Finding Beauty in a Drooling Pope, the Sexual Desire of a Single Woman, and a Widow's Exhausting Loneliness. | ACW381
Ask Christopher West
Theology of the Body Institute
4.9 • 549 Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Questions answered this episode:
- As a teacher of Theology of the Body, I was presented with a picture of Pope John Paul II by a former student. Before seeing it, I hoped for an image of his younger, energetic self—skiing, hiking, or writing. However, it was a close-up of him as an elderly man, hunched in a chair. I felt a wave of disappointment, realizing I struggle to see the beauty in the entirety of life and the aging body. I know I have healing to do in my heart; how do I begin to see the whole life cycle as a gift?
- As a single woman, is it wrong to have sexual desires? I don’t think about men lustfully; it’s more of a deep ache to be loved, married, and have sex. At random times, I wish I had someone to hold, caress, and embrace in the marital act. My body also shows physical signs of arousal, especially during certain times in my cycle—perhaps God’s way of giving me a foretaste of the New Jerusalem. I’ve tried offering my desires to God in prayer, but I still feel this ache in my heart and body.
- I am 60 years old and have been a widow for eight years. My husband and I were looking forward to a new chapter of intimacy after our children moved out, but then he died. In my anger and grief, I invited a deviant sexual spirit upon myself, feeling it was ridiculous to live without sex or marriage at my age. Though I have since repented, I feel heartbroken and betrayed by God. I feel I was created to be a wife, yet I am exhausted from being alone with no mate in sight. I simply want to know: why?
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Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute President Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When was the last time you stopped and listened to your body? |
| 0:03.4 | Here's a Holland and Barrett ad break to do just that. |
| 0:06.9 | Go on. Have a listen to your gut. |
| 0:10.4 | Is that a gurgle? |
| 0:12.4 | A rumble? |
| 0:14.1 | Is it straining after lunch? |
| 0:16.7 | Or is it saying... |
| 0:18.4 | You've got to show me love. |
| 0:24.6 | We know what your body's asking for. In store online on the app. |
| 0:26.6 | Back your body. Holland and Barrett. |
| 0:29.6 | Inspired by jet engine silences. |
| 0:33.6 | The Dyson Hushjet Purify powerfully purifies the entire room, quietly, capturing pollen, allergens and pet dander, removing odours and harmful gases such as NO2, day and night. |
| 0:54.4 | Hushjet, powerful, compact purification. |
| 0:58.0 | That's quiet. |
| 1:03.4 | From the Theology of the Body Institute, this is the Ask Christopher West podcast. |
| 1:10.4 | Music of the Body Institute. This is the Ask Christopher West podcast. |
| 1:24.7 | Welcome, everybody. We're happy to be with you today. Thanks for tuning in. |
| 1:29.4 | Yeah. We have so many faithful listeners around the world. There's something like 95 countries or something that listened to our podcast. And we've been number one |
| 1:39.6 | religious podcast in multiple of these countries, which is kind of crazy what technology |
| 1:47.9 | allows us to do in the modern world. |
| 1:49.4 | I know, I know. |
| 1:50.2 | Could you have imagined when we were kids in the 70s and 80s that we would have in our |
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