John Paul II's "Theology of the Body," the first major catechetical project of his 27-pontificate, has been making an impact on Catholics nowadays. "Theology of the Body" is the working title given by the Holy Father to a series of 129 Wednesday Audience addresses on the Christian meaning and value of the human body, as well as on human sexuality and marriage. He delivered these address at the Vatican from September 5, 1979 to November 28, 1984.

George Weigel, the author of the Pope's biography entitled, Witness to Hope, suggests that John Paul II's Theology of the Body "is a theological time bomb set to go off, with dramatic consequences, sometime in the third millenium of the Church." Fr. Richard M. Hogan, author of The Theology of the Body in John Paul II: What It Means, Why It Matters, affirms: "Many in the Church (today) would agree that the bomb has already exploded."

Today, the Theology of the Body is the subject of a host of books, articles, conferences, study guides and parish seminars. All across the US and Canda, Europe and Latin America, parishes have set up study groups to study and learn from this remarkable legacy left us by our beloved John Paul II. Unfortunately, here in the Philippines, Catholics - even renewal groups dedicated to the renewal of families - have hardly heard of the Theology of the Body. Many of the books and materials now available in the US (check Amazon.com) have yet to show up in our local bookstores. At any rate, when they reach the shelves of our local bookstores, the prices of these imported materials will be so prohibitive to many of our countrymen who will hardly be able to afford to buy them.

To partly remedy this situation, and in an effort to help make the Theology of the Body more accessible to Filipinos, I have embarked on a project of writing and publishing a 4-part series of reader-friendly books on the Theology of the Body so that more and more Filipino Catholics will come to know about this wonderful legacy left us by the late Holy Father.

So far, I have published two of the books in the series, namely, Book One: The Body in Creation, and Book Two: The Body, Fallen yet Redeemed. Both are available in Catholic Book Center and in some St. Paul outlets. I hope to come up with Bk Three: The Resurrection of the Body, Marriage and Celibacy, and Bk Four: Conjugal Spirituality, very soon.

I have been invited around to give talks on the Theology of the Body - an opportunity I am most grateful for. The Family Rosary Crusade has been very supportive of this project and I have had four interviews in their weekday program on TV. For this, I express my deepest gratitude to them.I wish to encourage Filipino Catholics to learn more about these very enriching, biblically-based and very refreshing reflections given us by the late John Paul II on the meaning of the human body, human sexuality and marriage.