Good Health

One

The goodness of the human body

The fifth commandment also reminds us that we have a duty to take care of our physical health. But we live in a weird time in terms of how people treat their own bodies.

Society seems to be absolutely unable to take a balanced view of physical health and fitness.

On the one hand, there are an incredible number of folks who treat their bodies and health horribly. They eat horribly, get no exercise, drink and smoke to excess, and have no regular sleep.

On the other hand, you have people whose whole life is wrapped up in eating healthy and staying fit. People who seem to think the measure of a good life is how good you look, how much you can bench, how many miles you run, or how many steps you take in a day.

Not surprisingly, the Church, meditating on the goodness of the body, and the greater goodness of the soul, gives us some insight into how we’re supposed to live virtuously because virtue lies in the middle of two sinful extremes.

Two

The obligation to take care of our health

To begin with, part of respect and appreciation for the gift of life requires that we make a real effort to be physically healthy. 

The Catechism states very clearly, “Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.” (2288).

Remember, we are not owners of ourselves. God is the owner of everything we are. We are just the stewards of what belongs to God. And that includes our own bodies.

A steward is particularly responsible for what belongs to someone else. If someone loans you his car and you crash it, don’t change the oil, and abuse it to the point that it barely runs, then he’s not going to be very happy when he comes back to pick it up.

God has entrusted you with a body and soul made in His image. He doesn’t want you to trash it. 

Three

Ordering the body so as to order the soul

The body is good in itself. But also, the proper functioning of the body is normally necessary for the proper functioning of the soul.

It’s going to be harder to pay attention in prayer or to focus on the work God’s given you to do if you don’t get enough sleep. It’s going to be harder to have the energy for your kids or grandkids if your diet is terrible or if your lack of exercise makes you immobile. And, most importantly, it’s going to be harder to handle spiritual and moral self-control if you have no practice with physical self-control.

So, St. Gregory the Great says that the moral life begins with getting our physical life in order. Without that, he says, how can we ever hope to get our spiritual lives in order?

If you want a good spiritual life, if you want to become holy, then we need to be serious about taking care of our bodies. Are you getting enough sleep? Do you waste the end of the day and stay up too late? Are you drinking too much alcohol – because alcohol interrupts restorative sleep. Are you exercising regularly? Are you eating real food, you know, stuff that you prepare or just the processed stuff that can hardly be considered food?

If you’re serious about your soul, then you gotta take care of the body.

Four

Not absolutizing the body

Even though our bodies are an important part of who we are, they definitely are not the most important part of who we are. The soul is what matters most.

The Catechism also has a stern warning for those who become proud over their physical ability or perfection. It says, “If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for it's sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships.” (2289) 

In other words, do you secretly – or maybe not-so-secretly – think you’re better than other people because you’re in better shape than they are? Do you perhaps have some contempt for people who aren’t as strong, or don’t have as good a figure?

If so, then you need to know that Jesus hates pride. He hates it any time you enjoy thinking you’re better than others. He verbally shredded the Pharisees because they thought they were spiritually better than others. What do you think He’d say to you if He saw you contemptuous of others based on your physical practices?

How will you stand before the Lord if you’ve worshipped your own physical fitness?

Five

The humility of failure

One more point about the health of the body. It’s not good to be unhealthy, to be slothful, to be gluttonous, to spoil your body by intemperance with excessive food or excessive drink or excessive smoking or excessive immobility.

The Catechism reminds us that the virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine.

We are obliged to fight against these vices. But, of course, we fail here like we fail everywhere else. And it’s really difficult in a culture that has, for instance, totally lost track of how to prepare food, how to properly delight in food, and how to avoid constant temptation to overeat or sit for hours on end in with entertainment.

So if you’re someone who has struggled with weight or fitness – well, the Lord wants you to keep trying to the extent that it’s reasonable. But it’s also good to remember that even as you feel like you may be failing with regard to the health of your body, you may be growing with regard to the humility of your soul. You may be learning, more and more, to not trust in yourself, to not look down on others, and to rely on God’s unconditional love in all things.

Here as elsewhere, our sins and failings, while not good in themselves, can become the engine that God uses to bring us closer to Him. 

Which, after all, is the only ultimate point of human life.