The Meaning of Caring for the Body

04.12.2023

I will share about Christ's manner of conveying the right thoughts through the example of today's Spiritual Exercises.

At the beginning of the meditation, He pointed out to me the necessity of paying more attention to the order and aesthetics around the body, to the way of dressing, and to the need to organise food more effectively. Then I pondered why He was showing me all this). I came to the conclusion that since the body is one of the gifts to fulfil one’s purpose, I must take care of it so that it is strong, healthy, and can effectively convey and share His light around.

This is a very mistaken and selfish conclusion, although it may seem quite beautiful. It is not the physical body that conveys and spreads His light!

Look at how interestingly He directs thought in the right direction). He often does this, and it is very amusing.

As soon as I made this incorrect conclusion, a commotion began around me: the dishwasher door slammed loudly, something knocked outside, and my little son, who was sleeping beside me, began to cry softly and show signs of distress. Such a small avalanche of sounds that cannot be overlooked.
I immediately became alert: “Alright, I understand, I am listening to You attentively.” The noise around subsided, thoughts froze, and feelings sharpened. And suddenly, a memory of the saints came to mind. Exactly! Did they need strong bodies to reveal the fullness of their ministry? What nonsense, of course not. There are countless saints with sick and weak bodies, yet their merits are simply immeasurable. The body is a shell and one of the tools; its particular state cannot be a prerequisite, otherwise, it would be a limitation of the Creator.

“Alright, I understand You, but still, actions for the body are connected to serving You, otherwise, You would not have shown them to me at the beginning of the meditation. What is their meaning?”

In such moments, a subtle pulling tension and dissatisfaction arise. When you feel that He is showing the right answer, but you are simply unable to “read” it in the moment. How wonderful!.. This is not bad, but rather incredibly good, because I know that He is very close now and never leaves such questions unanswered. And then I simply double my focus on Him.

And indeed, the answer turned out to be very simple. In the eyes of God, what matters is the movement and effort of the soul, the consequences and fruits for it, rather than the quantity or quality of changes in the physical world. This is vividly illustrated in the diary of St. Faustina, where she outwardly did almost no actions, the consequences in the physical world were absent, yet from the perspective of her soul, the efforts and fruits were simply immense.

This applies to the body as well. Caring for it in any form only makes sense when your soul, through this action, takes steps towards serving His glory. For example, maintaining order in the home so that the soul, while in it, is more organised in its impulses. Or doing physical exercises so that the soul acquires qualities of resilience and focus in those moments. Or refraining from unhealthy food so that the soul gains strength to fight unnecessary attachments. Then, by changing, the soul becomes better able to fulfil its calling.

Only this matters. There is no benefit in creating a strong, well-developed body in every respect if the motivation stems from selfish impulses. From the perspective of the soul, this is a training of pride and degradation. And a developed body can be discarded without hesitation. This is likely what the Lord often does)), arranging illnesses or other afflictions to knock out pride and correct the path of development.

After all these thoughts, I thanked Him and paused. A thought flashed by, whether to continue further. I looked at the clock, 21:40 – the exact time I had planned as the end of the meditation. A very clear answer, isn’t it?)