Lent has arrived yet again! The time of year where we as Catholics dive head-first into our mortifications, prayers, and almsgiving. As I sit here trying to think of something to write about Lent that we haven’t covered on this blog 100 times before, I keep asking myself the question, “How else does Lent show us that the body matters?” Sure, I could write another blog about how JPII taught that mastering our passions leads to a greater capacity for love, but I wanted a new angle. Then it hit me: the sacrifices of Lent reveal one of God’s most important gifts – our bodies – to remind us that we ultimately belong in Heaven with Him.
Think about the effect your body has on just about everything in your life. A lack of food or sleep can make you irritable and hard for others to deal with. An excess of those things can make you lethargic and lazy. Our bodies speak a language that we simply can’t ignore. The language of the body teaches us when to eat, sleep, bathe, or exercise. When we feel discomfort, our bodies want us to take some corrective action. Usually this just entails correcting the thing causing the discomfort, but what about when we choose that discomfort?
As rational beings, humans need a good reason to put up with bodily discomfort. We put up with the pain of exercise because we can look forward to the long-term gains of a healthy body. Similarly, we put up with the discomfort of Lent because we look forward to the long-term spiritual gains that mortification brings. By suffering now, we stretch our hearts so God can fill them even more in the future.
Look for this graphic on our social media!
When we practice the mortifications of Lent, our bodies speak to us and teach us God’s lesson. Usually, when our body complains about hunger, we want to fill it with food, and certainly we should listen to our bodies’ warning signals! But when we temporarily deny ourselves to intentionally feel hunger, it forces us to reflect on what our hearts truly hunger for, such as time with God. This is the wisdom of the Church: that while we can easily distract ourselves from God, we cannot so easily ignore our bodies.
This Lent, take some time to reflect on the lessons God wants you to learn through mortification.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Boris7
The late Cardinal Archbishop Dominik Duka wearing purple. Not sure if it’s for Lent though.
Chris Tarantino is the Communications Director for TOBET. He studied History at The University at Texas A&M and has written for the Tennessee Register and Nashville Catholic.
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