

Ask Christopher West
Theology of the Body Institute
Since the early 90's, author and speaker Christopher West has devoted his life to spreading John Paul II's revolutionary teaching on human life, love, and sexuality: The Theology of the Body. His beloved wife Wendy, mother of their five children, has served as his confidante, friend, and support through these long years of ministry. In this podcast, Christopher and Wendy combine their wisdom to tackle the toughest questions dealing with vocation, sexuality, marriage, and the Catholic faith.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 28, 2022 • 42min
Reclaiming "Sexiness" | ACW203
Any practical advice for how to spread the message of TOB through the mass media? Is there any eternal merit or divine purpose in seeking an anulment for its own sake, without the earthly hope of remarriage? Can annulments help heal the wounds of a painful marriage and divorce? Is it wrong to be attracted to "sexiness"?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karolt Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Rose Sweet's ministry: https://rosesweet.com
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Nov 21, 2022 • 58min
Balancing Ministry and Family | ACW202
What are your prayer lives like as individuals and as a couple? How does Christopher balance his family life and work life? What actually happens spiritually during the maritual embrace and why is it so sacred?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Nov 14, 2022 • 43min
What Kind of Desire? | ACW201
What is the theological significance of nocturnal emmissions? What does it mean to lust after your spouse? What does that look like? If the desire to have a spouse is holy, then what was meant after The Fall when God said to Eve, "Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you"?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Nov 7, 2022 • 39min
Did God Know? | ACW200
Does the Theology of the Body touch on the mystery of death and "until death do us part"? Did God know Adam and Eve would commit the original sin? Before I was married, I had an IUD inserted. My husband and I are newly married and both want to have it removed; however, his problems with drinking make me afraid to have it taken out. . . am I still sinning by keeping it in?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Oct 31, 2022 • 50min
I Never Would Have | ACW199
How do I respond to being invited to the "wedding" of a same-sex couple? I have been a lustful man and I am trying not to me but my past still haunts me. Because of this, I feel selfish everytime I ask for communion with my wife. . . how can I overcome this shame?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Freedom Coaching
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Oct 24, 2022 • 49min
This Is Our Union | ACW198
As a man in his early thirties who has been through a legal divorce and the annulment process, what should I do to discern my vocation? What is the theology behind miscarriages and still births? As a newly-wed woman, I am afraid of making love with the lights on and allowing my husband to see me. . . what should I do?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Oct 17, 2022 • 45min
A Secret Request | ACW197
What does it mean theologically that men are always fertile while women are only fertile for a fraction of each month? My boyfriend has a past of watching porn. . . it is very hard for me to feel beautiful and confident in front around him because I know that it must have effected his ideas and expectations of what the female body should look like. Any advice? I want to love and cherish my husband and be intimate with him but I am struggling with being able to be aroused. We've been married for eight years and have two young kids with a third on the way. I find I can't separate the frustrations of the day from our intimate time and I'm constantly thinking negative thoughts about his attempts to get me in the mood. I get frustrated with him and myself for not being able to be aroused and half the time we justt give up. Why can't I be aroused by my husband anymore?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
Be Restored: Healing Our Sexual Wounds through Jesus’ Merciful Love by Bob Schuchts
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Oct 10, 2022 • 56min
For The Joy Set Before Him | ACW196
What reflections do you have on the sacramental view of nature and Theology of the Body? What should do when my fiancé looks at women on Instagram? Is it possible for sexual arrousal to be born out of love and deep desire for spiritual communion? If it is possible, how can I train myself to change my mind from responding to seduction to being a man able to love and give myself as a gift?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
Christopher's conversation with his dad, Soren, about hiking the Appalachian Trail: https://youtu.be/UNWR5hK-NMU
GOD IS BEAUTY: A RETREAT ON THE GOSPEL AND ART by St. John Paul II
FILL THESE HEARTS by Christopher West
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Oct 3, 2022 • 50min
Until Death Do Us Part | ACW195
How do I know that I truly love the woman I'm dating and that it's not just the feelings of comfort she gives me? I do not want to make my wife an object for my desire, yet when she rejects me I struggle mightily. How do I unconditionally love my wife and not ask or expect anything of her when I have such strong desires? If marriage is a sacrament of Christ's love for the Church, why is marriage only until death? Christ's love for the Church goes beyond death.
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Register for the St. Therese and The Little Way Seine River Cruise (October 26–November 2, 2023)
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Sep 26, 2022 • 44min
Riding the Wave | ACW194
Does Theology of the Body speak to what would have happend to Mary's body and soul at the end of her life? How can I, as a married man, find purpose without the joy of children? How can I introduce the themes of John Paul II's teaching on sexuality as a teacher at a secular school?
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, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.
Get a copy of God Is Beauty, A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karoly Wojtyla/John Paul II. Available now for the first time in English.
Want to support the Theology of the Body Institute and have a better chance of us answering your question? Join our Patron Community!
Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.
Resources mentioned this week:
Register for the St. Therese and The Little Way Seine River Cruise (October 26–November 2, 2023)
View our COURSE SCHEDULE to register for a course, ONLINE or IN-PERSON!
Join Christopher and Wendy on the TOB Institute’s “St. Therese & the Little Way” Seine River Cruise in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2023 (optional pre-cruise extension trip to Lourdes Oct. 22-26). Get complete details and place your deposit here.
If you are in financial need and honestly cannot afford a book or resource recomended on this podcast, contact: michele@tobinstitute.org
Find Christopher West on Facebook and Instagram.
Discover the Theology of the Body Institute.
If you enjoy the podcast, help us out by writing a review. Thanks for listening!
Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.
Featuring music by Mike Mangione.


