When the body drags the spirit

By: Fr. Roy Cimagala

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.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com