Catholic doctrine – Writing to Pray

Solemnity Body/Blood of Christ: 2023

I woke up this morning, as I often do, checking in with my body. No bad leg cramps in the night, check. Took high cholesterol meds before bed, check. In fact, took vitamins and supplements as intended yesterday. Check. Keep it up, M… Forgot to take a walk or work out yesterday. Oops. Food? Ehh… still working on eating healthier! But hey, today is a new day…

This sort of checking in with the body is a typical morning routine for many. Studies indicate that people in the USA, 25 years or older spend an average of 90 minutes a day on health-related self-care. And we should. Our bodies have been gifted to us by the Lord so we ought to take good care of them. I admittedly fall short on this task!

Meanwhile, a study on how people spend their time suggests that Americans help others through charity and volunteering about an hour a week. The study also indicated that much of the time people spend helping others is done informally, not through registered organizations. Clearly, we each spend time taking care of family members, co-workers and friends every day. The study also stated that 11% of the charitable organizations in the USA ceased to operated because of Covid.

The Body of Christ, if by that we mean all those people around us, those we know and don’t know, must have lots of unaddressed aches and pains, illnesses and wounds, if we are dedicating so little time and effort on its care as a collective! Health-related self-care is important, but what if we all spent an equal amount of time on caring for the Body of Christ? An hour and a half a day…

The menu-style to-do list of caring for the Body of Christ has many more options on it than it used to. We can help people by— reaching out to those we’ve not been in touch with for awhile, writing a kind online review about a business or restaurant we went to recently, writing compassionate and empathetic Facebook posts, praying for others, regularly maintaining a gratitude journal, signing up for a ‘random act of kindness a day’ blog post, encouraging younger people who face increased social anxiety due to isolation during their social skill formation years, engaging in a journal retreat posted on this site, holding our tongues and minding our manners— to name a few.

A study cited in the New York Times last year, suggested that as a whole, people are less creative, outgoing, conscience, and agreeable than they were before the Pandemic. This suggests that there are a greater number of things we can do to address the needs of the Body of Christ then there used to be; ways to be charitable and helpful that we’ve not yet thought of because the Body is suffering in new ways.

The saints used to pray for hardships because they understood that with difficulties come opportunities. The first reading suggests that the Lord gave the Israelites the opportunity to return to Him by providing them with 40 years of desert hardships. Wasn’t the Lord thoughtful! And frankly, the Pandemic has certainly left opportunity behind in its wake!

Reflection Questions

How much time do you spend, at present, on caring for ‘the Body of Christ?’ Could you do more?
Brainstorm, in list format, as quick as you can, all the needs you see around you. Brainstorm, in list form, all you could do.
Pick 1 need that you see and 3 things you could do about it. Explore in writing the need, as well as the time and resources needed to address it. Create an action plan. Put it in play, and reflect on your efforts.

In the Fullness of Time

Might an idea contain and carry power so profound and strong it can shove the ground upon which the state of being anchors itself forward or upward a few inches?

I don’t mean the general endorphin induced euphoric slip which occurs ephemerally, after a really clever thought dances through the cortex. No, life returns to what it was, as these sorts of feelings fade like morning fog in fall.

Don’t get me wrong, such experiences, while spanning only a second or two, are lovely.

I’m talking about a concept, perhaps it will become a concrete cornerstone, which shifts the internal landscape of the faculties 4 or 5 degrees north, or maybe east, so that all which is surveyed and perceived from then forth will never be again what it would have been or tended to be previously.

The realization regards zoning laws and property lines of the spiritual universe, for in it was constructed untried infrastructure, a contemporary byway and a new but narrow gate into an old abode, a mansion which had stood before the beginning of the creation of day and night. But it had laid empty.

In the fullness of time, a heartbeat thumps. The moment is no more dramatic for its cruel disregard of the divine dignity of human life than the flash of millennium before it. But a new dawn arrives! The trumpet’s clarion call announces the dismissal of His long lament. “I visit my Kingdom, but my people know me not. They seem so far from me; this not what I want. On top of the basement, on top of Sheol, has always existed the mighty and extensive palace where I dwell. From whence-forth, they will have admittance into Our castle and they may remain with Us for Eternity. We have missed the joyous clamor of the children playing in the garden, dancing through the rooms and hallways.”

How has such a truth escaped me?

The manor house has always been, I knew that, but I did not understand the path to its door had not already been cut. Indeed, the tree had to be chopped, and the Son split open upon it, for the entrance to be made visual and the traverse to the steps be possible.

I do not ken how such an old teaching from timeless tutors had slipped by me. I know it now, or maybe again, but will it creep away as the morning fog in fall, or will it remain behind and beckon me forward?