Theology of the Body - Is it for teens?

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I have a 15 year old niece who seems to be searching for something and doesn’t know what it is. Her one cousin was involved in a car accident and his father was killed in that accident - it was tragic. But, she took the cousin’s ring of purity until he got out of the hospital and was clinging to it (to my joy).

I wouldnn’t do so without talking to my brother, but was thinking of getting her a copy. I’ve been waiting for my copy for some time and it is still on backorder. So, I don’t know if it is written more at a college level, or at a level that a 15 year old could relate to.

Let me know because I think she would love it, knowing her. I believe she is trying to be the opposite of her mother, my ex-sister-inlaw, who is highly promiscuous. It was indeed my greatest joy to see her clinging to that ring.

I’m also trying to get her re-interested in the Catholic faith, the faith of both her mother and father. Since neither goes to church, the kid ended up in with evangelicals and any number of other things so that is why I say she is searching. I was hoping to let something from the Catholic Church lure her back in and thought that may peak her interest.
 
I would suggest first “Pure Love” by Jason Evert, available through Catholic Answers. He also has a DVD available of one of his presentations that is very good.

Theology of the Body might be a little too weighty for a teen, but I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate for a teen to read – it’s all about the beauty of God’s plan for marriage.
 
I had seen that book advertised, and I seen it in a local Catholic bookstore. I’ll page through it.
 
Even adults come up with wrong ideas after reading the Theology of the Body (the start believing romantic love isn’t exclusive, that one can date and kiss on the mouth non-exclusively etc), so I think perhaps teenagers need supervision. Preferably also some talk with an orthodox priest.
 
Can’t afford 3 hours right now. Do they also claim that having multiple love interests and kissing partners is OK so long as there’s no sex, like some of those “Catholic” sites do, or do they hold a more orthodox view?
 
No worries, Jason Evert is really cool and super-catholic. He came to my school and I also listened to the talk he has on his site.

www.pureloveclub.com

Check it out, it’s a great site to look over.
 
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johnq:
Catholic High School talk (94 minutes)
Public High School talk (75 minutes)
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Ohhhhhhh!!! I just finished listening to the first one - how I wish there had been something like this around when I was in school!

I can’t wait to give this to my daughter - and I will definitely buy Pure Love for her, too.

Thank you so much for giving those links - what a blessing!

Elizabeth
 
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ElizabethJoy:
Ohhhhhhh!!! I just finished listening to the first one - how I wish there had been something like this around when I was in school!

I can’t wait to give this to my daughter - and I will definitely buy Pure Love for her, too.

Thank you so much for giving those links - what a blessing!

Elizabeth
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How old is your daugther? Mine’s 13. I’ve been thinking of getting this for her when she turns 14.
 
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CatQuilt:
How old is your daugther? Mine’s 13. I’ve been thinking of getting this for her when she turns 14.
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Mine will be fourteen, soon. And I can tell by her emails and the web sites that she visits that she is investigating subject matter which is entirely inappropriate for her age. (Not porn, nothing hardcore or even borderline, but anime discussions which drift into older-teen/young adult areas.)

This lecture is such an antidote to what she picks up from her buds at school! I know that they talk about sexually related topics - in a nebulous, curious sort of way. It’s all still a mystery at this stage, but you know what they say about curiosity.

I ordered Pure Love and If You Really Loved Me for her - maybe she’ll be able to see that there is an alternative that will feed her soul. To have her start thinking about the fact that her future spouse is out there… I know that will appeal her to her romantic feminine heart.

I think that we parents need to have every possible tool at our disposal, these days - when it comes to our children, we are standing between them and evil as maybe never before.

They are barraged every hour of their life with sexual images and discussion - one of their anime favorites has a young male character in love with an older male figure. Sex education in schools teaches in detail about “safe sex,” (which is a total farce!) but nothing of chastity and abstinence. We have television shows like “Friends” and “Will and Grace” in which the characters play out a variety of “choices” and never have to live with any but the most superficial of consequences.

Here are these beautiful, cool people doing everything God tells us not to do, defiling their bodies, devaluing themselves… and they suffer nothing for it, ever. Nothing more consequential than perhaps 20 minutes of angst over a broken friendship, but in the end, everyone hugs and makes up, no harm done.

How lucky are we to have this “weapon of mass instruction” in the form of the Pure Love team? Beautiful, cool people telling it like it really is in a way that is funny and accessible and meaningful. Young people are naturally idealistic - it doesn’t take much of Truth to overcome the world! 🙂

Good luck!
Elizabeth
 
Dr.Coleen Mast also has a wonderful series called “sex respect” that might be easier for your teen to understand. She has a website
sexrespect.com. Check it out. You can also hear her radio show broadcast on Catholic radio…relevantradio.com
 
Jason Everet (Pure Love) & Mary Beth Bonacci (We’re on a Mission from God) are both excellent translators of TOTB for younger crowds. Christopher West’s Theology of the Body for Beginners or Good News for Sex & Marriage is a good start for older young adults. Christopher West and Mary Beth Bonacci both have degrees from the JPII Institute for Marriage and Family.

All of the above emphasize friendship, not nonsexual love interests. I have heard concerns about Colleen Mast’s talks and website being a bit graphic, particularly for younger teens.

As far as TOTB itself, it is very weighty. Not unsuitable for a teen, just difficult. I wouldn’t even suggest an adult read it without a companion book such as Christopher West’s Theology of the Body Explained. I think one would have to be very well grounded in philosophy, particularly phenomenology to get everything out of TOTB without additional help.
 
I am an avid fan of JPII’s Theology of the Body. It really is an incredible work. That said, most really deep and awesome works/studies are difficult to read. Furthermore, I find that reading JPII in general takes practice. However, I really think that the fullness of Theology of the Body needs to be given to teens. For this, I reccomend Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West as well as Mary Beth Bonacci’s stuff.

A great question and answer book is Bonacci’s Real Love. It has just about every question any teen has ever asked about sexuality. Bonacci is a wonderful speaker as well. I would suggest ordering the Life on the Rock episode from a while back when she was on. It is a nice intro and also exposes one to her awesome gift of rhetoric.

I love Christopher West’s books and audio tapes because he sticks very closely to the text of ToB. While I think reading other Catholic authors on the subject is very good and beneficial, most apply the material in such a way that it is helpful but one forgets/does not ever know that they are working from ToB.

God Bless! 👍
 
Y’all realize that you are running my book bill outtasight! I just placed an order and I’ve already got five new titles on my next wish list! :rotfl:

Mary Beth Bonacci’s book sounds good - it might be the perfect complement to Jason Evert’s book - one coming from a male’s point of view and the other from a female’s. 🙂

And Christopher West’s sounds like it might make JPII’s book more “accessible” to me. I don’t do “weighty” very well. I have a good vocabulary, but I run into trouble following multiple complex concepts when I have no basis for understanding the individual concepts or Church teachings upon which they are based.

Thank you!
Elizabeth
 
What does Bonacci say specifically about having multiple romances at one time, presuming they’re all without sex?
 
I’m 18 and just started learning of Theology of the Body. I agree with everyone else who said that Jason Evert’s tapes and books are good to start with 15 year olds. Once that basic foundation is established you can go ahead and introduce JPII’s Theology of the Body.
There are movies talking about this subject. There’s a series by Christopher West (???). And he gives a great explanation of God’s plan and everything. I suggest you (and anyone else) to watch it.

We watched this series for the senior high school RE class. It was cool to catch a glimpse of God’s big plan.
 
I have to tell you - yesterday, I put a bookmark to the Pure Love site into my daughter’s folder and she asked me tonight if bookmarks could suddenly make themselves show up. I told her that they could and she mentioned the Pure Love site and I said, “Oooooh… no, I put that there. These people are sooooo cool and an absolute riot to listen to! You wanna hear this?”

So my daughter and I listened to Jason Evert’s presentation together, tonight. It was a wonderful time! She’s been very reticent about discussing sexual topics with me in the last few years, but we listened and commented and replayed some parts. Her Father has always told her that any time she has a boyfriend come to pick her up, he’s going to be sitting quietly, cleaning his guns, so she really laughed out loud at that part in Jason’s talk.

And apparently one of the teachers at her school said recently that girls who dress provocatively and immodestly are saying, “I’m only good for my looks, there’s nothing else to know about me, this is the only part of me worth getting to know.” (This is a public school!There is hope!)

I showed her the pictures of Jason and Crystalina and she thought they were beautiful and she loved Jason’s humor and Crystalina’s voice and way of speaking.

I told her that I had ordered a couple of their books for her and she’s actually looking forward to reading them! :bounce:

And she noticed a prototype of a string of St. Therese’s “sacrifice beads” that I’d finished and we talked about how St. Therese had used them. She asked if she could have one and I handed it to her - didn’t bother to tell her that it had been hers from the start. 😉

Thank you, God for one more chance! I snuck two more bookmarks into her folder, tonight - one is the letter “To My Future Husband,” and one “To My Future Wife.” I’m calling them my little love-letters to her. 🙂

And my husband was looking at the newest rosaries I’d made and he said, "So these are called the “Our Fathers” and the little ones are the “Ave Marias?” There’s a spark of interest there that seems to go beyond his usual support and praise for my work. I’m not pushing, but I sure am praying! Thank you, God!

And thank you, all the people in this thread! What a lovely evening I had with my daughter!

Elizabeth
 
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