Fr. Longenecker on Improving Our Spiritual Fitness

"After the holiday feasting I'm ready to sign up at the gym. Crammed with Christmas cake and candy, and stuffed like the turkey, I am, like my waistband, overflowing with good intentions and new year resolve. I'd join the gym, except that I'm embarrassed to stand in line with the rest of the flagging and flabby holiday crowd for the torture of the treadmill and those weight machines that remind me of the medieval rack and rope.

"Surveys show that 80 percent of people who join the gym in January quit by June. In fact, 4 percent don't make it past January, and 14 percent more drop out by the end of February. At least they got up and endured the public humiliation of joining the gym in January. I never even make it that far. Instead, I sit at home and wonder how it might be possible to lose weight and get fit without the effort of exercise or the distress of dieting. So I pick up my Bible and ponder again two of my favorite verses, I Timothy 5:23, 'Take a little wine for your stomach's sake' and I Timothy 4:8, 'Bodily exercise is of little profit.'

"Is it possible to lose weight and get fit by sitting around thinking about it? I fear not. I've got to haul my flabby body out of the easy chair and do something that isn't easy: get some exercise. I've got to discipline my appetites and exercise some self-control if I'm going to get fit.

"It's the same in my spiritual life. I can't just sit around thinking about becoming spiritually fit. I've got to get some exercise, start eating sensibly and learn some self-discipline."

In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on three ways in which we can improve our spiritual fitness: exercise (going to Mass each week and to Confession each month), eating well (having a healthy spiritual intake), and self-discipline (fasting and prayer).

To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:

Aleteia: Fr. Dwight Longenecker: Flagging and Flabby? Get to the Spiritual Gym! (3 JAN 16)

Background information:

Dwight Longenecker - Catholic priest and author