WE
should always be wary of the usual conflict between our
body and soul, and be ready to resolve it as quickly as
possible so
that the ideal unity of life can be achieved even as we
go through the
different situations of our life.
Christ already warned us about this. “The
spirit is
willing, but the flesh is weak,” he told the 3 disciples
who were with
him in his agony in the garden of Gethsemane, advising
them to always
“watch and pray.” (cfr. Mt 26,41)
St.
Paul described this conflict very graphically when he
said: “I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self,
but I see in my
members another law at war with the law of my mind and
making me
captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”
(Rom 7,22-23)
For this, we have to learn how to
monitor the condition of
both our body and soul as we go through the different
events of day.
It’s a skill worth learning, especially because it is
basic and
indispensable in our effort to effectively attend to the
real purpose
of our life here on earth—our sanctification. Holiness is
not only an
affair of our spiritual soul. It also integrally involves
our body.
It’s
ironic that many of us know a lot of practical
skills, but we miss out on this one which is more
important than any
of them. We need to see to it that since we are supposed
to be a unity
of body and soul, both constituent elements of our
humanity should
work in synch with each other, and ultimately be animated
by the real
and original source of life, unity and beauty, and that
is none other
than God.
When
the body is tired, bored, stressed, hungry, sick,
etc., we should know what to do with it to make it
properly animated
in spite of those conditions which can give an opening
for temptations
to come and eventually dominate.
This is
where, as Christ himself said, that we have to
learn to “watch and pray.” We should not allow the
miseries of the
body drag our soul to the same condition. The ideal
condition is that
even if the body finds itself in its weaknesses, it
should still be
properly connected with God through prayer, sacrifice,
recourse to the
sacraments, exercise of the virtues.
The
whole idea is that we should avoid becoming a carnal
man rather than a spiritual man as described by St. Paul.
(cfr. 1 Cor
2,14-16) For this, we should see to it that as we go
through the
different events of the day and as our body goes through
all kinds of
conditions, the proper spiritual animation of our body is
not lost.
Practically speaking, this should translate into making
the effort that right at the beginning of the day, our
spiritual and
supernatural bearing should already be made strong and
firm through
some exercises like saying some vocal prayers, doing some
mental
prayer or meditation, doing some devotions, etc.
And
such bearing should be nourished and reinforced with
some acts of piety all throughout the day. When we notice
that our
body is tired, bored or stressed, then we should
intensify our prayers
and spirit of mortification to prevent it from falling
prey to the
blind urges of the body that can seek rest and
compensation in ways
that are not proper to our dignity as persons and
children of God.
We
cannot deny that when a tired body, for example, is not
properly inspired by the spirit of love of God and
others, it will
seek its rest and recreation, its desire for reward and
compensation
in ways that are not healthy and even sinful. It can
indulge in
overeating, oversleeping, if not fall into the vices of
drinks, drugs,
gambling, pornography, sex, etc.
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