Is Heaven More Real Than Earth?, TOB & Eating Disorder & Masturbation, and Rolling Eyes at “Holy Sex”? | ACW350
Ask Christopher West
Theology of the Body Institute
4.9 • 549 Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Questions answered this episode:
- You said heaven is more real than this world, and Mary already lives there in her redeemed body. In prayer, I sometimes feel Jesus and Mary present, but not like it will be in heaven. How can the mystical dimension be more real than what I see daily? Can you give me concrete ways to live this spiritual reality now, not just in holy moments or in the future?
- I’ve struggled for years with an eating disorder, along with lust and masturbation. I’m a woman who feels deep shame, self-hatred, and hopelessness. I wonder if these struggles are connected, and I feel like I lack self-control and keep failing God. The more I fall, the more I hate myself and my body. Can God really love me in this?
- At a party, a woman mentioned being given the book Holy Sex. The group reacted dismissively, joking about hiding it. I felt confused, hurt, and angry, because for me learning the holiness of marital intimacy was liberating. I tried to engage her, but the conversation went nowhere, and I left upset. What do you think was going on with these women?
Resources:
JPII Legacy Foundation Website
THEOLOGY OF THE BODY FOR BEGINNERS - UPDATED, REVISED & EXPANDED 2018 (PAPERBACK)
Holy Sex!: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving
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 | From Theology of the Body Institute, this is the Ask Christopher West podcast. |
| 0:10.0 | Today is a milestone. |
| 0:22.3 | Hi, podcast listeners. |
| 0:24.3 | Oh yeah, we forgot that part. Yeah. |
| 0:25.1 | Hi, everybody. |
| 0:26.2 | Today is a milestone in the history of the Ask Christopher West hosted by Wendy West podcast. |
| 0:33.7 | It is our 350th episode. |
| 0:36.4 | 350. You like that. Once a week episode. 350.0. |
| 0:38.8 | You like that. |
| 0:39.8 | Once a week, that means we've been doing this for, we started in December of 2018, if I recall correctly. |
| 0:47.8 | I hope you do, because I always get confused. |
| 0:49.9 | Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's when. |
| 0:51.1 | Okay. |
| 0:51.6 | If you do the math, that would work out. |
| 0:53.5 | So we're coming up on our seventh year anniversary of doing this. |
| 0:59.9 | And that means we usually answer three questions. |
| 1:04.9 | We did a few episodes where we answered four. |
| 1:08.5 | We've done a few episodes where we answered two. |
| 1:10.7 | So it kind of comes out in the wash. So we're at about 1,050 questions answered. |
| 1:18.6 | Yeah. And they're all still there, archived, right there. |
| 1:25.8 | Do you ever go back and listen to old episodes? |
| 1:28.3 | I think I've listened maybe to two episodes because I needed to find an episode. |
... |
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