MALE "HEADSHIP"

'Why are we so quick to accuse St. Paul of justifying male domination? Based on what we have unfolded, when St. Paul writes, "Wives, submit to your husbands" he is saying, "Wives, allow your husbands to serve you." To which I respond, "Who has got it worse here?" We have got the whole thing flipped upside down! Not that the wife is the master and the husband a slave. Power, control, domination - these are the wrong paradigms altogether, regardless of who is "the boss." Christian marriage calls spouses to a mutual service, or, as St.Paul says, a mutual "subjection." Yet, according to the nature of sexual difference, each lives this service in different, complementary ways.

If Ephesians says that "the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church," this means the husband must be the first to serve (see Luke 22:25-26).' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.84. 

SINGLENESS

'....our sexuality calls us to give ourselves away in life-giving love. The celibate person doesn't reject this call. He just lives it in a different way. Every man, by virtue of the spousal meaning of his body, is called in some way to be both a husband and a father. Every woman, by virtue of the spousal meaning of her body, is called in some way to be both a wife and a mother. As an image of Christ, the celibate man "marries" the Church. Through his bodily gift of self he bears numerous "spiritual children." As an image of the Church, the celibate woman "marries" Christ. Through her bodily gift of self she bears numerous "spiritual children."' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.70. 

LUST, SINGLENESS & MARRIAGE

'The difference between marriage and celibacy must never be understood as the difference between having a "legitimate" outlet for sexual lust on the one hand and having to repress it on the other. Christ calls everyone - no matter his or her particular vocation - to experience redemption from the domination of lust. Only from this perspective do the Christian vocations (celibacy and marriage) make any sense. Both vocations - if they are to be lived as Christ intends - flow from the same experience of the redemption of sexual desire.'

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.66.   

SINGLENESS

'Christian celibacy, therefore, is not a rejection of sexuality. It points us to the ultimate purpose and meaning of sexuality. "For this reason...the two become one flesh." What reason does St.Paul give? Man and woman become one flesh as a sign or "sacrament" of Christ's eternal union with the Church (see Ephesians 5:31-32). Those who remain celibate for the kingdom forego the sacrament of marriage in anticipation of the heavenly reality, the "marriage of the Lamb." If it is "bot good for man to be alone," Christian celibacy reveals that the ultimate fulfillment of solitude is found only in union with God. In a way, the celibate person freely chooses to remain in the "ache" of solitude in this life in order to devote all of his longings to the union that alone can satisfy.' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.64. 

THE PURPOSE OF SEX

'The sexual confusion so prevalent in our world and in our hearts is simply the human desire for heaven gone berserk. Untwist the distortions and we discover the astounding glory of sex in the divine plan. "For this reason...the two become one flesh." For what reason? To reveal, proclaim, and anticipate the eternal union of Christ and the Church (see Ephesians 5:31-32).' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.54. 

SEX

'When we tinker with God's plan for sex, we are tinkering with the cosmic stream of human existence. The human race - its existence, its balance - is literally determined by who is having sex with whom, and, in what manner. When sexual union is orientated towards love and life, it builds families and, in turn, cultures that live the truth of love and life. When it is orientated against love and life, the sexual act breeds death - what John Paul II grimly, yet accurately, describes as a "culture of death". A "culture of death" is a culture that, failing to recognize the infinite worth of every human person, chooses death as a "solution" to its problems.' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.13. 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION

'If God created the body and sexual union to proclaim his own eternal mystery of love, why do we not typically see them in this profound way? For example, when you hear the word "sex," what generally comes to mind? Is it the "great mystery" of the one-flesh union as a foreshadowing of Christ's union with the Church, or something, shall we say, a little less sacred?

Ponder this for a moment. If the body and sex are meant to proclaim our union with God, and if there is an enemy who wants to separate us from God, what do you think he is going to attack? If we want to know what is most sacred in this world, all we need to do is look for what is most violently profaned.' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, p.11. 

GOD'S LOVE & MARRIAGE

'Scripture uses many images to describe God's love for humanity. Each has its own valuable place. But both Old and New Testaments use the language of spousal love far more than any other.' 

Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners: A Basic Introduction to Blessed John Paul II's Sexual Revolution, p.10. 

THE BODY & THEOLOGY

'The fact that theology also includes the body should not astonish or surprise anyone who is conscious of the mystery and reality of the Incarnation. Through the fact that the Word of God became flesh, the body entered theology - that is the science that has divinity for its object - I would say, through the main door.' 

John Paul II, Man and Woman He Created Them, p.221 (23:4). 

THE BODY

'The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.' 

John Paul II, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, p.203 (19:4).