BY RACHAEL WHITMAN
STAFF WRITER
Dr. Donald Asci, Franciscan University theology professor, said that people deserve and are capable of great love in his talk, “Why Theology of the Body?” presented to students in the International Lounge Sept. 16.
“God’s plan for sex, love and marriage is based upon people being worthy of great love and being capable of great love,” said Asci to the audience that filled the room to capacity.
Asci began with the question, why did Pope St. John Paul II give the world Theology of the Body?
He explained that John Paul II knew the world was moving in a direction where there was a loss of value in human dignity.

“He knew that because he could see both in his culture and his church that God’s plan for sex, love and marriage was being rejected,” said Asci.
Asci explained that this disregard of God’s plan is a symptom of a larger issue, an issue which involves people asking themselves, “‘Am I worthy of the kind of love that God’s plan entails and am I capable of the kind of love that God’s plan entails?’”
Asci said that if people really understood Jesus’ love they would “stand in awe” of their self- worth.
This concept of human dignity and how it relates to giving and receiving love is an important concept to many students on campus. Corpus Christi men’s household, a co-sponsor of this event, has a charism that relates closely to Theology of the Body.
David Dashiell, coordinator of Corpus Christi, explained, “Our main charism is passionate love and that really relates a lot to this need to bring Theology of the Body to campus. … There’s this real need to recognize our own dignity, the dignity God’s given us, and like Dr. Asci said, the call to love, that we’re worthy of that love, and that we can give that love.”
This is exactly what is going to happen for students at Franciscan University. The talk was the kick-off to a Theology of the Body series, taking place every Wednesday in the International Lounge at 9 p.m.
After a summary or reflection on a teaching from Theology of the Body, the students will break off into small discussion groups.
The other sponsor of this series is women’s household Crown of Creation, which also has a charism related to Theology of the Body.
“One of our charisms is viewing ourselves as being made in the image and likeness of God, and so (Theology of the Body) definitely helps us understand this more deeply. And it’s very important in our world today to see we have value and that we have dignity,” said Bethany Motyl, co-coordinator of Crown of Creation.