Building Spiritual Muscle

I came across a photo of me from long ago—very long ago. At that time, I was in great shape; I had what you would call six-pack abs. I worked out and ran three to four miles daily, which showed. Now, not so much. Now I fish. I try to convince myself that fishing is a sport, but I don't look like I used to, so it's difficult to convince people I'm still an athlete!  

Like any sport or endeavor, you must practice it if you want to advance. You must keep up with whatever is required to sustain your desired results, which, frankly, if you could see me, you would know I have not! This type of diligent workout routine is also vital for maintaining our spiritual health, bringing us to the Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jesus was trying to advance their faith, to get them to level up their understanding of who He is and what He is about to do. This was going to be a difficult workout for them; for some of them, it would be too hard. Jesus begins by telling them that He is the bread from Heaven and that:  

“Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 

Well, that's kind of shocking; I can understand why the Jews began to quarrel among themselves. Eat his flesh? Now Jesus doubles down: 

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life..." 

Eat of My Flesh

Now, we have to look back to the original Greek (that this was written in) to understand what Jesus was saying more fully. The first word Jesus used to describe eating his flesh was "phago" which simply means to eat like a human normally would.  

After the Jews quarreled among themselves, the word Jesus used was "trogo," which means to munch or to gnaw, as an animal would do! This statement would be much more graphic! It was indeed a hard saying. It was meant to grow their faith in Jesus Christ himself and prepare them for the Eucharist He would establish at the last supper that lasts even until today. 

Truly Jesus

Some were ready for that workout as the early Church truly believed in the Real Presence. Back in 112 AD, Pliny the Younger, the governor of a Roman province, went to look into what these Christians were doing, thinking, perhaps, that they were cannibals! Back in 112 AD, Pliny the Younger, the governor of a Roman province, went to look into what these Christians were doing, thinking, perhaps, that they were cannibals! He wrote a letter back to Emperor Trajan, and in the letter, Pliny describes the practices of these alleged "criminals": 

"They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food–but food of an ordinary and innocent kind." 

What stands out is that the letter states that they partake of food of an ordinary and innocent kind. Pliny stressed that it was ordinary food because back then, Christians were thought to be cannibals since they ate the flesh and drank the blood of the Eucharistic Jesus! Yes, the early Catholics, like we do today, ate the true flesh of Christ at the Eucharistic feast. 

Spiritual Workout

I think Jesus' words in John's Gospel challenge us to the same spiritual workout. They call us to level up our faith in the Eucharist. As St Paul told the Ephesians: 

“Be filled with the Spirit … giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” 

We can thank Him personally when we attend Mass—present in the Eucharist. We need to level up our faith in Jesus, who is ever-present in the Eucharist. Our gym is the Church and the Adoration Chapel. Spend time in adoration, face-to-face with Jesus Himself. Our workout should include praying to the Holy Spirit to strengthen our belief. One of our tougher gym workouts is Confession, but don't skip Confession Day! Try to go often, at least monthly.  That will strengthen you more than you can imagine!  

All of this is to give us the spiritual muscle to fight the demons Satan will send our way during our time on Earth. It is to help keep us strong when the temptations of life come our way. This way, when we have finished our earthly race, we can spend eternity.  

St. Ambrose gives us a great workout plan: 

 "Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light." 

Deacon Kevin Gingras was ordained in 2019 to the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Fall River. Deacon Kevin is an avid fisherman with a strong devotion to St. Joseph. He's been married to his wife, Allison, for 35 years and is a father of three.