Why Do Monks Hide from the World If We’re Called to Communion?, Is My Wife Truly Open to God’s Will?, and Not Sure If I Can Love My Husband | ACW353
Ask Christopher West
Theology of the Body Institute
4.9 • 549 Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Questions answered this episode:
- Could you explain the purpose of cloistered monks and nuns in light of theology of the body? We’re made for relationships through our bodies, yet they live in isolation and silence. Is their life like priestly celibacy—foregoing something of this world for the sake of the kingdom?
- My wife and I had our first child 11 months ago, and I’ve been trying to honor her body and timeline. But I feel like I have little agency in our discernment since she insists we never have sex during fertile windows. How can I ask good, gentle questions to see if she’s truly open to the Lord with her body and heart?
- I’ve been married seven years and long to love my husband well, but it’s so hard. I fall often and feel helpless, aware of my weakness and need for grace. I also struggle with self-hatred and wonder if my difficulty loving him comes from not loving myself. What are your thoughts?
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 | From the Theology of the Body Institute, this is the Ask Christopher West podcast. |
| 0:15.7 | Welcome everybody to another episode of our podcast. |
| 0:20.4 | Hi, podcast listeners. A special shout out to everybody who |
| 0:25.3 | listens to our podcast in the UK and in Germany, because I was just there a couple weeks ago, |
| 0:32.7 | and it was a rich blessing to be with people in both of those countries. |
| 0:39.6 | And Wendy, you have a lot of fans over there. |
| 0:42.1 | I'm just saying both in the UK and in Germany. |
| 0:44.4 | And I got to meet them. |
| 0:48.7 | And I know you would have liked to have met them too, but you weren't with me. |
| 0:50.2 | That's right. |
| 0:52.0 | Well, hi, everybody. |
| 0:59.4 | That's so great that you came to the events and that Christopher got to meet you. We're so grateful that you're listening. |
| 1:18.5 | I had a special experience on the flight home from Germany a couple weeks ago. You know about it, Wendy. I was watching a movie I had heard about, I don't know, six months ago, I had heard it was coming from a Stephen King novella called The Life of Chuck. |
| 1:20.1 | It's been turned into a movie. |
| 1:25.9 | And when I saw it in the lineup of movies on this nine-hour flight, I said, oh, good, I've been wanting to see that. |
| 1:26.5 | Clicked on it. I had no idea |
| 1:28.7 | what I was in for. I don't want to even say too much about this movie other than it had such an |
| 1:40.8 | impact on my soul. I have watched this movie five times, four times in the first week, |
| 1:48.9 | two times in the first day. I watched it twice on the flight. And it's one of those head scratcher |
| 1:55.5 | movies. Like, you don't know exactly what's going on. And it's meant to be that way. And you're like, why this and why that? |
| 2:04.1 | And that doesn't make sense. And the timeline seems off. And that person appeared earlier in the |
| 2:10.2 | movie, but he should be older and he's not. What's going on? Pay attention. If you watch this |
... |
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