Often as spiritual people, we put all our focus on our souls, that immortal part of ourselves that longs for union with God. We are right to lead with the unseen, intangible soul, as it is the core of our being where God breathed life into us. But often, this focus is at the expense of our poor bodi es, the workhorses that do so much. We push our bodies to exertion – or worse, we sit still and allow our bodies to atrophy, forgetting that movement is a gift and that our bodies are tools meant to celebrate life and serve others. Simply put, our bodies don’t get the credit and treatment they deserve. Not only does the body not get credit for its participation in our salvation, we often blame it for our weaknesses. We act as though the spirit and the body are in conflict rather than mystically unified in our humanity. In “He Leadeth Me,” a book about his 23 years spent in Siberian prisons and labor camps, Father Walter J. Ciszek devotes a whole chapter to the body. “There is a strain in Christian asceticism that tends to despise the body,” he writes, “that looks upon it as the corruptible part of man and the source of corruption.” Father Ciszek goes on to say, “It is always the poor old body that gets the worst of it, as if the mind and the will never had any sinful thoughts or inclinations, as if sin did not consist precisely in setting one’s will (not the body) against God’s will.” It is Lent, a time when our bodies are given less food, fewer treats, deprived of many things that nourish it and keep it well all so that our souls can be nourished through this season of sacrifice. The body is so reliable. It bears the weight of this season gracefully – its only revolt some stomach grumbling and an occasional headache from lack of sugar or caffeine. These mortifications, however small, have a long and undeniable history as a rich spiritual practice that has led many saints to heaven, but I wonder if this Lent we can’t also consider ways to honor our much-abused body as full participants in our salvation. It is our body that inhales the metallic ting of cold air deep into our lungs, that folds into a kneeling position before the altar, that joyfully sways to music, that grows warm with good food, and that revels in the bright smell of our children when they rush in from playing outside. Even as I enter fully into this Lenten season, I want to recognize what my body does on a daily basis that allows me to participate in the small windows to heaven all around me. While there are times when I might benefit from throwing my body into a thorn bush like St. Benedict to avoid sinful thoughts, most of my body’s work is beautiful and good. My body holds my animated daughter during Mass and turns her face toward the altar to remind her to focus on what is happening. My body walks alongside friends who are grieving and who need to feel the warmth of someone next to them. And it is my body that I ask to be Christ’s light throughout the week after receiving Him in Communion. “Truly, man is a creature composed of body and soul,” Father Ciszek writes, “and we work out our salvation in this vale of tears through the medium of flesh.” Even as we purgate our bodies this Lent, as we deny ourselves snacks and candy and whatever other offering we have chosen as sacrifice, let it also be a time that reflects that Christ chose a human form, and He loved it and found it good. While Lent is undeniably a time of sacrifice, let it also be a time when we celebrate that God chose our bodies to house our souls, and as a house, it deserves credit for the work it does. This Lent, let us understand that the body is not a separate, sinful entity but rather a divinely designed one worthy of rejoicing in as it gives us access to all the good things in this life and helps us gain entrance to the next. Molly Jo Rose is a writer living with her husband and three children in Fort Wayne, where they are parishioners at St. John the Baptist. She walks a lot and writes a little. The post How Our Bodies Cooperate in God’s Plan for Salvation appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less