Word Made Flesh

One of the most influential and fastest-growing movements in the Church today is centered on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB), of whose teachings Christopher West is the preeminent translator for a popular audience. In Word Made Flesh (Cycle A), West offers reflections on an entire cycle of Sunday Mass readings through the lens of TOB, providing a fresh way to process and act on the Good News by orienting our desires for union with God with our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others. St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is most often framed as an extended catechesis on human sexuality and married love. West takes us on a tour of the Sunday readings throughout the liturgical year and opens their hidden meaning, allowing God’s word to take flesh in our own lives. In a clearly written introduction, Christopher West provides a primer on TOB—an overview of its main teachings and an explanation of how these teachings brilliantly illuminate the whole story of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. In Word Made Flesh, West offers distinctive reflections on all fiftytwo Sunday readings from the first Sunday of Advent through Christ the King Sunday. The reflections naturally and deeply connect with the human experience of living with body and soul in the world while also contemplating the nature of the glorified body in the eternal kingdom to come. The material in Word Made Flesh can be used as a weekly devotional, as preparation for Sunday Mass, or to aid priests or deacons in preparing their homilies. Word Made Flesh (Cycle B) will be released for Advent 2020.Christopher West