Theology of the Body

Dave Van Hecke

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THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM DAVE VAN HECKE’S THEOLOGY OF THE BODY FAMILY EVENING TALK​

Learn Theology of the Body!

• You can purchase the Theology of the Body 700-page “Man and Woman He Created Them” volume, or if that is too daunting, here are a few additional resources:

  • Two of the best Theology of the Body talks come from the Lighthouse Catholic Media catalog, both are 45 min, succinct, crystal-clear, solidly Catholic and engaging.

    • Fr Michael Schmitz - From Love, By Love, For Love

    • Dr. Mary Healy - Men and Women Are from Eden

• There are also other excellent talks from Lighthouse (Check out the CD kiosk in the back of church).

• Jason & Crystalina Evert - Chastity

• COR Project - a ton of books, CD/MP3, online resources here

• Real Life Catholic - Chris Stefanick

• ECHO TOB Camp for teens and 20s (Brian Butler)

• Leah Darrow (chastity speaker, former top model)

• Theology of the Body for Teens

• Theology of the Body Institute, if you want to go really deep, they have full-week courses in Pennsylvania. 

 

Love each other, give yourselves to each other selflessly, especially in small ways during the day. 

• You have probably heard it said, “the best thing a father can do for his kids is love their mother.”  That is huge.  And the mother reciprocating that teaches both the boys and girls what a relationship should look like, and what they should look for.

 

Make sure the media you and your family are consuming is good, quality, and thought-provoking. Providing examples of purity, commitment, selflessness…etc.

• This is not a small task, given how much is out there, how much is not worth your time (or worse), but research it.  Also, after watching a movie, any movie, discuss it with your children.  Do not just be a passive consumer or let them be either.  e.g: “Who was the good guy, and why?  Who was the bad guy, and why?  What were the consequences of their actions?”

  • Movie suggestions (may not be appropriate for all ages!):

    • The Incredibles – excellent.  Entertaining, very well-produced, solid, and accurate portrayal of a family, not perfect, but family is first.

    • The Truman Show – what vision of the world are we being presented with?  Is it real? How do you know? What if you realize you have been duped?

    • Lord of the Rings – fantastic, huge tale of the classic monomyth; unlikely hero saves civilization…etc, but with a philosophical depth unlike almost any other film, because it was taken from works that were consistently voted the best literature of the 20th century.

    • Les Miserables – (mature-only material!)  One of my very favorites, all of human nature, the high and lows, good and bad, with the circumstances natural law would insist are likely or inevitable.

  • Music: “There’s no accounting for taste” but you more than anyone else in our society will influence their taste in music, whether they have an ear for what is objectively superior or whether it is all relative.  It is not just relative, there are forms of music that are fundamentally, objectively, ontologically superior.  Mozart is an obvious one. Palestrina, Bach, Handel, Haydn…etc.  Music does soothe the savage beast.  Play this music around the house, a lot.  They will absorb it and it will form their mind in a more-ordered way than anything else academically speaking.  If possible, music lessons.

 

• If they are late teens or young adults, there are some fantastic groups around town that GET IT. 

  • Cor Jesu @ St Robert’s on Wed nights. 

  • Arise Worship Nights

  • WI Catholic Youth Rally

  • St John Bosco Youth Day

 

Love them, take them to Adoration, give them music lessons.  It will form the soul, the mind, and the body!