Who am I? That question is something most of us have asked ourselves at some point in our lives. Maybe even multiple times. When you think about how you would answer that question, you might state your career or vocation. You might list your attributes. But these aren’t really getting to the heart of who you truly are.
Who you are is a beloved child of God.
This is the exciting news that Jason Evert—Catholic author, speaker, and founder of the Chastity Project—wants to impart to middle schoolers in a new program created by him and a team of experts at Ascension. Focusing on the teachings of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and created with pastoral love and care, Envision: Theology of the Body for Middle School “delivers the insights of TOB on a young person’s level and helps middle schoolers answer some of life’s deepest questions: Who am I? Where am I going? How should I live to get there?”
Envision, also created and authored by Catholic writers and speakers Brian Butler and Colin and Aimee MacIver, and featuring Chika Anyanwu, Tanner Kalina, Sr. Mary Grace Langrell, SV, and Mari Pablo as presenters, takes middle schoolers on a joyful, holy, and exciting journey through the main teachings of the Theology of the Body. Through eight lessons, which include both written text, video lessons, discussion questions, activities, and more, students delve into topics such as “body image, sexual identity, the use of technology, pressure to date, sin and reconciliation, emotional vulnerability, bullying, weekend culture, and of course questions about sex and love.”
Why Theology of the Body? Because these teachings of St. John Paul II, compiled from his 129 Wednesday general audiences between September 5, 1979, and November 28, 1984, address the unique and holy love between a man and a woman—essential concepts for young people to understand. This authentic love teaches both how to live and how to love. In these talks, St. John Paul II offered what he called “an adequate anthropology”—the truth about what it means to be a human being created in the image and likeness of God.
According to the program:
Envision is not intended to be merely a chastity program but rather an evangelization and identity program. Having a real relationship with Jesus Christ is the key for young people to discover who they are, what they want, and how they should live. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, Christ came to reveal man to himself (see Gaudium et Spes 22). From this relationship flows our true identity and thus healthy, integrated relationships and sexuality. By inviting young people into a deeper relationship with Jesus, we invite them into this authenticity.
Envision “adapts TOB with clarity, warmth, and personal relevance so young people can envision their truest selves and ways to live authentically through the lens of this Catholic teaching.”
The program comes with everything a teacher or parent will need, including workbooks and a parent guidebook so parents know what their child is learning and can engage in those important discussions at home.
Envision is crucial in today’s culture because having conversations with kids about chastity, love, and relationships and teaching them God’s plan for our bodies and for love helps them navigate our confusing world and leads them on a path toward eternity with God. As Jason explains, “If [parents] don’t speak a message of truth on this to their kids, the world is going to fill the void of their silence with a very contrary message.”
And that contrary message is a scary one—devoid of love yet filled with lust, hedonism, and a “me first” attitude.
That is one of the reasons that the program lovingly addresses the sensitive topics of today, yet it does so through a series of five additional videos placed in the appendix so that parents and educators can decide if they are applicable and age-appropriate for their students.
Transgenderism, one of the hot-button topics of today, is one of those sensitive subjects. In his compassionate and easy-to-understand manner, Jason explains that, for those who think they were born in the wrong body, they instead were born in the wrong culture—a “culture that’s telling you [that] you have to hurt your body in order to be your authentic self.” As he shares, “It’s not that the body needs to be reconstructed. It’s our culture that needs to be reconstructed.”
This is just one of the many jewels to be found within the program. Jason explains that he teaches kids, “God loves you, and He wants love for you and He wants love from you. He’s calling you to authentic human love, and nothing less will satisfy you.”
Indeed, we are all striving for happiness. Kids, and adults, are trying to find happiness, but we often look for it in places it cannot truly be found—in social media, online, or in relationships that are based on lust rather than love. But only God can offer true joy.
Envision helps kids see this truth—a truth that, Jason explains, kids are desperately searching for. He shares that their minds want this truth and their hearts want love. And he concludes, “The beauty of the Theology of the Body is that it offers them both.”
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report at catholicworldreport.com/2024/07/18/theology-for-the-body-middle-school-program-teaches-authentic-love.
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