Apr 4, 2022
In Holy Week of 1962, Bishop Karol Wojtyla gave a retreat to a
group of Polish artists. The text of that retreat has now been
published in English, along with commentary, by the Theology of the
Body Institute, in a book titled God Is Beauty: A Retreat
on the Gospel and Art.
Christopher West, president of the TOB Institute, joins Thomas
Mirus to discuss the retreat and how it fits together with St. John
Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Themes include:
- God is Beauty
- The Incarnation is perfect Beauty manifested in the human
body - The artist is a conduit of beauty coming from God
- Artists’ responsibility for their talent
- The sexed body as a sign of the relationality and fruitfulness
of the Trinity - The dangers of “moral minimalism”
- The Crucifixion, where moral conscience and beauty meet
- How Wojtyla’s work builds on, rather than replaces, traditional
theological symbolism
Thomas also discusses his experience of attending the ballet and
how it is challenging him to see the body in a new way.
Links
Listeners can purchase God Is Beauty paperback at the TOB
Institute store for 20% off the cover price (no limit). Use code:
CULTURE
https://shop.corproject.com/collections/books/products/god-is-beauty-a-retreat-on-the-gospel-art
Upcoming retreat weekend, May 13-15 https://www.revealedexperience.com
Episode with ballet dancer Claire Kretzschmar
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/109-catholic-in-nyc-ballet-claire-kretzschmar
Dony MacManus https://donymacmanus.com/
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