On Valentine’s Day weekend, Christopher West came to San Antonio and shared the Theology of the Body with young adults at Theology on Tap. His talk is online in two parts: Part 1, including some musical entertainment at the beginning, and Part 2. In his talk, he describes a great anecdote about his sharing the Theology of the Body with Bono. He includes a story about hearing that the U2 song, “Window In The Skies” is Bono singing about the Theology of the Body. Listen to the lyrics yourself:

And if you’ve never heard Christopher West play guitar and sing, you should listen to this talk.

I would just like to say…

I love outside da box media.

Especially the Jesus ‘08 campaign, featuring Popple and Chris Padgett.

I just finished watching Beowulf (2007) and the trailers for Get Smart and Wanted. The glaring similarity between all three item? Sex, of course.

In Beowulf, the kingdom glamorizes fornication. Angelina Jolie plays a naked she-demon “covered” in a thin, gold liquid who seduces the hero to give her a son. In Get Smart, sex doesn’t seem to be a plot hinge, but Anne Hathaway’s character has the obligatory “oops, you just walked into the room and I’m in my panties” shot. Angelina Jolie, who has unfortunately retained the status of “Sex Symbol,” keeps up the image with her role in Wanted.

Watching these, I realize that sex does sell. Honestly. Everyone wants to be sexy, to have lots of sexy friends, to live a sexy life.

Or do we?

When I caught myself feeling these ways as I watched the fore-mentioned items, I stopped myself and thought–is that really what I want? No, not at all. I may want to be sexy, but I don’t want another man every night. I want one. I may want to be wanted, but not just for my body. I pray to be cherished for everything I am. I may want to be sexy, but not lusted after. I want to be wanted, but not possessed and thrown away. No, I want to be sexy in its fullest sense–

living out my sexuality in every way.

Sure, that means being attractive and having sex. But not in a lusty way. I want it in a fulfilling way, a loving way. One of the greatest lessons that I’ve learned recently is that a wife’s love for her husband is, in a way, her love for God. She is living out the sacrament of the greatest union–God and creation. That’s the kind of sexy I want to be. The kind that loves. Lust, as Christopher West often says, is like eating out of the garbage. Love is eating at the banquet.

Humanity wants the latter.

But of course, the one who believes he is above God, Satan, doesn’t want us to love. God is love. Thus, he twists our sexual desires to something sinister and selfish: Lust. The act of sex becomes a taking…an act of self-satisfaction…seeking the sexual pleasure God intended us to have, but inverting it. We want to possess, to take, to use. That’s what Hollywood sells as sex. That’s what sells to a fallen world.

We, an Easter people, cannot allow ourselves to consume this lust.

We must call on the Holy Spirit, the Advocate sent us by the Lord, to open our eyes to the work of the Father of Lies. To see what he has lied to us about since the dawn of the ages! No, sex is not lust. Sex is love.

When we seek real sex, we seek the original gift that our Father intended for us. A gift for which He instilled a desire in us. He made us out of love, for that is all He is. He gave us everything He has, and continues to offer us this gift.

Love.

We long for it. That’s why “sex sells.”

Guess where the university’s ROTC Spring Commisioning Ceremony will be held?

How can people call this a Catholic liturgy??? UNbelievable. As Fr. Philip Neri warns, don’t watch this video while drinking liquids. It’s like a show! Lots of dance numbers, lots of celebrants, lots of leavened bread…lots of liturgical abuses.

Yes, this took place at the West Coast Call To Action conference. Who’s that? Let’s look at their conference speakers:

Victoria Rue, M.Div., Ph.D. is a feminist theologian, and writer, director, and teacher of theatre. She teaches at San Jose State University in Comparative Religious Studies and Women’s Studies. Victoria also presides at monthly liturgies of the Sophia Catholic Community in Santa Cruz and at a weekly Eucharist at SJSU.

Bishop Remi de Roo, purportedly the youngest bishop at the Second Vatican Council, who said in an interview, “You’re not going to get the young people unless you’re willing to accept modern culture and give it the right to express itself in liturgy,” spoke about–you guessed it–the “true spirit” of Vatican II.

Robert Blair-Kaiser of takebackourchurch.org. “Take Back Our Church”? Isn’t this God’s Church? His Bride? The one He established? Am I inhaling too much incense here, people???

And of course there are Jesuits aplenty. I know there are some wonderful, faithful and orthodox Jesuits out there–take Fr. Mitch Pacwa. But let’s face it, there are lots who aren’t. They were at the WCCTA conference.

What a fantastic interview this is with Christopher West by Joe McClane!

Friends and I were sitting around on the University Ministry couches last week talking theology, and one of them asked each of us our favorite area of theology. “Eschatology,” “Scripture,” “Moral Theology,” and “Marian Theology” came up. between my four companions. When it came to my turn, I surprisingly knew right away–”Theology of the Body.” My fascination with the theology of the body started with my own theological investigation for a moral theology class on cohabitation and marriage last semester. Since then, I have continually learned more about myself and renewed my view of femininity, sexuality, and love through TOB.

Thanks be to God.

TIME Magazine asks “Is Liberal Catholicism Dead?” while Michael Moore responds, Not for me! Meanwhile, Archbishop Charles Chaput makes an excellent point in First Things journal on “The Role of the Priest in Public Affairs.”

The public affairs of Hilary Clinton astound some when she appears in a campaign photo wearing a Catholic bracelet, one of many things discussed as Stuff Catholics Like. I like the two new songs I found on YouTube: The Wojtyla Song and Ratzinger Song. I also enjoy donjojohannes‘ videos found on YouTube, featuring the one shown below.