Our Body, Heart, Mind and Spirit are Connected

Running, sleeping, healing, helping, hugging, speaking, we experience them all through our body. So much is said about the body: having the best body, how to make your body look better etc etc. Living as humans not angels, our body is truly an integral part of who we are.

Man in the rain

St. Paul speaks of our bodies as something precious and sacred, “a temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you”. This section explores and discusses various “bodily” experiences – food, illness, sports and fitness, leisure, addictions, etc. yet believing that our body, heart, mind and spirit are inseparable.

Further reading:
Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating, Norman Wirzba, 2011
The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist, Angel F. Méndez-Montoya, 2009
www.catholicfoodie.com

BODY QUOTES

“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”

Mother Teresa

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FROM LIFE: Psychosis Recovery: From Darkness To Light

Nicole Casha* talks about her successful recovery from two psychotic episodes which she experienced once as a teenager and another as a young adult and how through support and medication she managed to get back on her feet. “I came at a point where I lost my job, my boyfriend, my physical health, my faith and, yes, my mind.”

I had always thought that one’s health is what mattered most in life. But at the point where I had lost both my physical and mental health, I found something else which was more crucial: love...

Prayer: To accept my body

“Father, there are days that I hate looking at my outward appearance. I hate being me. Thank you so much for your word. I am your child and you are not ashamed of my body. You call me holy and clean. A temple of the Holy Spirit. May I grasp this truth as I face a world that wants me to find my identity in worthless things. May I use my body to bring you glory. Amen.”

Mike Matthews

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From the Bible

BIBLE VERSES RELATING TO THE BODY

Sheep, meat

“Do not join those who drink too much wine
or gorge themselves on meat,
for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

Proverbs 23:20-21

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From the Popes

TOP POPE'S QUOTES ABOUT OUR BODY

"VALUING ONE'S OWN BODY in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognise myself in an encounter with someone who is different."

Pope Francis, Care of our Common Home, 2015