Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop Robert C. Morlino Saturday, November 8 - Friday, November 14, 2003 Attend United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Meeting, Washington, D.C./Afterward Vacation until Post-Thanksgiving Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Monday, November 10 - Thursday, November 13, 2003 Attend United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Meeting, Washington, D.C. Saturday, November 15, 2003 5:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Congregation of St. Mary and St. Paul, Mineral Point Sunday, November 16, 2003 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Boniface Parish, Lime Ridge, linked with Holy Family Parish, La Valle, at Holy Family Parish, La Valle Tuesday, November 18, 2003 10:00 a.m. -- Attend St. Raphael Society Board Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Wednesday, November 19, 2003 12:00 p.m. -- Guest Presentation, Serra Club Religious Recognition Luncheon, Janesville Country Club, Janesville 7:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Mary Magdalene Parish, Johnson Creek, linked with St. Francis Xavier Parish, Lake Mills, at St. Mary Magdalene Parish, Johnson Creek Thursday, November 20, 2003 1:00 p.m. -- Attend Protecting God's Children Program for Adults, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Theology of the body: Build mind-body unity, says bishop

By Mary C. Uhler
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF

MADISON -- We must build a "mind-body unity" and teach the world about it, Bishop Robert C. Morlino urged in his lecture on the "Theology of the Body of Pope John Paul II."

His talk was part of the St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series presented on Nov. 6 at the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.

Wonderfully made

Bishop Morlino began by saying that "we're wonderfully made." His topic, he said, is the "theology of the body," but he could have called it "the theology of the person.

"I called it theology of the body because our society and culture have a greater need for understanding. What we say about the body or presume about the body sometimes lacks a great deal."

Dead and living things

He pointed to the podium, noting, "We wouldn't say we have a theology of this podium. Because this is a dead thing. It's useful, but it's nothing needing a philosophy or theology.

"Technically, I own it. I could come out with a hatchet and chop it to bits. The podium couldn't care a bit. If I own it, it's completely at my disposal. It can be whatever I want it to be. I can sit on it. I could put pizza on it and call it a table."

Bishop Morlino observed that there are other things in the world that aren't dead, such as flowers, plants, and animals. "They're not persons, they're things, but they're not dead. The beautiful flower or my favorite dog are living.

"There's something special about every living thing. There is what I see and what I don't see - the orderly working together of the parts for the good of the whole. Another name for that is life.

"Life is not visible. Life makes a claim on me," he said. "I can have a theology of plants and animals. It's not the most profound."

Human body

The theology of the human body presumes a body which is alive. "But the human body is not strictly speaking the same as the body of an animal or a plant," noted Bishop Morlino.

"In the human body dwells a human person. The human body is ensouled, is minded, is saturated with human awareness. It's not a dead thing or not like a body of a flower or a plant.

"We can say a lot about the theology of the body, because it's a very sacred place, saturated with one who says 'I.' That person exhibits reason and logic in the body and the soul. There is a logic of the body. That's what we mean by natural law," the bishop observed.

Body for the Savior

Bishop Morlino noted that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit prepared a human body for the Savior. "How precious is the human body. The second person of the Trinity dwelt among us and defied the logic of the human body."

Some call mystical experiences "out of the body experiences." But, he said, "the greatest mystical experience - the Eucharist, Christ present under the signs of bread and wine - requires the body so we can eat his body and drink his blood. The body is necessary."

Bishop Morlino said that we will be only "fully activated" in heaven with our glorified body. Now, "only the perfect disciple, only the woman, our Blessed Mother, is fully activated by the mystery of the Assumption. She's there body and soul. Everyone else has to wait."

Unity of mind, body

The bishop said that human beings are made to be a unity of mind and body. "The body is not inferior in any way, shape, or form. The body is never a thing at my disposal."

Yet, our culture today "suffers terribly from a mind-body split," he said. "It's completely against the revelation of Christ."

Some philosophers have espoused a philosophy of the "ghost and the machine," that is, that the mind is hooked up to the body. This view sees the body as a "thing driven by the mind."

In this view, "the body ends up inferior," said the bishop. "Our culture reduces it to this."

Mind-body split

He pointed to the example of a pregnant woman who's assaulted and the baby is killed. "She wanted the baby, so the person is charged with assault."

Yet, Bishop Morlino observed that if a mother wants to terminate that pregnancy, there's no charge. "If a mother looks upon the baby as a baby, it's a baby. If the mother doesn't look upon the baby as a baby, the baby can be disposed of.

"Our society says you can treat a baby like this podium. It's a mind-body split. It's a terrible thing."

Human sexuality

Human persons live in a body, the bishop emphasized. There's no separation between love-making activity and procreation in human sexuality between husband and wife, because there's no separation between mind and body. "Married couples are to keep them together."

He cautioned that the sexual urge must "be lived responsibly, must be controlled. It's not a free for all. It's about a love-making union and life-creating potential. There's responsibility to work with the creator."

Even though most people in the U.S. don't agree, Bishop Morlino said husbands and wives should be open to new life as the creator chooses.

"I'm sorry we live in a contraceptive culture," he said. "The author of life has created sacred space where he could author life. Artificial contraception tells the author of life to get out. You are not welcome there."

Once the possibility of human life is separated from marital intimacy, then the beauty and sacredness of marital intimacy will be lost. That was pointed out by Pope Paul VI in 1968 in Humanae Vitae, the bishop noted.

Bishop Morlino said the mind-body split "condones abortion, glorifies contraception, dares to redefine marriage, manufactures life in a laboratory, even dares to create new life forms that could bring about the end of the world in time."

Train our feelings

The creator planned a logic of the mind and body. "We have to look at Jesus Christ, the sacredness, the logic, and allow his definition of the human person to change our lives, If we don't, all is probably lost," said the bishop.

"We are made not for a mind-body split but a mind-body unity. We must train our feelings. They're where the mind and body are glued together."

As an example, Bishop Morlino said if he feels like ordering a pizza, he has to go against that feeling. "Virtue is building habits of doing good. The spiritual and moral life is all about building mind-body unity all the time, so they integrate me, so I'm not warring within. I'm training myself to be good, to be a person, to be human, to be free."

The mind-body unity is manifested by Christ in the gift of the Eucharist. "How gifted we are and how hopeless the world is, torn about by the mind-body split. We are called to teach the world, to save the world. Let's do it," concluded the bishop.

In a question-answer session, Bishop Morlino was asked how to do it. He suggested, "Over the water cooler, in our families, on the ski slopes in winter and on the lake in summer. Tell the good news. We all have to do it and we have to support one another."

Official Appointments:

Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, wishes to announce the following:

Msgr. Paul J. Swain as Chaplain, Knights of Columbus University of Wisconsin Catholic Center Council #6568, effective November 3, 2003.

Rev. John R. Auby as Chaplain, Diocesan Knights of Columbus, effective November 6, 2003.

Msgr. Paul J. Swain
Vicar General