Something new for my Lent

After reading this very long and very interesting post over at Open Book (and I can’t wait for her to continue this series on what promises to be a very interesting book), and after a rather, erm, interesting discussion at our RCIA class regarding morality, I’ve decided to be completely insane. I’ve added John Paul II’s Theology of the Body to my Lenten practices this year. The whole thing. The reason I think, at this point, I’m nuts is because the introduction alone is 128 pages.

But that, frankly, doesn’t matter at this point. After having read just a few pages I’ve realized this book speaks directly to much that I’ve been ruminating about theologically and certainly seems a basis for (or perhaps a parallel corollary to) much of the theology I’ve been reading from then-Cardinal Ratzinger. After our discussion this weekend (the launch point for the “interesting” part was a combination of statements that when put together said effectively the Church has effectively left decisions on birth control up to the person since no one ever talks about them from the pulpit…I think I maintained admirable composure, thank you very much) I realized that this was one area of my theological formation that needed some significant plumping up.

It should be an interesting ride. I’ve already realized how long it’s been since I read anything significant by John Paul II, a rather unfortunate coincidence of timing and priorities rather than a specific plan. The positive part is that my von Balthasar book still won’t be here from Amazon until around March 5, so I have some time to get a jump on things.