Lent begins tomorrow, and as we finalize our plans for "giving up" or "taking on" habits, practices and tasks, Jared Zimmerer has some advice of what to do, but more importantly, what not to do. While the hairshirt might not be necessary, some form of asceticism is. But don't worry, this "New Asceticism" is more joyful than painful.
Catholic asceticism, coming from the Greek word askesis — meaning bodily exercise — has slurred into the shadows of the peculiar as of late. Today, most associate the act of fasting or abstinence as the only means of asceticism to be used, and if used, applied with cautious moderation. Reticent attitudes toward asceticism are in sharp contrast to the ancient Church’s practitioners of bodily mortification, who had a much more aggressive concept of what self-inflicted discomfort could accomplish to advance the cause of spiritual attainments. Flagellation, life-threatening fasting and days without sleep were a regular practice for some of the greatest saints in Church history. While their efforts were not completely in vain, in that their goals were always holiness, such practices of mortification are not meant to be applied broadly, and thankfully there are much less potentially destructive means that can be utilized to achieve the same end.
Genuine asceticism should be less about the infliction of pain and more geared toward our lower nature subjecting itself to our higher nature. In doing this, the sins of our physical nature, lust and gluttony for example, are restrained for the higher purpose of growing in the opposite virtues, chastity and temperance. What few realize is that ascetical practices do not have to inevitably involve the punishment of our bodies; rather it could very well include the building of them. In the act of growing in health, there are times when pain is required and times when distressing temperance is manifest, yet it is in these times that our bodies grow stronger and are improved. Therefore, we have the ability to build muscle, lose fat and gain cardiovascular endurance while embracing the very virtues that mortification demands. This New Asceticism sets its participants on a journey of discipline, virtue and holiness during bouts of exercise, and a daily living of eating for function rather than constant self-gratification...
There is a great Catholic insight that some feats of physical endurance manifest an intense connection between the physical and the spiritual. If this asceticism is accepted for reasons beyond self-interest, it can be a means by which we share in the sufferings of Christ. These practices are directed toward the mystery of the Incarnation, the enflesh-ment of a spiritual reality that provides a corporeal, experiential means to participate in this very reality.
Jeff Grabosky, a 28 year-old graduate of the University of Notre Dame, just ran 3700+ miles across America in, about, and to promote prayer. Over the course of 121 days, Jeff made his way from Los Angeles to Long Island on foot, pushing a stroller of supplies and logging eleven to sixty-five miles every day. Having dedicated at least a decade of the rosary to every prayer petition received through his website and praying in honor of his mother who passed away in 2006, Jeff practiced this incarnational spirituality throughout his run.
Upon the completion of this feat, Jeff graciously agreed to be interviewed by Word on Fire. He offers the details of his incredible journey on the Word on Fire Blog...
“What has Sparta to do with Jerusalem?”
A few weeks ago I challenged the research assistant at Word on Fire to a contest. Could he beat my time in the completion of the so called “300” workout? The “300” workout is actually a fitness test that was administered to the actors from the blockbuster hit movie from 2006 about the ancient Battle of Thermopylae called “300”. It involves the performance of various exercises such as pull ups, push ups and dead lifts in rapid succession for a total 300 repetitions. One's performance is rated by not only one’s ability to complete the routine, but the time that it takes to finish. This gauntlet is intense in its demands of strength, endurance and psychological determination. It also demands a pre-existing level of physical fitness. At the completion of our contest, I noted that at the mid point of the competition, the thought occurred to me that I just might die doing this- a thought that I knew if I entertained for too long would sap me of the necessary focus needed to avoid giving up. At that moment I was faced with a decision: I could throw in the towel or, if I endured and understood that any hesitancy about my performance at that point was more about mind than body, I could finish what I had started. I chose to finish....