Understanding

Todays Teen
Teens are searching
The Church is in many ways surging
with excitement and participation of
youth

What does YOUR

EXPERIENCE
tell you about todays teen?

The Gen Y/Millenial

--Are

part of the Me Generation

Narcissistic Millennials by Sara Berman)

(The

--Their most important goals:

To be rich
- 81%

To be famous
- 51%

To help people in need - 30%

To be community leaders
22%

To become more spiritual

10%

The Gen Y/Millenial

First cell phone generation; dealing
with Internet consequences;
Over-stimulated; busy and
distracted; identity marketed to them;
Marked by evil of 9/11 & terrorism; Iraq
War and major natural disasters like
The Indian Ocean Tsunami and
Hurricane Katrina;
Reality taught to them through TV

The Gen Y/Millenial is:

Rat race like their parents; think they are more
mature than they are, thus they drink,
smoke, party, etc.
LOST: materialistic; longing for purpose;
extreme; often hopeless and depressed
FOUND: spiritually beginning to balance
emotion & substance;
A very bodily generation -- tattoos,
piercings, surgically altered, oversexed,
underdressed, etc
Primed and ready for the Theology of the
Body
Princess Bride: Pre-conceived notions

Introduction to
John Paul II
Witnessed the smearing of the dignity of
the human person: Nazism, the holocaust,
communism, totalitarianism, economic
utilitarianism, etc.
He not only saw this he experienced it
Need for Gospel relevancy in the modern
world
Male/female relationship:
substratum of all ethics and culture
Regain an adequate anthropology to
reconnect men and women with our dignity
and original purpose

Introduction to
John Paul II
Connect to the echo of original
experiences
As well as each human heart and in our
own experience
Subjective turn of modern
philosophy but points to Christ
Our teens face similar threats in
different masks: abortion holocaust,
9/11, Virginia Tech, terrorism, false
freedom of relativism, religious
violence, sexual utilitarianism, etc.

What is the
Theology of the Body?
Pope John Paul II -- 129 short talks between
September 1979 and November 1984 (135
total)
Building a theological anthropology
Who am I? (adequate anthropology)
How am I to live? (ethics & vocation)
Nature of the human personembodiment,
distinction, and dignity of men and women

What is the
Theology of the Body?
Theology (study of God)
of the Body (as revealed through the
body)
The body entered theology through the
main door when the Word became flesh
Philosophical, theological, and moral
consequences

Called to Love &

Communion
The fundamental and innate vocation
of every human being is love (FC, 11)
Today, love is confusing but JPII
points us to Christ, the main door
through which the body entered theology
Christ points us back to the beginning
in the beginning it was not so (Mt.
19:8)
Echo of Original Experiences

Love is Relevant
"Man cannot live without love. He remains a
being that is incomprehensible to himself,
his life is senseless, if love is not revealed
to him, if he does not experience it and
make it his own, if he does not participate
intimately in it" (Redemptor hominis, 10).
He who does not love does not know God,
for God is love (1 Jn 4:8)
Love is mans origin, his journey, his
destination

Theology of the Body: Part 1

Establishing
Adequate
Anthropology

Original Man
Mans Original
Experiences

Historical Man
Mans History
Christ at Center

Eschatological Man
Mans Destiny
Union w/ God

Theology of the Body: Part 2

Applying
Adequate
Anthropology to:
Ethics & Vocation

Celibacy for
the Kingdom

Sacramentality
of Marriage

Love &
Fruitfulness

TOB = Total Vision for Love & Life

1. Original Man
Our origin in communion of love

2. Historical Man
Fallen, yet redeemed in Christ

3. Eschatological Man
Our Union is Complete in Heaven

4. Celibacy for the Kingdom

Embracing Heavenly Marriage while Still On Earth

5. Sacramentality of Marriage
In Covenant of Love, The Two Become One Flesh

6. Love and Fruitfulness

Love Bears Fruit, Responsible Parenthood

TOB for Teens

Breakdown
Who am I?

(Adequate Anthropology)

1. Created for Love

2. Love Defined
3. Naked Without Shame
4. Hope & Redemption in Christ

TOB for Teens

Breakdown
Building the Bridge

(From Anthropology to Living it Out)

5. Truth & Freedom

How am I to live?
(Ethics & Vocation)

6. Language of the Body

7. Free, Total, Faithful, Fruitful

8. Marriage

9. Celibacy & Religious Life

TOB for Teens

Breakdown
Practical Application
(Training in Faithfulness Now)

10. Finding Your Vocation

11. Dating with Purpose & Purity

12. Living the Good Life

How does the TOB

connect with teens?
We all need love and search for it; teens
search as hard as anyone
They become frustrated, disillusioned and
confused about the meaning of life
Most teens know they were not created to
be alone but they so desperately want
communion that they fall for whatever
seems to promise it. Then, disillusion
follows.
Seeking answers; but they ask in
immaturity; the TOB connects their
experience to faith and calls them to grow in
love

Why did we write

this program?
Love, hope and freedom of TOB is meant for
everyone; not teen friendly; inaccessible
Gospel in the lens of the TOB offers hope,
redemption, love, freedom, communion, joy
The program bridges the lives/experiences of
teens to beauty/truth of JPIIs vision for life and
love
Teen Workbook Intro: Nick and Kristens story
Teens have a desire to understand themselves

How will Teens be

formed?

Why did God give us sexual desire?

Whats the difference between love and lust?
What does our sexuality teach us about God?
Can Christ bring healing to me if Ive already messed
up?
What is the language of the body and how do I speak
it?
How can I discover my vocation?
How far is too far?
How can teens remain pure in our oversexed culture?
Does waiting for sex make marriage stronger?
Is there any hope for overcoming lust and pornography?

Chapter 1:
Created for Love
To explain Gods love for us and his desire to have
an intimate, personal relationship with us.
To define Theology of the Body and show how our
bodies teach us profound truths about
ourselves and our purpose in life.
To explain that our bodies are very good and
designed by God for communion with Him and
with each other
To explore opportunities for deeper relationships
with God and others
To recognize that just as a sacrament makes a
spiritual reality visible, the body makes our call to
love visible.

Chapter 1:
Created for Love
Interact
How do you communicate this to your teens?
(What do they care about?)

Feature #1
Notes & Nuggets (p. 11L)

Feature #2
Application - PLAY-DOH Activity (p. 13L)

Feature #3
Application: God is the Magnet (chapter 3)
Sacramentality of the Body
Primordial Sacrament (prism)

Chapter 2: Love Defined

To contrast real love that is self-donating
with lust that is self-seeking
To explain the difference between
abstinence and chastity
To recognize and explain why love is the only
proper attitude (or response) toward another
person
To measure the quality of a relationship
based on giving versus using
To reveal that chastity frees us to love

Chapter 2: Love Defined

Feature #1
Story Starter: Searching for
Happiness (p. 21)

Feature #2
Notes & Nuggets: Love vs. Lust Showdown
(p. 25L)

Feature #3
To the Core: Love Test (p. 28)

Chapter 4: Hope and

Redemption in Christ
Explain our destiny (eschatological man) as the
experience of full redemption and eternal union
perfect marriagewith God in heaven
Demonstrate that Jesus offers us hope and
healing from our pain and regret, past and
present
Freely encounter Gods mercy and forgiveness
for our hurts and sins through the Sacrament of
Reconciliation
Explain that God has revealed to us the meaning
of our existence through the nuptial
meaning of the body

Chapter 4: Hope and

Redemption in Christ
Feature #1

Icebreaker #1: Crumpled Bill Demonstration (p 52 L)

Feature #2

Bridging the Gap (p 55)

Feature #3

In His Own Words (p 66 L)

On The Hope of Every Day: Here it is a question not of the

eschatological hope of the resurrection, but of the hope of victory
over sin, which can be called the hope of every day. Man and
woman, bound in marriage, must daily undertake the task of the
insoluble union of that covenant which they have made between
them. But also a man or a woman who has voluntarily chosen
continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven must daily give
a living witness of fidelity to that choice, heeding the directives of
Christ in the gospel and those of Paul the Apostle in First
Corinthians. In each case it is a question of the hope of every day,
which in proportion to the normal duties and difficulties of human
life helps to overcome evil with good(Rom 12:21)(July 21, 1982).

Chapter 6:
Language of the Body
To demonstrate how the body can speak both
truths and lies without words
To judge the truthfulness or lies of sexual
behavior
To analyze the language of the body as the
language of love spoken within marriage
To explain how pre-marital sex, adultery,
pornography and contraception all constitute
lies of the body
Contraception disorders the sexual act by saying,
I give you some of me, but not my fertility; I
receive some of you, but not your fertility

Chapter 6:
Language of the Body
Feature #1
Story Starter (p 82)

Feature #2
Discussion Questions (p 83)

Feature #3
Movie Clip: Life is Beautiful (p 90 L)
Name the different words spoken with the
language of the body.
Which characters were speaking truths or lies?

Reaching Teens with the

Theology of the Body
Balanced, prayerful, holistic approach
Sensory experience, allowing them to learn
with their bodies as well as their
minds/hearts
Moving from disintegration to integration
From disfiguring sin to transfiguring truth
From despair to hope, brokenness towards
healing, meaninglessness to deep purpose,
utilitarianism to total self-donation
Giving opportunities to practice/incorporate
what they are learning, and encouragement
to be witnesses in the New Evangelization