Cross Fit

Starting a spiritual exercise routine during Lent

03/06/2017

Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'

          Physical exercise is a funny thing: people have a love-hate relationship with it. Some people adore exercise, while other people abhor exercise. And yet we know we need some exercise in order to live healthier and happier lives. I recently came across a list of why celebrities exercise (or don’t exercise), and I’m sure they will inspire you to jump off the couch. David Lee Roth said: “I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.” Joan Rivers said: “I don’t exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.” Erma Bombeck wrote: “I’ve exercised with women so thin that buzzards followed them to their cars.” Here’s an anonymous one: “Exercise is the poor person’s plastic surgery.” Another anonymous person wrote: “At twenty, we worry about what others think of us. At forty, we don’t care what others think of us. At sixty, we discover that they haven’t been thinking about us at all.” And those are the reasons we love and hate exercise.

          It may be helpful to look at Lent in the light of exercise, that is, as spiritual exercise. When we do additional penance, and take time for prayer and give more alms to help the poor, we’re not developing our biceps or our quads, but we are strengthening our spiritual muscles that enable us to love God and our neighbor more immediately and effortlessly. You could even call this spiritual exercise routine “cross fit” where carrying our cross – instead of carrying huge tires – makes us fit to love others. Just like physical exercise helps to live better, so spiritual exercise help us to love better.

          In the gospel today we see the difference that spiritual exercise makes when we are weighed on the scales of love. The scene is taken from the famous Last Judgment of Matthew 25, when Jesus returns in glory at the end of time flanked by legions of angels to judge humanity. He separates us on his left and his right. Those who loved well are placed on his right, that is, those who fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the imprisoned, etc. They loved immediately and effortlessly, they didn’t even realize it, because their spiritual muscles were ripped and ready. On the other hand (literally on Jesus’ left hand), are placed those who loved poorly, meaning they failed to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned, etc. Why were those on the left so lacking in love? They had not done Cross Fit. They had not exercised spiritually, so they were lethargic in love, waiting for God “to put diamonds on the floor” before they got in spiritual shape. Spiritual exercise is also a love-hate relationship: when we work-out spiritually we love better, but when we are spiritual couch potatoes, we love poorly, that is, we hate.

          This Lent, therefore, listen to your personal trainer, the Holy Spirit, and get into the gym for your Cross Fit work out. Perhaps you’ll consider some of these exercise routines for the next forty days. Make it to daily Mass once or twice during the week (but still attend Sunday Mass!). Pray the rosary every day during Lent. Volunteer to help Dc. Greg minister to the homeless. Spend an hour at our school helping students with their homework (please note: you have to be smarter than a fifth grader to do that). Make some sacrifice that’s meaningful: give up gossip and stop spreading rumors, put the money you’d spend on your chai latte in the poor box, spend an hour in Adoration instead of an hour watching television. You don’t have to do all these things, but you do have to do some of these things. Why? Well, because in order to love immediately and effortlessly, almost without realizing it, you have to have strong and shredded spiritual muscles, that is, you have to be “cross fit.”

          Don’t complain like David Lee Roth that exercising causes the ice cubes to fall out of your glass. A lot worse can happen than that. Jesus may leave us on his left side due to our failure to love, because our spiritual muscles were too anemic. Get into spiritual shape with cross fit and end up on Jesus’ right side, which will be the right side of eternity.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!