Reviews for On the Body

The average rating for On the Body based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-24 00:00:00 Erica Proctor The body should be seen in perspective, not underestimated, not overestimated. We should seek to develop a healthy view of our body. Martini is sheer joy and sheer delight for me to read. For his sake I hope to learn Italian and read every word of his writings in his native tongue. I grew up as a Muslim with an inferior view of the body as the source of evil and most of it is termed in Islam as "`awra" i.e. a cause of shame. We should never be ashamed of our bodies, and that is the true message of Christianity. The body is for the Lord and the Lord is for the body. God is not an enemy to our bodies but, if anything, he is FOR our bodies, taking our side. First the author discusses what it means to have a healthy body at all costs. We should not worship our bodies to the point of obsession, or this would be the "religion of the body". We have to be careful not to lose our soul for our body (p. 14). All around us we have shrines and sacred rituals intended for the recovery of health, beauty, strength, and youth. In our age, more than any other time ever before, we believe we have the means to be healthy all the time and we are not content for less. We have a made a god out of technology and have refused to accept limitations. In fact we treat technology as omnipotent. The doctor can't come up with the ideal cure and we get upset and rebellious. Illness becomes an accuser to us: What did I do wrong? Why did it have to happen to me? In sickness, are are brought to reflect more on ourselves, our bodiliness, the frailty of the human condition, of my being a creature, I question everything, that is. I would even wonder whether life is worth living as is when, after all, we eventually die. In essence, I simply ask: What is my body? Aha, I see, I am not my own master, not the master of my body or my destiny. I am not even the master of my end. This body has an end: the body is meant for the Lord. The Lord here should be the main goal of my life (1 Cor. 6: 13). Even Jesus experienced fear of death, and like Him we also should turn it all into prayer: My Father, if this is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want, but what you want" (Matt. 26: 39). We should be careful not to make an idol out of technology, because it is just a means, not an end. Martini announces that sickness for us should be a call for help, for love, and for meaning. Physical pain can become an opportunity for interaction instead of a loss of meaning, an opportunity for sharing instead of isolation, an opportunity for accepting our own differences and those of others (p. 24). Suffering can be an opportunity for us to experience conversion, to be more transformed like Jesus. But we still have to want that and seek meaning to our existence in the midst of sickness. Life is not a journey towards nothingness as Sartre claims, but a journey towards the Lord God Almighty who is coming to meet us. Do we pray because we are seeking results or because we enjoy conversing with God? When we are sick, we can choose to allow sickness to inspire us so that we suffer together with Jesus, in the awareness of completing what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col. 1: 24). Just as the body of Jesus is a revelation of glory, the Invisible made visible, the narration of God among humankind, so our body, a totality comprised o flesh and spirit, is meant to be a mirror in which divine beauty is reflected (p. 39). The book is written with a high degree of precision, words are carefully chosen in a highly concise yet poetic manner. I would read paragraph over and over and feel I am getting something new and apply it to my own setting for the present moment. Each paragraph of his can be expanded into books and you would wish he would speak more but you just have to keep reading and that is Martini for you, a man of a golden heart and mouth. My prayer is to be able to read all his books, even those in Italian, and it is for his sake primarily that I am working on my learning of Italian so I can savor every word he says. He is definitely a high mentor of mine in all his teachings.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-08-25 00:00:00 Michael Feher Even though this is a short little book of essays, it's definitely not an entry-level text on Catholic theology of the body. The writer presupposes quite a bit of background knowledge of scripture and doctrine, and the writing comes off as fragmented because of this. I was most inspired by the first section, in which Martini details the flawed modern mindset that humans can be perpetually healthy and young, then counters with a more realistic faith-based perspective.