” Evert said. “If you’re standing up and looking at social media, you realize quickly how much time you’re wasting on something pointless. … Forty-five minutes of my existence has just been taken for me and I’m no better because of it. What if I just spent 15 minutes of that in prayer and in Liturgy of the Hours? I’d be in such a different place emotionally right now if I didn’t waste it all numbing myself on social media.”
Evert said there is so much hurt in the field of human sexuality, dating, relationships, parenting, and marriage, but he notices many people don’t have direction or guidance when it comes to human love.
“I was doing sidewalk counseling, like crisis pregnancy counseling, talking to women who are having an abortion within the hour, trying to offer them financial resources, adoption, whatever, and I just felt late,” Evert said. “Why am I meeting this woman 45 minutes before her abortion? Why couldn’t I have met her when she was 16? Because maybe if she learned about chastity, then she never would have dated this guy and be in this difficult situation. I realized to save most unborn babies, you don’t do it in front of an abortion clinic, focusing on the supply of abortion. You’ve got to swim upstream and address the demand for it.”
During this time, Evert discovered St. John Paul II’s book “Love and Responsibility.” This book helped him understand the Church’s teaching on human love, and he realized this answer was the “antidote” to hurt and confusion around sexuality. He said young adults and teens are starving for this message because “our hearts are made for love, our minds are made for the truth, and chastity offers us both.”
To hear more from Evert on human love and sexuality, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. Feb. 22 and 2 p.m. Feb. 23.
As part of the program, Archbishop Bernard Hebda discusses the importance of seeking silence in helping us communicate with God. Also, Nicole Mamura, the communications manager for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, shares how she manages her career and being a mother of young children while staying rooted in faith.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
