Posters announcing an upcoming talk proclaimed in bold lettering, “How the Holy Spirit Makes the World More Erotic,” and this caused many students to scratch their heads.

On March 19 at 5 p.m., curious students gathered in Christ the Teacher lecture hall to hear about this seemingly scandalous thesis. Sponsored by Beloved First Truth household, the talk was delivered by Donald Asci, PhD, and professor in moral theology at the undergraduate and graduate level here at Franciscan. 

Asci began his talk by explaining the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life. Drawing from Pope St. John Paul II’s 1986 encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Dominum et Vivificantem, Asci emphasized the Holy Spirit’s often forgotten role in the process of redemption. According to Asci, the Holy Spirit convicts men of their sins, prompting them to repent. 

However, Asci clarified that “we are called, and not merely accused, by the movements of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.” To what does the Holy Spirit call mankind? Asci outlined two changes of soul that the Holy Spirit stirs up in believers: purity of heart, and life in the spirit over life in the flesh.

Asci acknowledged that these concepts may sound unrelated, and even contradictory, to the erotic, meriting a deeper explanation of purity of heart and life in the spirit. He clarified that although purity entails self-denial, eventually this self-denial should prepare the heart to receive new and holier desires. “You put off the old precisely so that you can put on the new,” said Asci.

Similarly, life in the spirit does not reject the goodness of the human body. Asci stated that while life in the spirit prioritizes the invisible and the spiritual, it also honors the human body as an invitation to unearth the profound spiritual truths that flow from human relationships. 

Having clarified the meaning of purity and life in the spirit, which spring from the Holy Spirit, Asci moved on to explaining the erotic through the lens of Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Asci’s definition was unexpected. 

According to Asci, the proper classical meaning of the erotic (or Eros) is “an intense inner surge of the heart towards the good, true, and beautiful.” Colloquially, many people associate the word “erotic” with sinful habits such as pornography. Asci argued, however, that within its correct definition, erotic desires are central to Christian life. 

In fact, Asci posited that true eros flourishes in a pure heart that dwells in the life of the spirit. Impure hearts solely live for sexual gratification of their senses. Pure and erotic hearts, on the other hand, pursue the good, true and beautiful in order to grow in holiness. 

Asci concluded that because the Holy Spirit inspires purity in each soul He touches, He also directs that heart towards goodness, truth and beauty, thus making the heart more erotic. The disordered desires which purity clears away are now replaced by holier desires. 

At first glance, Asci’s thesis baffled many students. However, within the framework of Theology of the Body and the classical definition of the erotic, he demonstrated that the erotic can in fact pertain to Christian life.