Doesn’t it seem a bit uncomfortable for us to say, “I am my body” instead of “I have a body”? Yet we are our bodies. So writes Dawn Hausmann, pictured, Director of Consecrated Life and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Lansing. Today we celebrate the feast of our brother, Pope Saint John Paul II (1920-2005). I highlight his masterpiece, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, that is prophetic for our day with our culture’s attempt at “disembodiment” of the human person.
In Michael Waldstein’s introduction to the book, he writes, “…the purpose of the TOB [Theology of the Body] is to defend the body against alienation from the person…God’s plan and its renewal by Christ, the redeemer, is imprinted deeply within the bodily nature of the person as a pre-given language of self-giving and fruitfulness.” In living accord with this reality, we find fulfillment.
Pope Saint John Paul II trains us to see and grow in the experience of harmony of our bodies and souls, striving for deeper integration of the two. One of his famous quotes reads, “The body and only the body is capable of making visible the invisible: the spiritual and divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from all eternity in God and thus be a sign of it.” (Theology of the Body 19:4)
I invite you to journey with me into this great mystery and work, as we learn the God-given language of our bodies to find deeper fullness of life!
Pope Saint John Paul II, pray for us!
* An additional invitation: Pope Saint John Paul II is the pope who started World Youth Day, which is an incarnational experience of our Catholic Faith with thousands of young people from around the world coming together along with Pope Leo to worship God, grow in fellowship with one another, and receive catechesis.
In August 2027, we will be in Seoul, Korea, for this 10-day event, learning the faith of the Korean martyrs while walking their homeland. We invite young adults of our diocese to prayerfully consider joining us for this unique opportunity. https://www.dioceseoflansing.org/WYD27
