Joyfully Surrender to a Crying Infant, Is God In Vulgar Art, & Trading Pornography For True Intimacy. | ACW380
Ask Christopher West
Theology of the Body Institute
4.9 • 549 Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2026
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Questions answered this episode:
- I’m a first-time mom to an almost six-month-old, and motherhood is both the most beautiful and difficult thing I’ve ever done. I struggle with knowing what it means to lay down my life as a parent. In other relationships, we’re taught to set healthy boundaries and ensure our needs are met, but in motherhood, even my basic needs—sleep, exercise, seeing friends—feel like sacrifices. The other night, a failed attempt at extra sleep left me frustrated with God, my baby, my husband, and myself for not sacrificing more joyfully. I genuinely love my daughter, but how do I truly learn to joyfully surrender? Why does the Lord ask so much of me?
- I know Christopher has mentioned in the past that music and movies can be a pathway to feeling the Lord’s love and grace. But what about movies and music that are vulgar or sexually explicit? Is this holy in its own way, or is it something that should be avoided?
- In a YouTube video, I heard Christopher distinguish between "being gay" and experiencing same-sex attraction. I began to understand that my sexual dimension doesn't define my whole person, yet that "something more" has become invisible due to pornography. I mostly feel desire, longing, and conflict. I felt that if I fought my inclinations, there would be nothing left of me; need for love and pleasure became so intertwined I couldn't distinguish them. I viewed my lack of a physical partner as proof I’m unworthy of love. After much pain, I’m asking if there’s another way to fill this void—one that seeks deep, soulful closeness rather than just pleasure.
Resources:
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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 | Take this Holland and Barrett ad break to listen to your body. |
| 0:03.2 | Is your body after some energy support from Solgars magnesium citrate? |
| 0:07.0 | Or maybe it's after a kick of applied nutrition critical weight protein for leg day. |
| 0:12.2 | Is it looking to iron out tiredness with Vitabiotics Ferroglobin? |
| 0:16.1 | Or is your body simply saying, |
| 0:17.7 | You've got to show me love. |
| 0:20.2 | Find the brands that help you back your body at Holland and Barrett. |
| 0:23.9 | Magnesium contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism. |
| 0:26.2 | Protein contributes to the growth in maintenance and muscle mass. |
| 0:28.2 | Ion contributes to a reduction of tightness and fatigue. |
| 0:35.4 | From the Theology of the Body Institute, this is the Ask Christopher West podcast. |
| 0:48.8 | Hi, podcast listeners. |
| 0:51.0 | Hey, everybody. Thanks for tuning in to be with us today. We're happy to be with you. We are. I'm happy to be with you, Wendy. Thanks. I'm happy to be with you, Christopher. Thank you. And I just said something there. I said, I'm happy to be with you, too. You did. And that reminds me of something, which is a little, a song that's gotten in your head recently, and you've been humming around the house. |
| 1:14.7 | And I think our listeners would be interested. |
| 1:16.8 | Yeah, it's not just in my head. |
| 1:18.2 | It's kind of in my bones. |
| 1:19.6 | Go for it. |
| 1:20.2 | You too, anybody who knows me and knows my love of music knows I've been following this band since the early 80s, which was a long time ago. |
| 1:29.1 | Yeah. |
| 1:29.5 | This year, 2026, U2 is celebrating 50 years together as a band. |
| 1:35.8 | That's pretty crazy. |
| 1:37.6 | But they haven't put out an album since 2017. |
... |
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