Penance in the Perspective of the Theology of the Body

Penance in the Perspective of the Theology of the Body.

Man in the “Splendour of Divinity.” The Hagiological Interpretation of “spousal love” in line with John Paul II’s Theology of the Body

The article presents the theological interpretation of the phenomenon of spousal love in terms of examining its correlations with the call to holiness. This study belongs to the field of hagiological research aiming at developing a new concept that defines arguments in the Church’s strategy concerning the defence of every human life. The analysis concerns the statements and philosophical writings of Karol Wojtyła and then John Paul II on spousal love and the dependence of the person and his actions on the Truth and Good. The Christological-soteriological aspect of spousal love as conditioning the sanctification of the person has been indicated. The axiological conditions related to the Christological assumption have been termed as “the Splendour of Divinity,” identifying it with the space of the salvific influence on a person, sanctified by Christ’s spousal love and called to develop an ethos based on this love.

Deleuze, Balthasar, and John Paul II on the Aesthetics of the Body

Is the body a grid or a window? For Gilles Deleuze, as for most post-structuralists, the body does not express the person but rather functions as a surface upon which desire writes. Deleuze’s aesthetics of the surface echoes the inchoate convictions of transgenderism. In contrast, for classical Christian aesthetics, the beauty of the surface is an expression of depth. Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theological aesthetics is analyzed along John Paul II’s theology of the body, in which the body expresses the person. I close with a trinitarian analogy of the body.

The Taste and Perfume of the Virgin: Mary and the Nuptial Meaning of Eucharistic Sacramentality

If we are to understand the Eucharist as the Body of Christ, it is necessary to explore how Mary’s own body participates in the Eucharistic mystery. Such a discussion was prominent during the Middle Ages, but today there is very little attention given to the relationship between Mary and the the Eucharist. This paper will explore this subject through the lens of a theology of the sacramental principle. By examining recent papal documents as well as John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, this paper will argue that Mary is the perfect fulfilment of the sacramental principle. The sacramental principle fulfilled is a principle that is nuptial, where the Eucharist expresses the wedding point between God and creation. It is Mary who unveils this mystery in her own person and body.

The Mystery of Body: Nancy's Corpus and the Christian Body

After the initial contextualization of the topic, by following Nancy's juxtaposition strategy, this article points to two senses of the body that, according to him, have defined the Western culture. The first one, logos (principle precedes the body and gives it meaning); the second, sarx (the meaning of the body comes from the body itself, so that the body comes out of itself, alienates itself, and deconstructs its own representative activities). Next, I give a more precise depiction of Nancy's deconstruction of the body through an analysis of Corpus because it is precisely with this work (in the chapter On the Soul, which is also the title of Aristotle's well-known treatise dealing first and foremost with the body, and in the chapter The Extension of the Soul) that Nancy most explicitly deconstructs hylomorphic somatology, which largely influenced the Christian theology of the body. Furthermore, I interpret Genesis 2:18–25 (in constant dialogue with Nancy) as a theological reaction on Nancy's deconstruction of the body. In other words, on the basis of biblical texts, the “mystery of the body” is depicted. Finally, the article ends with a comparison of Nancy's “inoperative community” (communauté désoeuvrée) and the Body of Christ (church).

Race and Resurrection

This essay argues that Paul’s discourses in 1 Corinthians 12 and 15 concerning the church as the Body of Christ and the resurrection of the body offer a biblical challenge to colorblind white supremacy when read in conversation with feminist and womanist theologians. Reading Paul through feminist and womanist treatments of the body and trauma provides a nuanced theology of the body and a complex account of the concrete wounds of white supremacy while also presenting theological and ethical resources for resisting colorblindness.

Wizja miłości w odnalezionym młodzieńczym utworze Karola Wojtyły Wciąż jestem na tym samym brzegu

The unknown piece entitled ‘Here I am, still on this bank’ was discovered during research work on the critical edition of the literary works of Karol Wojtyła / John Paul II in the Archive of the Metropolitan Curia in Cracow in late 2016. The text was created most likely between February 1941 (the date of Wojtyła’s father’s death), and October 1942, when young Karol, a cleric of the clandestine Cracovian Archdiocese Seminary, decided to take up underground studies at the Jagiellonian University’s Theological Department. It is the only piece among Karol Wojtyła’s works to take on the theme of the internal conflicts of the protagonist between love for a woman and a betrothed’s love for God. We can find here the basic foundations of the concept of love, which the Pope would later develop in his philosophy (Love and Responsibility), theology (Theology of the Body) and literary works (e.g. the mystical poems and plays In front of the Jeweller’s Shop and The Radiance of Fatherhood).