Be Filled

Welcome to another episode of the Be Filled Podcast! We have been analyzing with JPII the Sacrament of Marriage. This episode we begin a new section entitled “Sacrament and Mystery” which takes us even deeper into the mystery of God’s love. This episode we will examine Audiences 94-95b. 

Quotes: 

“In him he has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be holy and immaculate in his sight in love…” (Ephesians 1:4) 

“But it is the New Adam who definitively reveals the mystery by leaving his Father in Heaven and leaving the home of his mother on earth to “cleave to his wife” (the Church) and become “one flesh” with her.” (Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained, pg. 408) 

See Scripture for this passage: Isa 54:4–10

“..the true character of the gift that God’s love is for Israel, a gift coming entirely from God’s initiative; in other words, by indicating the dimension of grace, which is contained in this love from the beginning. This is perhaps the strongest “declaration of love” by God, joined with a solemn oath of faithfulness forever.” (TOB 95:3) 

“...saving love which consists in his gift of self for the Church, is a spousal love by which he marries the Church and makes her his own Body”. (TOB 95:7)

“...the gift given by God to man in Christ…is in some sense “all” that God “could” give of himself to man, considering the limited faculties of man as a creature…in this way the analogy of spousal love indicates the “radical” character of grace: of the whole order of created grace.” (TOB 95b:4) 

“...the visible sign of marriage “in the beginning” transposes the eternal plan of love into the “historical” dimension and makes it the foundation of the whole sacramental order.” (TOB 95b:7) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. What spoke to your heart most in this episode of the podcast? 
2. Have you ever deeply considered the odds of your existence? Consider that God has chosen you before the foundation of the world. What stirs in your heart when you think of how God has willed you to be here? 
3. Consider that God has plans and designs for all of eternity. Is there anything going on in your life right now that you are struggling to accept? Pray with this and ask God to help you to see how He might be able to form you through the circumstances. How could He be at work to make you holy and immaculate? 
4. What have you learned about the love of Christ through your marriage? What have you learned about marriage through the love of Christ? How is your marriage a “lab” for better understanding God’s love? 
5. How has God been faithful to you even when you were not faithful to Him? 
6. In what ways has God pursued you in your life? Have you let Him “catch you”? 
7. How does your relationship with God impact your relationship with your spouse? 
8. Could you relate to the letter Katie read? How do you walk through difficult times in life with your spouse? 
9. Do you see your marriage as an eternal covenant? What difference does that make in your marriage? 
10. Are you trying to manage your marriage or are you open to the grace God wants to pour out in and through your marriage? 

Resources: 

“Night” by Elie Wiesel

“He Leadeth Me” by Father Walter Ciszec

Audio: Music from #Uppbeat

License code: RY08CU821XYO4AEB

Welcome to another episode of the podcast! In this episode we are continuing to examine with John Paul II the text of Ephesians Chapter 5 on the “great mystery” revealed in the Sacrament of Marriage and in the love of Christ and the Church. We will be discussing Audiences 91-93. This is a great conversation and one of the more vulnerable episodes we have had in the podcast! Enjoy! Don’t forget you can watch the podcast on our YouTube Channel! We are also on Facebook and Instagram! Follow us and share with a friend! 

Quotes: 

“...the author speaks as if in marriage also the husband were “head of his wife” and the wife “body of her husband”, as if spouses also formed an organic union.” (TOB 91:2) “...the Church is so strongly, so essentially herself in virtue of a union with the (mystical) Christ.” (TOB 91:3) 

“Christ and his Church thus together make up the “whole Christ” (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ.” (CCC# 795) St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person.” 

“And you, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water accompanied by the word, so as to present his Church before himself all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind but holy and immaculate.” (Ephesians 5:25-27) 

“The essential goal of the love of Christ for the Church is her sanctification…(Baptism) is the purification through which Christ’s love for the Church gains a spousal character”. (TOB 91:6) 

“The one who receives Baptism becomes at the same time-by virtue of the redemptive love of Christ-a participant in his spousal love for the Church.” (TOB 91:7) “Christ, therefore with his redemptive and spousal love brings it about that the Church not only becomes sinless, but remains “eternally young”. (TOB 92:2) 

“In the same way, husbands have the duty to love their wives as their own bodies, for the one who loves his wife loves himself. No one, in fact, ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church, because we are members of his body.” (Ephesians 5:28-30) “...the husband is above all the one who loves and the wife, by contrast, is the one who is loved. One might even venture the idea that the wife’s “submission” to the husband…means above all “the experiencing of love.” (TOB 92:6) 

“The expressions referring to care for the body, and above all for its nourishment, to providing food for it, suggest to a number of Scripture scholars a reference to the Eucharist, with which Christ, in his spousal love, “feeds the Church.” (TOB 92:8) 

“For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and unite with his wife, and the two will form one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) (Ephesians 5:31) “By quoting the words of Genesis 2:24, the author emphasizes that the bases of this analogy should be sought in the line that writes, in God’s salvific plan, marriage as the most ancient revelation (and “manifestation”) of that plan in the created world with the definitive revelation and “manifestation”, namely, the revelation that Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her” endowing his redemptive love with a spousal nature and meaning.” (TOB 93:1) 

“This mystery is great, I say this with reference to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:32) 

Reflection Questions:

1. What spoke to your heart most in this episode of the podcast? 
2. Have you ever considered the “organic” unity of Christ with the Church? How does this impact your view of the Church as the Body of Christ? 
3. Contemplate the love of Christ. He wants intimacy with YOU. He suffered for YOU without counting the cost. What stirs in your heart when you think of this truth? 
4. In your family how do you pour yourself out everyday? How could this draw you closer to Christ? 
5. Have you bought into the culture’s message to not be changed by your marriage or sacrifice anything? Have you considered that you will actually find yourself by becoming a sincere gift of self? Pray about this and ask the Lord to show you how you can allow your heart to change through your relationship with your spouse. 
6. You are indispensable to the Church. Have you considered YOUR impact on the Church? How can you build up the body? 
7. How well are you receiving love? From God? From your spouse? 
8. Do you hunger for the Lord? Ask Him for a deeper recognition of His love and His desire to satisfy you with Himself…especially in the Eucharist. “This is my body, given up for you.” 
9. What parts of yourself are you hiding from the Lord? Are you willing to be vulnerable with him and let him love you there? Are you keeping anything from your husband out of fear or shame? Ask the Lord to sit with you there and speak tenderly to you. 
10. “God wants to marry you.” What are your thoughts about this? 

Resources: 

The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Luisa Piccarreta

Audio: Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/chase-the-sun

License code: Y7RHEFYCSRNIHCCU

Welcome to the show! This episode we are continuing our study on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. Today we are beginning our conversation on Part Two entitled The Sacrament. The Sacrament, as we will find out, is not ONLY referring to marriage. According to JPII, the one “great sacrament” is both the union of husband and wife and the union of Christ and the Church. This episode we will discuss audiences 87-90. This is the beginning of JPII's analysis of Ephesians 5:21-33. 

Quotes: 

“Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, he who is the Savior of his body. And as the Church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be subject to their husbands in everything. And you, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water accompanied by the word, so as to present his Church before himself all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and immaculate. In the same way, husbands have the duty to love their wives as their own body, for the one who loves his wife loves himself. No one, in fact, ever hates his own flesh, but he nourishes and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and unite with his wife, and the two will form one flesh. This mystery is great; I say this in reference to Christ and the Church. Therefore also you, each one on his part, should love his wife as himself, and the woman should have reverence toward her husband.” (Ephesians 5:22-33) 

“The reciprocal relations of husband and wife must spring from their common relation with Christ.” (Pope John Paul II, TOB) 

“The mystery of Christ must be “spiritually present in the reciprocal relation of the spouses-penetrating their hearts.” (Pope John Paul II, TOB) 

Christian marriage only happens when it “mirrors the love that Christ, the Bridegroom, gives to the Church, his Bride AND when the Church seeks to give back to Christ in return. This is the redeeming, saving love, the love with which man has been loved by God from eternity in Christ.” (Pope John Paul II, TOB) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. What stuck out to you most in this episode of the podcast?
2. What is your understanding of the passage we read in Ephesians 5? Have you seen this passage as just “old fashioned”?  How did this episode help you in your understanding?
3. What has your experience with your earthly father influenced your image of God the Father? Could there be a connection with how you see men, in general, and how you think husbands are called to treat their wives? Pray with this and ask the Lord to heal any wounds and show you his character.
4. Do you think that you, as a woman, need to “do it all”? Do you allow yourself to be taken care of or do you think that makes you “weak”?
5. Have you ever thought of marriage as a Sacrament meant to purify you and lead to the healing of your wounds? What are your thoughts on this?
6. Take some time to read the Letter to the Ephesians so that you can get a sense of the message of the whole letter. Pray with it and ask the Lord to lead you.
7. We are called to the vocation to love and to holiness. How are you pursuing this vocation? How are you open to what God is calling you to in your everyday life?
8. We “do battle” here on earth by being filled by the Holy Spirit and living as “children of light”. What does this look like in your life? In your family? In your friendships? In your community?
9. What are you really looking for in that “glass of wine”? Pray with that desire and consider going to Adoration to spend time with the Lord.
10. Consider these words: Chosen, Loved, Called. Do you know the truth of your identity in Christ? Pray with these words and ask the Lord to tell you how He sees you and what he desires for your life.
11. Consider letting go of your “to do’s” and make a list of your “I do’s”. What can you do to make a gift of yourself to your spouse and better image God’s love? 

Resources: 

Pints With Aquinas: What To Do When Marriage Gets Hard (Jason and Crystalina Evert) 

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/chase-the-sun

License code: VUSKWZEFZEJMLMTR

 

Welcome to Season 5 of the Be Filled Podcast! Today the ladies sit down to share their experiences over the break! Katie went to a healing retreat, Rachelle went to the Theology of the Body Institute for a TOB class, and Patty traveled to the Holy Lands! You do not want to miss this fun and encouraging conversation. There is so much hope in the midst of what can seem to be dark times. Enjoy the episode! 

Quotes to Ponder: 

“Healing is an ongoing encounter with God’s love” (Dr. Bob Schuchts) 

“Behind every unholy, disordered desire there is a longing for God.” 

“If we look at today’s world, we are struck by many negative factors that can lead to pessimism. But this feeling is unjustified: we have faith in God our Father and Lord and in his mercy…God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs.” (Pope John Paul II, Encyclical on the Mission of the Redeemer) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. What stirred in your heart as you listened to this podcast?
2. How are you participating in this Jubilee Year of Hope? How can you open yourself to receive the grace offered this year?
3. What “big” wounds have you experienced? What are the “paper cuts” you have experienced in your life? Are you open to the healing that God wants to offer you? Do you ever resist praying with your wounds?
4. As you listened to the wounds Katie mentioned, what do you think might be blocking you from God’s love? (The wounds listed were: rejection, abandonment, fear, shame, powerlessness, hopelessness, and confusion)
5. Practice turning to the Lord with curiosity when you are disturbed. Ask Him what He is trying to show you when you feel uncomfortable. What might He be trying to free you from?
6. Do you have any interest in attending a TOB Institute Course? Pray about this and ask the Lord to guide your thinking.
7. Do you feel a sense of “revival” in the world? Be sure to pray for healing in your heart and in the world.
8. How can you be more present to people in your life? Are you attuned to the hearts of others?
9. Pray about taking a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. See the link below for more information about the trip Patty discussed. Be sure to keep those in the Holy Land in your prayers.

Resources: 

Healing the Whole Person Retreat- In Person

Online Healing the Whole Person Retreat

Be Healed: A Guide to Encountering the Powerful Love of Jesus in Your Life  by Dr. Bob Schuchts

Theology of the Body Immersion Course Online: Scholarship Opportunity 

Pilgrimage Opportunities

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/chase-the-sun
License code: BKN7N3V4X5E9TVQX

This is the last of 5 re-released episodes before we launch Season 5! Our first episode of Season 5, we will talk about how God has been working in our lives since Season 4! I hope you will join us! Enjoy this episode! 

This episode we continue our study on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. We are discussing General Audience 20-22 on “Knowledge” and Procreation.  We discuss what it means that man and woman “knew” each other through the “one flesh” union. We also discuss what Motherhood and Fatherhood reveal to man and woman about their masculinity and femininity. 

Scripture:  

“Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD. (Genesis 4:1) 

Quotes to Ponder:

“A word on this “unrepeatability” of the person: a husband and wife who truly “know” each other have arrived at the irreducible core of the person, and each loves this person-not merely spiritual or physical attributes of the person, but the person himself (herself). At this level, they continually recognize and affirm the unrepeatability of the other; he (she) is utterly unique and cannot be repeated or replaced.” (West, Theology of the Body Explained, p.154)

“...we should observe that in Genesis 4:1 the mystery of femininity manifests and reveals itself in it’s full depth through motherhood, as the text says, “who conceived and gave birth.” Woman’s motherhood reveals to the man the mystery of his masculinity, “that is, the generative and “paternal” meaning of his body.” (TOB 21:2) 

“Despite all the experiences of his own life, despite the sufferings, the disappointments in himself, his sinfulness, and, finally, despite the inevitable prospect of death, man always continues, however, to place “knowledge” at the “beginning” of “generation”; in this way he seems to participate in that first “vision” of God himself: God, the Creator, “saw everything…and indeed, it was good.” And always anew he confirms the truth of these words.” (TOB 22:7) 

Resources: 

Barbie Movie Opening Scene

Christopher West Commentary on the Barbie Movie

Bill Donaghy Commentary

 

We are 2 weeks away from the launch of Season 5! This is a re-release from Season 3 that will help us prepare for Season 5.

This episode we continue our study on Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body. We are discussing General Audience 16.3-19.6 on the Mystery of Original Innocence. With JPII, we are “zooming in” on the Communion of Persons between man and woman. We discover the source of this Original Innocence and it allows man and woman to become a “disinterested gift of self”. 

Quotes to Ponder: 

“This innocence belongs to the dimension of grace contained in the mystery of creation, that is, to that mysterious gift made to man’s innermost [being]—to the human heart—that allows both the man and the woman to exist from the “beginning” in the reciprocal relationship of the disinterested gift of self.”  (TOB 16:3) 

“The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.” (TOB 19:4) 

Reflection Questions: 

1. When have you experienced someone making a gift of themself to you not expecting anything in return?  What response did you have? When have you been a free gift to someone else? How did it feel? 
2. “Grace is God’s self-gift to man.” (Christopher West) Are you open to receive the gift that God wants to give you? Is there any resistance to his grace in your heart? Pray with this and ask God to help you open your heart to Him. 
3. How can you become a gift to those in your life? Think about your family, your Church, your friends, and community. Could you do something today to be a gift? 
4. When someone sees you and tells you the goodness they see, how does that impact you? Has anyone ever seen gifts in you that you didn’t recognize? 
5. How do you see God’s love through your relationships? Can you see how God makes His love known in a concrete way through the love of man and woman?

Resources: 

Commentary 

Rachelle’s Visual Aids 

 

We are continuing our study of Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. This episode we are beginning a new section of the text entitled “Man In The Dimension of Gift”. This is the first of two episodes in this section. Today we are discussing General Audiences 13.2-16.2 on The Spousal Meaning of the Body. 

Guiding Quote: 

“The dimension of gift is decisive for the essential truth and depth of the meaning of original solitude-unity-nakedness.” (TOB 13:2) 

Reflections Questions: 

1. What impacted you most in the podcast? 
2. Spend some time reflecting on your existence. Ask God to help you recognize the gift of life He has given you. How can you be a gift to your Creator today? 
3. Do you stop to notice the beauty of creation? Take some time this week to be outside and notice beauty. Put your “Gift Goggles” on! Praise God for all He has given you in creation. 
4. How can you teach your children, grandchildren, friends, and students to look for gifts everyday?  
5. How can you be a free gift today to those God has placed in your life at home, work, school, and in your community? 
6. Reflect on the miracle of you. You are not an accident. How does it make you feel when you consider that you are willed by God? 
7. Who in your life has made themselves available for you? How did this make you feel? Who in your life can you be completely available for? What might that look like? 

Resources: 

Double Rainbow Guy

A Meditation on Givenness by Pope John Paul II 

Wonderfully Made! Babies: A Catholic Perspective on How and Why God Makes Babies (for ages 9 and up) by Ellen Giangiordano

Commentary on Audiences 13.2-16:2

Next episode we will be discussing Audiences 16.3-19.6 on The Mystery of Original Innocence. If you have questions or comments, we would love to hear from you. We can reached by email at befilledpodcast@gmail.com.

This week we are re-releasing an episode from Season 2. This is in preparation for the launch of Season 5 on October 1st! Enjoy!

We are continuing our study of Saint Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. This episode we are discussing General Audiences 11.1-13.1 on Original Nakedness. We discuss the meaning of “nakedness” and what it meant that the first man and woman did not experience shame. 

Scripture: 

“And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25) 

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7) 

Reflections Questions: 

1. What stood out most for you in this episode? 
2. Try to think back to when you first heard the story of creation. How did you respond to the fact that Adam and Eve were naked? What factors do you think have influenced your view of the body and of nakedness? 
3. Do you practice transparency/vulnerability in your relationships? How could being open with others help you to receive those God has placed in your life? 
4. Recall your first experience of shame. Based on your experience of shame, what do you imagine the first man and woman’s experience of not having shame would be like? Pray with this asking God to heal any wounds you may be carrying related to shame. 
5. Have you experienced brokenness in your relationships due to deep shame and insecurity? How did the understanding of the relationship between the first man and woman impact you? What longings are stirred in your heart? Pray with these longings and invite the Lord to be with you there. 
6. How is your vision of men and women? Is there anything that needs the healing touch of God?

Resources: 

Commentary on Audiences 11-13.1

For more information on the Ruah Woods Curriculum click here.

Next episode we will be discussing Audiences 13.2-16.2 on the “Spousal Meaning of the Body.”