Florida Catholic | Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

Looking for love in all the wrong places

Author Christopher West believes Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is key to finding true love.

DANIEL SOÑÉ | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 03.14.08

MIAMI | As the saying goes, “True love is hard to find.” That may be especially true today, when many people mistakenly equate sex with love.

Author and lecturer Christopher West said help is available in Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, the late pope’s compilation of timeless Catholic teachings on love and sexuality.

“Pope John Paul II was a student of modern thought. He knew how the world conducted itself and brought all these amazing teachings into the modern world so modern man may understand them more easily,” said West, who spoke March 8 at the jubilee day for deacons held at St. Mary Cathedral.

Because of the subject matter, the permanent diaconate program invited young adults and college students from throughout the archdiocese to attend the event.

“The Theology of the Body doesn’t just apply to those who are married, but also to those who are celibate. The goal of these teachings is to experience and share the same kind of love that Christ had for us. It is to truly love,” said West, who has explained the teachings more than 1,000 times on four continents.

The Theology of the Body, a series of 129 short talks Pope John Paul II delivered between September 1979 and November 1984, was his first major teaching project.

West is a faculty member at the Pennsylvania-based Theology of the Body Institute, whose goal is to “educate and train men and women to understand, live and promote Pope John Paul II’s teachings on human sexuality.”

True love is hard to find today because of all the distractions, anesthetizations and outright misguidance provided by contemporary culture, he said.

“The sheer noise of our lives alone can prevent us from listening and sorting out what we really want — love. We all want to love and to be loved, but the world’s definition of love isn’t ‘love’, it is ‘use,’” West said. “The Theology of the Body tells us what needs to be done in order to make our interpersonal relationships as profound as can be.”

West said his own experience with the texts changed his life and improved his relationship with his girlfriend, who is now his wife.

“When I was dating my wife, I was in the midst of studying the Theology of the Body. The transformation, albeit gut-wrenching at times, was well worth the joy I share with my wife. I see her as a person, the person for me. I have someone to love and who loves me,” he explained.

West said the Theology of the Body neither sterilizes human sexuality nor gives it a negative connotation.

“God created our sexuality,” he said. West believes the seminars show people that God’s vision of human sexuality, love, and the conjugal act is best done when people love one another as Christ loves us. He added that “helps us to stop ‘lookin’ for love in all the wrong places.’”

For books and resources on the Theology of the Body, go to www.theologyofthebody.org.

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