Seeing the Naked Body as a Physician, Knowing God's Will With Certainty, and St. Joseph in TOB | ACW349
Ask Christopher West
Theology of the Body Institute
4.9 • 549 Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2025
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Questions answered this episode:
1. I was addicted to pornography until my mid-twenties but have lived chastely for 12 years. Still, I struggle with scars: working as a physician, I get tempted by seeing women’s bodies. I pray in those moments, but I still desire to look, searching for a “moral excuse.” I’ve been dating someone who knows in general, but I can’t tell her every time. Why hasn’t this stopped, even though she fills my heart? Is this from pornography, or something deeper?
2. I’m dating a man who loves TOB, and we’ve built a childlike friendship where we can be ourselves. We both think God may be calling us to marriage, but how do I know for sure? My past dating has often ended in disappointment, but this relationship feels different—we strive for virtue together. I want to balance my desire to be a gift in marriage with God’s plan, but I’m afraid of the future and struggle to surrender completely.
3. I understand Mariology is deeply tied to TOB, but what about Saint Joseph? I rarely see his role explained. How is his mission interwoven with TOB?
Resources:
Are you ready for marriage? Check out Next Step: A Course for Discerning Marriage
CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH ST. JOSEPH: AN INTEGRATED LOOK AT THE HOLY FAMILY
Symposium | The Josephology Society
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 | Hey, Wendy. |
| 0:18.0 | Yes. |
| 0:19.0 | We're doing some really complex math before we hit the record button. |
| 0:23.8 | Oh, yeah. |
| 0:24.4 | Maybe you could share that deep, complex math problem with everybody. |
| 0:30.2 | Well, you're being a little bit sarcastic, so I just want to share that with the group, |
| 0:36.7 | because all I said was we're recording episode 349, so I just want to share that with the group because all I said was we're |
| 0:38.3 | recording episode 349. And I said, what's 349 plus one? And you said, wait, let me, I'm trying |
| 0:47.8 | You have to think about it. I have to think about that like 349. It was 150. |
| 0:55.6 | Which is not now. |
| 0:56.1 | Not now. |
| 0:56.8 | Next week. |
| 0:58.4 | But everybody, guess what? |
| 0:58.8 | What? |
| 1:02.4 | Next week is our 350th episode. |
| 1:04.1 | Yeah, that's, it just feels fun. |
| 1:05.0 | It does feel fun. |
| 1:06.3 | We've been doing this a while. Do you know, I feel like it's been kind of over the years now. |
| 1:10.0 | It's almost seven years, obviously, weekly episodes. |
| 1:15.1 | You know, it's been a journey for us personally, and I think it has been a deepening of our marriage bond. |
| 1:23.0 | It has been. Without a doubt, I can say that. |
... |
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