By mid-February, many people have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions, just in time for Lent to begin. For Catholics, there is sometimes a renewal of that resolution in the form of a Lenten observance. We decide to give up sweets or chocolate, stop the doom-scrolling on social media, or commit to exercise. Unfortunately, when that Lenten observance resembles a New Year’s resolution, we can miss the benefit of spiritual growth and preparation that is at the core of the Lenten season.
Sometimes we can look at a Lenten sacrifice as a chance to try better dietary habits or maybe even lose some weight. Yet, how often are we truly aware of the underlying purpose of self-sacrifice in giving up something like chocolate or social media? How often do we go beyond and ask ourselves, how am I using sweets to cope, rather than turning to God, or how am I making social media into an idol, rather than prioritizing God? Our Lenten efforts can sometimes stay at this surface level, preventing true transformation.
Why does this happen? I suspect that there is a disconnect for many of us, between our spiritual health and our physical and mental health. We’ve come to see these areas as separate rather than interconnected and closely integrated. Perhaps because of this disconnect, we are constantly making progress in one area or another, then falling back, like the roller coaster of a fad diet. How do we find true transformation?
Metanoia. We need to go beyond the mind that we have. The first word of Jesus to the crowds after spending 40 days in the desert was ‘Repent’ (Matthew 4:17). While the Greek word used by Jesus is often translated as a call to repentance or conversion, there is a much richer meaning here. In Greek, the literal meaning of this word is a change of mind or to go above/beyond the mind (meta + noos). For true transformation of our body, of our heart, and of our spirit, we must also transform our mind (Romans 12:1-2). St. Paul reminds the Romans to offer the body as a living sacrifice, to be transformed by the renewal of the mind.
This is where a model of physical health that incorporates mental and spiritual health is helpful to reintegrate these parts of ourselves. In a Trinitarian Health Model, we remember that we are made in the image and likeness of God and God is a trinity of persons. So too, do we have trinitarian aspects to our being as referenced in scripture: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37). These are not separate parts of us; like the Holy Trinity, these aspects of ourselves each share fully in our one being. In contemporary language, we often see the phrase: body, mind, and spirit, a trinitarian image of our one being.
Understanding this and its importance for our overall health can also be viewed through the incarnation. In the incarnation, God became man, with a human body, with a human mind that was also the mind of God, and with a spirit (the Holy Spirit) that came to rest on Jesus at his baptism (as it does for each of us). We are all body, mind, and spirit in our one being, so why do we separate our overall health, pursuing bodily health without integrating our mind and spirit?
In my observation while helping people work toward better health, we tend to split apart our own trinitarian being. We make a New Year’s resolution or Lenten commitment that isolates something for our body, without attending to the mind or spirit. Unfortunately, that does not lead to what Christ calls us to in Lent: Metanoia. Yes, it’s about repentance; yet we are also called to go beyond the mind we have.
If only we would go beyond the mind we have, perhaps we might see that our physical health is only one part of our being, and if we aren’t viewing it through a trinitarian lens, then we aren’t going to find true transformation from any New Year’s resolution or Lenten practice. We must find transformation of mind and spirit to truly support any desired change to our health and well-being. Then as St. Ignatius reminds us, if our mind is healthy in a healthy body, all will be healthy so that we can give greater service to God (1).
By Michele Suhie, PhD, NBC-HWC, DipACLM
Ready to explore true transformation with the support of a coach this Lent? Schedule a free meet & greet to see if lifestyle medicine coaching is right for you: https://mycatholicdoctor.com/make-appointment/michele-suhie-phd-nbc-hwc-dipaclm/
(1): St. Ignatius of Loyola. Letter to Francisco de Borja, Duke of Gandía. On Prayer and Penance. Rome, September 20, 1548. St. Ignatius Writes to His Brethren: Fifty Selected Letters and Instructions of St. Ignatius Loyola with commentary by Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J. https://library.georgetown.edu/woodstock/ignatius-letters/letter11
