Word Made Fresh

Theology of the Body Institute

Welcome to Word Made Fresh, where Dr. Christopher West, Bill Donaghy, and Mike Mangione dive into art, poetry, music, stories, and everyday moments to reveal the sacramentality of reality. No script. No filters. Just a conversation that keeps surprising even them.

  1. Oct 27

    Your Need to Be the Hero Could Be Hurting Everyone You Love | WMF28

    What if the thing that keeps getting in the way isn't that you're not trying hard enough, but that you're trying to do it all yourself? We start with Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, where Frodo makes it all the way to Mount Doom and still can't let the ring go. The quest is accomplished, but not through the heroism everyone expected. And that raises a pretty uncomfortable question: how often do we do the same thing in our own lives? We talk about the need to be the hero, the pressure to get our lives together, and what that looks like in marriage, fatherhood, creativity, and our relationship with God. Christopher even shares the words he had inscribed in his wife's engagement ring, and what it has meant to live them. Maybe our weakness isn't the end of the story. Maybe it's where the real work begins. 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links: 🎵 Listen WMF on Spotify 📍 Tour Dates 📩 Send us your art & questions: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸⁠ Instagram⁠ 🔵 ⁠Facebook⁠ 🎤 ⁠Ask Christopher West Podcast⁠ Mike Mangione: 🎵 Mike's Music ▶️ YouTube  📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ 🎸 ⁠Mike's website⁠ 🗺️ ⁠Mike's tour⁠ Bill Donaghy: 📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🛍️ ⁠Store⁠ 👨‍⚕️ List of trusted counselors, psychologists and coaches

    Your Need to Be the Hero Could Be Hurting Everyone You Love | WMF28

  2. Oct 13

    Why Jesus Spit in a Blind Man’s Eyes | WMF27

    What if one of the strangest moments in the Gospel is actually one of the most intimate? Jesus spits in a blind man’s eyes. At first, Christopher West admits, it sounds kind of gross. But as he sits with the story, something begins to open up. What if the medicine we need to heal our blindness is precisely what we resist? What if Jesus’ healing isn’t distant or sanitized, but profoundly bodily, intimate, and vulnerable? From there, Christopher and his co-host explore the deeper meaning of intimacy, the connection between Christ and marital love, the Eucharist, and why the Gospel is far more physical and visceral than we often allow ourselves to see. They also talk about music, freedom, vulnerability, and what it means to stop hiding from the invitation to love. And then comes a realization: maybe seeing clearly means recognizing that we will need Jesus to touch us again and again for the rest of our lives. Maybe needing God isn’t something to overcome. Maybe it’s what it means to be human.    Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Here Comes The Rain Again: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzFnYcIqj6I&list=RDTzFnYcIqj6I&start_radio=1⁠ And It Stoned Me - Van Morrison lyrics: ⁠https://genius.com/Van-morrison-and-it-stoned-me-lyrics⁠ Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Man of Fire at Letterman: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YB1Z3kkPfc&t=17s⁠  Bring On The Rain by Jo Dee Messina lyrics: ⁠https://genius.com/Tim-mcgraw-and-jo-dee-messina-bring-on-the-rain-lyrics⁠ 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links: 🎵 ⁠Listen WMF on Spotify⁠ 📍 ⁠Tour Dates⁠ 📩 ⁠Send us your art & questions⁠: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠ 🔵 ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ 🎤 ⁠⁠Ask Christopher West Podcast⁠⁠ Mike Mangione: 🎵 ⁠Mike's Music⁠ ▶️ ⁠YouTube⁠  📸 ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ 🎸 ⁠⁠Mike's website⁠⁠ 🗺️ ⁠⁠Mike's tour⁠⁠ Bill Donaghy: 📸 ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🛍️ ⁠⁠Store⁠⁠ 👨‍⚕️ ⁠List of trusted counselors, psychologists and coaches⁠

    Why Jesus Spit in a Blind Man’s Eyes | WMF27

  3. Sep 29

    What If You Actually Believed You Were Loved? | WMF26

    Ever wondered why a flowing river calls so deeply to the human heart? Join us on this episode of WMF where Christopher shares his 12-mile canoe trip down the Conestoga—navigating everything from bald eagles to city wastewater—and Mike reveals how class-three rapids unlocked a moment of pure wonder for his 11-year-old son. Bill unpacks our identity as homo viator (man on a journey), while diving into the soul-crushing disease of modern busyness, and Peter Gabriel’s Washing of the Water. Step out, slow down, and rediscover how Love is at the true source of the ancient questions every human has pondered: Where do we come from and where are we going? Washing of the Water: https://youtu.be/AICeVeWpMts?si=Su2NCuVQu5iaiROC 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links: 🎵 Listen WMF on Spotify 📍 Tour Dates 📩 Send us your art & questions: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸⁠ Instagram⁠ 🔵 ⁠Facebook⁠ 🎤 ⁠Ask Christopher West Podcast⁠ Mike Mangione: 🎵 Mike's Music ▶️ YouTube  📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ 🎸 ⁠Mike's website⁠ 🗺️ ⁠Mike's tour⁠ Bill Donaghy: 📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🛍️ ⁠Store⁠ 👨‍⚕️ List of trusted counselors, psychologists and coaches

    What If You Actually Believed You Were Loved? | WMF26

  4. Sep 15

    These Catholic Works Can Become Psychologically Damaging | WMF25

    What happens when our desire to become holy starts working against the very freedom we're seeking? In this conversation, Bill, Christopher and Mike explore how certain spiritual practices, especially around self-denial, humility, and the desire to be loved, can be misunderstood in ways that lead to fear, defensiveness, or even neurosis rather than genuine freedom. But the conversation goes far beyond that. They talk about childhood wounds, relationships, vulnerability, the human desire to be loved, prayer, suffering, and learning to recognize God's presence in everyday life. At the heart of it is a challenging question: Are some of the things we think are helping us become holy actually keeping us from receiving love?

    These Catholic Works Can Become Psychologically Damaging | WMF25

  5. Sep 1

    Why That Emptiness Feeling Is Exactly Where You Need to Be. | WMF24

    Why do we still feel empty after getting the things we thought would make us happy? Why do we keep reaching for more... more pleasure, more success, more distraction. Only to find that the ache is still there?In this conversation, we talk about the strange hunger inside us that nothing in this world seems quite big enough to satisfy. We get into art, addiction, attention, desire, and the ways we numb ourselves when the longing becomes uncomfortable. We also revisit Glen Hansard, Anne Sexton, and the surprising ways music, creativity, suffering, and beauty can point us toward something deeper.Sometimes the ache isn't the problem. Maybe it's telling us what we're made for. 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links: 🎵 Listen WMF on Spotify 📍 Tour Dates 📩 Send us your art & questions: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸⁠ Instagram⁠ 🔵 ⁠Facebook⁠ 🎤 ⁠Ask Christopher West Podcast⁠ Mike Mangione: 🎵 Mike's Music ▶️ YouTube  📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ 🎸 ⁠Mike's website⁠ 🗺️ ⁠Mike's tour⁠ Bill Donaghy: 📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🔥 ⁠3 FREE sessions of our flagship course on the TOB⁠ 💬 Text TOB to (404) 647-7682 ⚡️ ⁠Support us & get access to leading TOB formation⁠ 📚 ⁠Course schedule⁠ 🏔️ ⁠Pilgrimages⁠ 🛍️ ⁠Store⁠

    Why That Emptiness Feeling Is Exactly Where You Need to Be. | WMF24

  6. Aug 18

    The Brutal Pain Of Making People Laugh |WMF23

    Why are some of the funniest people also some of the most wounded?In this episode, we talk about the strange connection between suffering, vulnerability, and laughter—from Martin Short facing the death of his daughter, to Chris Farley turning his own awkwardness and vulnerability into comedy, to the simple, almost mysterious experience of making someone laugh. We explore why humor can loosen something in us, break through our masks, and give us a safe way to acknowledge things that are actually painful.Maybe the people who make us laugh aren’t simply telling jokes. Maybe they’re giving us permission to be human. 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links:  🎵 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/45zfXd4tSlqoQQObSCLkwy?si=i1fda-9KSPe7hfP9QzYD4w 🎧 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/word-made-fresh/id1846137904 📍 Tour Dates: https://tobinstitute.org/live-events/ 📩 Send us your art & questions: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cwestofficial/ 🔵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cwestofficial 🎤 Ask Christopher West Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2dCkL6l7ogGgbNiqMf7K65?si=d39f694c9eb7486a Mike Mangione: 🎵 Mike's Music: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mikemangione/promised-land 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mangionemusic/ ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mikemangione 🎸 Mike's website: https://www.mikemangione.com/ Bill Donaghy: 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewayofwonderofficial/ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🔥 3 FREE sessions of our flagship course on the TOB: https://www.tobforfree.com/ 💬 Text TOB to (404) 647-7682 ⚡️ Support us & get access to leading TOB formation: https://www.tobpatron.com/ 📚 Course schedule: https://tobinstitute.org/programs/tobi-schedule/ 🏔️ Pilgrimages: http://tobpilgrimages.com/ 🛍️ Store https://shop.corproject.com/

    The Brutal Pain Of Making People Laugh |WMF23

  7. Aug 4

    Why Your Spouse Doesn't Want Sex (It's Not What You Think) | WMF22

    What do you do when one spouse longs for sexual intimacy and the other no longer seems interested? In this conversation, we take a step back and ask a deeper question: What if the problem isn’t simply sex? What if we’ve reduced intimacy to something that happens in the bedroom while neglecting the attentiveness, presence, communication, tenderness, and trust that allow two people to truly open themselves to one another? From a newlywed disagreement over “good bread” to the simple wisdom of not putting the cart before the horse, we explore why couples often misunderstand each other and how learning to enter the deeper places of the heart can change the way we love. 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links: 🎵 Listen WMF on Spotify 📍 Tour Dates 📩 Send us your art & questions: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸⁠ Instagram⁠ 🔵 ⁠Facebook⁠ 🎤 ⁠Ask Christopher West Podcast⁠ Mike Mangione: 🎵 Mike's Music ▶️ YouTube  📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ 🎸 ⁠Mike's website⁠ 🗺️ ⁠Mike's tour⁠ Bill Donaghy: 📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🔥 ⁠3 FREE sessions of our flagship course on the TOB⁠ 💬 Text TOB to (404) 647-7682 ⚡️ ⁠Support us & get access to leading TOB formation⁠ 📚 ⁠Course schedule⁠ 🏔️ ⁠Pilgrimages⁠ 🛍️ ⁠Store⁠

    Why Your Spouse Doesn't Want Sex (It's Not What You Think) | WMF22

  8. Jul 21

    They Said We're Preaching Heresy... Here's Our Response. | WMF21

    A listener challenged us with a serious accusation: Have we spent so much time talking about marriage and sexuality that we've lost sight of the Church's call to holiness and celibacy? Rather than dismiss the criticism, we slow down and ask what truth might be hidden within it. Together we wrestle with the reality of lust, the fear many Christians carry about sexuality, and the astonishing claim of St. John Paul II that the human body reveals a "great mystery." If you've ever wondered whether holiness means escaping your humanity, or allowing Christ to redeem it, this conversation is for you. 🎙️ Word Made Fresh Links: 🎵 Listen WMF on Spotify 📍 Tour Dates 📩 Send us your art & questions: wmf@tobinstitute.org  Christopher West: 📸⁠ Instagram⁠ 🔵 ⁠Facebook⁠ 🎤 ⁠Ask Christopher West Podcast⁠ Mike Mangione: 🎵 Mike's Music ▶️ YouTube  📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ 🎸 ⁠Mike's website⁠ 🗺️ ⁠Mike's tour⁠ Bill Donaghy: 📸 ⁠Instagram⁠ Theology of the Body Institute Resources: 🔥 ⁠3 FREE sessions of our flagship course on the TOB⁠ 💬 Text TOB to (404) 647-7682 ⚡️ ⁠Support us & get access to leading TOB formation⁠ 📚 ⁠Course schedule⁠ 🏔️ ⁠Pilgrimages⁠ 🛍️ ⁠Store⁠

    They Said We're Preaching Heresy... Here's Our Response. | WMF21
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

Welcome to Word Made Fresh, where Dr. Christopher West, Bill Donaghy, and Mike Mangione dive into art, poetry, music, stories, and everyday moments to reveal the sacramentality of reality. No script. No filters. Just a conversation that keeps surprising even them.

Information

  • Creator
    Theology of the Body Institute
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Theology of the Body Institute
  • Show Website
    Word Made Fresh

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