Commentary on the Introduction to the Theology of the body by Chris West, Ascension Press, slides presented by Fr. Joseph LoJacono, IVE

1. Celibacy for the Kingdom of God
by Father Joseph LoJacono IVE
Questions to Ponder
1. What is a “eunuch for the Kingdom”?
2. Why does the world generally scorn celibacy?
3. Why is Christian celibacy (properly understood and lived) not as
a rejection of sexuality, but a living out of the deepest meaning
of sexuality?
4. Why does the world see marriage as a legitimate outlet for lust?
What are the ramifications of this?
5. How does an understanding of “redeemed sexuality” (where our
way of seeing the world is actually changed towards that which
is true, good, and beautiful) affect your view of celibacy?
6. How can someone commit “adultery in the heart” with his or her
own spouse?

2. Matthew 19:12
► "Forthere are eunuchs who were born that
way from their mother's womb; and there
are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by
men; and there are also eunuchs who made
themselves eunuchs for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven. He who is able to
accept this, let him accept it."
What does it mean to be a eunuch for the kingdom
of God?

3. The World says Celibacy is
missing some part of humanity
and must be bad

4. Celibacy is a sign that sex is not
the ultimate fulfillment
The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun
and the angel with the spear derive from an episode
described by St. Theresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered
Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her
autobiography, „The Life of Teresa of Jesus‟ (1515–1582).
Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with
the angel is described as follows:
“I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's
point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to
be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my
very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw
them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love
of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and
yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain,
that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied
now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but
spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a
caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between
the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make
him experience it who may think that I am lying.”
Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
By Gian Lorenzo Bernini From Chapter XXIX; Part 17, St. Teresa's Autobiography

5. The World cannot understand divine love. It is
a mockery to them
The Lie (Bernini's St Theresa)
Lyrics
Artist: Peter Hammill
Album: The Silent Corner And The Empty
Stage

6. The Joy of religious Life

7. Celibacy points to the reality that there is
a greater fulfillment in heaven than
anything we can experience on earth
King Arthur's Tomb - The
Last Meeting of Lancelot
and Guinevere. Artist
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
(1828-1882)

8. What does mean to say a religious
sister is a bride of Christ?

9. Marriage is only a sacrament pointing
toward the union in heaven
Beatrice Meeting Dante
at a Marriage Feast,
Denies Him Her
Salutation (1855)
Dante uses Beatrice as his
ideal of love who helps
give him a tour of the
heavenly realities, but must
leave him when he
encounters the true Love
of heaven.

10. Beatrice leading
Dante into the
heavenly realms
Pope-Hennessy, John. Paradiso. The
Illuminations of Dante's Divine Comedy by
Giovanni di Paolo. NY: Random, 1993. p. 74
Dante’s Circle 3 of heaven
Venus showing her two sons
cupid and amor
Pope-Hennessy, John. Paradiso. The Illuminations of Dante's
Divine Comedy by Giovanni di Paolo. NY: Random, 1993. p. 97

11. There will be no sacraments in heaven for
we will know the communion in love to
which they point us
The highest seat of God the
Empyrean Heaven in Dante’s
Paradiso
Beatrice Disappears for human
love must make way for that
which is beyond it
Pope-Hennessy, John. Paradiso. The Illuminations of
Dante's Divine Comedy by Giovanni di Paolo. NY:
Random, 1993. p. 177