I want a husband who only has eyes for me. Am I wrong for feeling hurt and insecure when men—especially married ones—speak lustfully about other women? I love my fiancée, but I feel guilty when my body reacts sexually during affection. Am I letting things go too far, or is this out of my control? My marriage feels one-sided and painful. I feel used in sex and emotionally unseen. Despite trying everything, I’m losing hope—what should I do? Resources: COURSE SCHEDULE --- Ask Christopher West is a ...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 338
If spiritual beauty is deeper and more important, does aesthetic beauty still have value? And why do we emphasize it with fashion or makeup? After embracing modesty through TOB, I feel convicted not to wear a revealing bridesmaid dress for a Catholic wedding. How do I honor my conscience without offending my cousin? Sex feels clinical and disconnected while trying to conceive. Am I wrong to want emotional connection even when we’re being practical? Resources: TOBI Event Calendar Love & Respo...
Jun 23, 2025•56 min•Ep. 338
I missed the 2020 online conference and Wendy’s talk that deeply interests me. Also, I couldn’t attend the Mary course you personally recommended—will there be another chance? I long for intimacy, but my husband rejects my advances. It revives deep insecurities and leaves me lonely and ashamed. How do I carry this cross with love? Seeing our wedding photos reminds us of how broken we were. How can we reclaim joy and see beauty in our beginning again? Resources: TOB Course Package Deal JPII Legac...
Jun 16, 2025•53 min•Ep. 337
I've faced physical suffering that leaves me asking why God created us so weak. My pain has taught me compassion, but I still struggle to understand its purpose. I've read Salvifici Doloris , but I need help connecting Theology of the Body to my suffering. Why does God allow this? What meaning is there in our bodily weakness? After our fourth child, my husband wants to space the next pregnancy and avoid contraception—but he's unsure about relying solely on NFP. He suggests abstinence for a while...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 336
How can I open my heart emotionally to my wife during sex after a history of porn and brokenness? How do I heal and forgive after losing friends and community following a controlling relationship and new engagement? Is there a Theology of the Body insight in my toddler mistaking confession for a wedding? Resources: COURSE SCHEDULE TOB Course Package Deal Catechism Quote 2843 --- Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute President Christopher West and his be...
Jun 02, 2025•57 min•Ep. 335
Why can’t I let go of a toxic past relationship and fully embrace attraction and presence in my marriage? What does it mean to die with dignity, and is it right to see death as something good or redeemed? How can I teach psychology through a Catholic lens and reveal God’s beauty in the human mind? Resources: COURSE SCHEDULE JPII Legacy Foundation Website Eating the Sunrise Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute President Christopher West and his beloved ...
May 26, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Questions answered this episode: Can we call God “Mother” without being heretical? Is my friend’s bodybuilding lifestyle and public modesty truly compatible with Christian witness? How do I prepare for marriage without becoming anxious about its challenges? Resources: JPII Legacy Foundation Website Join our Patron Community! --- 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...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Questions answered this episode: Can indulgences and scapulars make sense through the lens of Theology of the Body? How can I embrace lifelong celibacy after my wife left me? Are appearance-focused exercises inherently vain or can they be good? Resources COURSE SCHEDULE Eating the Sunrise Fill These Hearts Sexual Needs Into Prayer YouTube Video Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses God Is Beauty Book --- Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute President ...
May 12, 2025•57 min
Questions answered this episode: How do I overcome fear and insecurity about sex before marriage, especially since I’m a virgin and my fiancé isn’t? How can I love someone well when she ended our relationship but I still care deeply for her? How do I reconcile Galatians 3:28 with TOB’s teaching that we remain male and female in eternity? Resources COURSE SCHEDULE Love & Responsibility YouTube Series --- Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Presiden...
May 05, 2025•54 min
Questions answered this episode: I work for a small Christian university... how can I prepare to teach Theology of the Body to a Protestant audience when JP2's writings feel dense and I'm limited in time and resources? After discovering my husband’s hidden struggles with pornography and masturbation, how can I walk with him toward a true relationship with Christ while dealing with my own feelings of betrayal? I’m about to get married and just found out I’ll have my period on my honeymoon. Is it ...
Apr 28, 2025•51 min
Questions answered this episode: At a recent funeral, people spoke about God's perfect timing in death, but I wondered, isn't death, the separation of body and soul, a result of the fall? Doesn't God's will have both a perfect and permissive side, given our fallen world and freedom to choose? Wouldn’t God prefer us to live forever, body and soul, rather than just our souls going to heaven? Can you help me understand all of this in the context of Theology of the Body? I was discussing sexuality w...
Apr 21, 2025•51 min
Questions answered this episode: How can I affirm the single life as a valid and holy vocation, especially for those who feel overlooked in typical vocation stories? As a wife with low sexual desire due to hormones (e.g., postpartum), is it okay to engage in intimacy for my husband's sake even if it's uncomfortable—and is it wrong to show enthusiasm I don’t truly feel? When teaching my kids about sexuality, should I share my own past sexual sins—or could that send the wrong message, even though ...
Apr 14, 2025•55 min
Questions answered this episode: 1. My husband and I are newly married and both committed to our faith. I came into marriage with a deep understanding of the sacredness of the marital embrace through TOB, but we quickly discovered I have a much higher sex drive, and he struggles with erectile dysfunction. It’s left me feeling rejected, unattractive, and alone—especially since women rarely talk about having stronger desire. I’m trying to love him through this, but I’m grieving how hard this is co...
Apr 07, 2025•58 min
Questions answered this episode: Questions answered this episode: My eldest son is nearly 20, and he told us 2 years ago that he doesn't believe in God, which was incredibly heartbreaking for my husband and me. He is, however, respectful of our faith. He has a girlfriend, and they have been dating for about 4 months. She's just moved to another state to study at a university, which is about 4 hours from where we live. He's looking forward to visiting her in the next few weeks. He's planning on s...
Mar 31, 2025•56 min
Questions answered this episode: Dear Christopher and Wendy, thank you for all you do. For context, my husband and I are expecting a baby again for the third time in less than three years, despite our best efforts to practice NFP. I am exhausted and facing potentially serious health concerns. My parents have never understood our stance against contraception, despite being Catholic themselves, and have always tried to persuade us to use it. Things came to a nasty head recently when we announced o...
Mar 24, 2025•54 min
Questions answered this episode: Hi, Christopher and Wendy, thank you for this podcast and your ministry. It has changed my life. I have a rather delicate question, but I guess I don't know whom else to turn to. I can help you. I've been married for a few years now to my wonderful bride. I have struggled with self-esteem and self-confidence issues since childhood, and that is still the case today. My delicate question concerns the marriage bed and sexual intimacy. In the few years we've been mar...
Mar 19, 2025•55 min
Questions answered this episode: I'm a 25-year-old man, called by God to marriage. Two years ago, I met a girl who helped in the same parish as me, and I fell in love with her. After a few months, we spoke about it, but she kindly rejected me. We lost contact, and I went through a deep crisis of faith. I felt abandoned, extremely and hopelessly alone. After a time, I came back to her city, and we served again together in the same parish. Shortly after, she broke up with her boyfriend and asked m...
Mar 10, 2025•52 min
Questions answered this episode: I recently gave birth to our first baby. My plan going in was to have a natural, unmedicated birth. There's something beautiful, especially from a Catholic perspective, about the pain of childbirth that brings new life into the world, a reflection of Christ's suffering on the cross. Many of my Catholic friends have had this type of birth, and I came across a lot of women on social media who advocate for this type of birth, saying, "Your body was made for this." T...
Mar 03, 2025•50 min
Questions answered this episode: I’m a woman in my 40’s and I’ve found it difficult to get in the mood with my husband unless I create fantasies in my head. These fantasies are usually of sexual situations I create that don’t involve my husband or in many cases even me. I’ll picture two nameless people in an intimate act. Sometimes one party is using another party or the other party is cheating on his wife with a beautiful young woman. Before I was serious about my faith I had looked at porn alt...
Feb 24, 2025•55 min
Questions answered this episode: My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years. Shortly after we got married, my husband became verbally and physically abusive. There’s such a disconnected between his professed love for me and the lived reality of our marriage. As his abusive behavior has continued, I’ve found myself walling off my heart more and more. Intellectually I know that a covenantal relationship with God is different and I need to remain open but it feels like my heart has stopp...
Feb 17, 2025•48 min
Questions answered this episode: In the state of original innocence did Adam & Eve experience bodily functions like defecation and urination? If so, how would these have aligned with their original harmony and the perfection of creation. Sometimes these functions are uncomfortable or even painful. For almost a year now I’ve been in a beautiful catholic relationship. We both love God and our faith and want to follow the Church’s teaching in our relationship. We’re discerning marriage at the m...
Feb 10, 2025•44 min
Questions answered this episode: I’m 21, finishing up college soon and have been fighting for the past 6 years to overcome an addiction to porn and masturbation that started when I was first exposed to porn in 4th grade. The past 2 years have been especially tumultuous with lots of victory and defeat. However I believe God has been allowing these setbacks in order to purify me in numerous ways. Recently I started going on dates with a good friend of mine. As a result, I’ve noticed two particular...
Feb 03, 2025•53 min
Questions answered this episode: I’m discerning marriage with a wonderful girl and I discovered a hurt in my heart that I wasn’t fully conscious of. While growing up I was always scandalized and nauseated every time I perceived hypocrisy from others, especially in marriage celebrations. I knew that all the display of vanity that society prescribes is about appearance and virtue signaling to others. The spouses are expected to give some sort of public performance showing their great love story an...
Jan 27, 2025•51 min
Questions answered this episode: I’m a mother of 5 living children. I’ve lost 2 daughters from miscarriage within the past year. My womb has become a tomb for 2 deeply desired little girls. I was unable to hold my baby girl after the first miscarriage, but my second loss occurred after 16 weeks. My body did not detect the loss and I was induced to deliver her at almost 20 weeks. She was perfectly formed and my husband and I were able to spend hours with her. A couple of days later when my milk c...
Jan 20, 2025•52 min
Questions answered this episode: I’m a part of a pro-life non-profit organization. Even though my journey began in 2015, it was only recently that I discovered the potentially abortive nature of many contraceptives leading me to remove my IUD. I’m married to a good husband. Unfortunately, he believes society’s message that even within marriage the responsible thing to do is to use contraception when not ready. He understands that contraception and IUDs are immoral because they can be abortive. W...
Jan 13, 2025•52 min
Questions answered this episode: How are men supposed to understand this sudden obsession with p*nis size and measurements? How can one deal with the shame society places on certain male body parts? I’ve been in a relationship with my partner for just over a year now. I’m a Catholic and he is not. He is open and respectful even though he expressed he would wait for me until marriage. I ultimately decided that somehow I was okay with engaging in non-marital sexual relations with him. I realized I...
Jan 06, 2025•54 min
Questions answered this episode: _1. How can Catholics and students of TOB help bridge the gap when protestants and Catholics read a different set of books of the Bible? My fiancé & I had some intense experiences as teenagers. I was rped as a child and that broke me so much that I was consuming prn from a very young age and had an active and uncontrolled sx life. I felt particularly alone in this matter because growing up all I ever heard was that prn was a boys problem. It took me 10 years ...
Dec 30, 2024•40 min
Questions answered this episode: I strive for holiness and go to daily Mass & Rosary but from past wounds I’ve realized that my wounded interior girl longs to be loved, recognized & accepted by men. For this reason I tend to love men much younger than me. I also have disordered feelings and thoughts toward men that strive for holiness like priests & seminarians. I feel ashamed and reject myself for feeling this. How can I deal with these feelings and passions and accept myself in my ...
Dec 23, 2024•56 min
Questions answered this episode: Did John Paul II identify the 4 ruptures? My husband and I have been married for over 35 years. We’ve been through very difficult challenges in our married life and my body is not capable of intercourse. It’s been 5 years since our last union. Why do I feel shame about myself and my inability to give what I don’t have? What does the Bible mean with the words “give himself up for her” from Ephesians 5? I’m a 27 yo man who has never been in a romantic relationship....
Dec 16, 2024•44 min
Questions answered this episode: How do unbaptized people fit into the body of Christ? My husband and I are new Catholics. We both have a past in regards to sexual sin. While dating we frequently had to stop ourselves in times of passion and it seemed like he was always aroused when we were together. Then we got married and all of that went away. He never wanted to have sex in the earlier part of our marriage while I did. Two and a half years later, we have significantly decreased the frequency ...
Dec 09, 2024•55 min
