Public health messages barrage us from the moment of birth. Mothers cannot leave the hospital until a physician examines the newborns, who must then be taken to their personal pediatricians within the first week of life. Regular follow-up appointments ensue to ensure growth. After a few months, rounds of scheduled vaccinations begin. Parents receive a list of developmental milestones—first smile, roll over, sit up, walk, talk—that must occur within a certain window; if not, medical intervention must be sought.
Once children go off to school, from kindergarten through college, they receive constant messaging about healthy versus unhealthy behaviors: hygiene, dental care, good diet, exercise, mental health, sex education. Many states mandate health classes for middle and high school students. All schools and universities have counselors, nurses, infirmaries to keep students healthy and help them recover when they grow sick.
The public health messaging follows from graduation into adulthood until death: exhortations for annual physicals, good diet, vitamins and health supplements, regular screening for cancer and heart disease, unpleasant diagnostic tests like colonoscopies and mammograms.
Not a few Americans ignore these exhortations, of course, but “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk 12:34). In 2021, health spending in the US totaled $4.3 trillion, which amounts to $12,914 per person. The conclusion is obvious: physical health is a top priority for America.
Imagine what America would be like if the same focus, messaging, and resources poured into ensuring spiritual health. In the hospital, new mothers would be instructed to take their children to church as soon as possible to have them baptized. They would receive a list of spiritual developmental milestones to go along with the physical ones. Parents would be told to read their children Bible stories in addition to secular ones and to teach them the basic prayers in their early years.
An America concerned with spiritual health would include religious instruction in all schools, public and private, as was once the case. As they grow, students would learn the Ten Commandments along with sins and their damaging effects. They would be instructed to cultivate the cardinal and theological virtues, learn meditative prayer, perform service and charitable works as a regular part of their schooling and summer leisure.
Adults, too, would hear exhortations to avoid sin and develop virtue via public health advertisements aimed at the soul. They would be implored to frequent the sacraments, especially the sacrament of confession, and read the Bible regularly. At church each Sunday they would hear sermons about growing in the spiritual life, about keeping Jesus Christ at the center of their marriages and families, about how they can support one another through suffering and the inevitable trials of life—and where to seek help if they need it. They would decorate their homes with religious imagery, which could also be found in public places as in Europe. They would make an annual retreat in addition to taking a vacation; both would be allotted as paid leave time. Religious holidays, in addition to Christmas, would be honored on the civic calendar.
Money would thus follow the pursuit of spiritual health. Tithing would return from oblivion, and donations would flow to churches, charities, and apostolates. Purchasing resources—books, statues, and sacred art—to advance in the spiritual life would be as common as doing so for physical health, and pennies would not be pinched. Tax money would also supplement houses of worship, religious schools, and charities. On Sundays, businesses would be closed and youth activities would not begin until the afternoon.
Would all Americans be devoutly religious with societal solicitude for spiritual health? No more, likely, than are physically healthy. But constant messaging would certainly help some—consider how many lives have been saved by routine health screenings that were only sought because a person hit a designated age and followed the medical advice. For the life of the soul, the message would be clear: spiritual health matters. At the minimum, the prospects and importance of cultivating the soul would not go unknown, as is the case for so many today, especially the young.
Imagining an America publicly concerned with spiritual health is not an exercise in nostalgia or call for integralism. Rather, it serves three purposes to advance the cause of Christ today.
First, it reminds believers that the spiritual life comprises multiple facets. As with physical health, we may be more attentive to certain spiritual practices while neglecting or short changing others. Like a health screening that issues an unexpected warning to lower our cholesterol, taking inventory of the full gamut of spiritual health can spur us to develop an underused or unused part of the soul.
Second, it illustrates the morbidity of a world that cares only about a sound body. When public consciousness becomes obsessively material while spiritual health is completely ignored, spiritual maladies will pop up everywhere.
Perpetual angst, depression, illegal drugs, suicide, mass shootings are the symptoms of deep spiritual disorders. As such, the symptoms cannot be healed by other material solutions, yet the American public has become so myopic that it can only think in material terms: angst and depression require medication; illegal drugs require expensive treatments; suicides and mass shootings require gun control. When the real causes go undiagnosed, the disease continues to rage until it destroys the organism from the inside.
Third, our nation’s more recent concern for mental health may provide an approach to awakening Americans to acknowledge the soul’s existence once again. Mental health is an authentic concern, and it is a fitting focus for a world where, as Carl Trueman calls it in The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, the “psychological self” is the dominating feature of society. Mental health offers therapeutic aid to the self in distress so he can resume living without pain or impediment.
But the mind and the soul, the Roman poet Lucretius tells us in De Rerum Natura, are so closely linked—the very words animus and anima point to this fact—that they “form a single nature between themselves.” Evangelization should seek to turn the mind toward the soul, the real animating principle of the self, which does not come from the self but from God. Then the psychological self can begin the slow, torturous route out of his own mind to embrace the objective order that God has created, and, in doing so, can submit himself to the Lord.
“The breach of communion between the spiritual and the rational order,” wrote Christopher Dawson in Religion and Culture, “is the most formidable problem that confronts the modern world.” This breach brought the rejection of the spiritual life, and, with it, the plight of spiritual health in America. By recovering spiritual health as a real aspect of human living, we both open ourselves to God’s saving grace and provide a possible avenue down which men, trapped in their own minds, can travel to freedom in Christ.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Astonished that I told him that hospital medical care is an industry, perhaps today more focused on profit than health, he, a doctoral student at NYU, an atheist, shocked me more than his being shocked. His vision was based on historical Catholicism’s creation of hospital care as an act of divine charity. And his own traditional Catholicism, as a boy server memorizing all the Latin responses, when later poisoned by liberal academia.
“Not a few Americans ignore these exhortations, of course, but “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Bonagura). While realists like myself are on board with what Bonagura implies. Is all the care, medications, continuous testing necessary? Are physicians more apt to follow a more aggressive interpretation of stats when a more moderate view is quite adequate? After all, there’s expensive bills and lifestyle. If your religion is health, health foods, Yoga, perhaps to live forever on Planet Earth with prospect of new discoveries, then that’s where your heart actually is. The Greek ideal is fine in context of things that really matter.
Anomalies are great when they expose the truth. Care of the soul is a higher order of well being. Indeed, even privation of goods required for a ‘healthy’ lifestyle [my Dad had suffered at least two heart attacks according to cardiogram history taken in old age, that he wasn’t unaware of. He suffered the pain and continued hard work on the docks because he couldn’t afford the money or the time with nine kids. Religious, missionaries, frequently parish priests, those committed to Christ often discard care of body for sake of the salvation of others in imitation of the Doctor of Souls.
One problem is that while there is wide consensus as to what phyical health involves there is almost none about moral or spiritual health. Real school choice would at least let parents ensure that their children are raised according to their values.
I have quibble. The author says “… angst and depression require medication.” Genuine depression is in fact a medical condition and in many cases medication is the only way to treat it. Mental illness is illness, not weakness and not some form of ignorance that can be remedied with the right words.
Cognitive therapy can have good results & does involve the “right words” sometimes. Depression has varied treatments with varied results. Medication can be beneficial but it’s not the only treatment. And sadly it’s a great deal easier to prescribe than taking the time for cognitive therapy, exercise, social interaction, etc. And spiritual health.
Anecdotal I know, but I run into folks that are zombified, medicated versions of their former selves. I asked one of them who has really slipped into zombiehood recently, (slurring words/sleep schedule upside down/short term memory loss), whether they have discussed their meds with their health provider. It turns out they just do infrequent webcam appts to renew the prescription, nothing face to face. So much for a doctor/patient relationship.
The author’s phrase “angst and depression require medication” was one example among others which made the point that Americans are myopic in choosing methods of material healing while discounting methods of spiritual healing. People who are ill would do well to consider that the mind, body and soul are interrelated and affect each other. The Christian life, lived as Christ taught, grants a life of a mind and a soul healed by grace.
“Public health messages barrage us from the moment of birth. Mothers cannot leave the hospital until a physician examines the newborns, who must then be taken to their personal pediatricians within the first week of life. Regular follow-up appointments ensue to ensure growth. After a few months, rounds of scheduled vaccinations begin. Parents receive a list of developmental milestones—first smile, roll over, sit up, walk, talk—that must occur within a certain window; if not, medical intervention must be sought….”
********
Which is in part why I chose midwife attended home deliveries for my children.
Imagine what state our Church and country and world would be in if everyone practiced loving God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength above all other things.
But, that’s just the first and greatest commandment, not like most “Christians” actually do such a thing….that is somebody else’s job like maybe cloistered nuns or monks or those saints people.
The ship in storm necessarily must trim sails back and weigh which sails to keep firm aloft and which to keep loose, to command the safety out of the winds.
In our world, parents are too lazy (or uninformed) to teach their children the beauty of the Catholic faith. Speaking from the experience of a catechist while my children were younger, CCD is nothing more than an hour of babysitting to many parents. Most don’t attend Mass on Sunday. Most don’t know basic Catholic prayers or anything about the Bible. Children don’t know how to even bless themselves properly. I had one parent tell me that the reason his daughter was “bored” during class was that I didn’t make it “entertaining” enough. Really?
We, as parents, must ensure that our faith is a “way of life” from the moment our children are born, not something to “squeeze in when we can”. We must “walk the walk” with our children. We are responsible for their souls, & we cannot depend on the church to do this work for us – especially with all of the confusing messaging emanating from our “shepherds” today. Things are really upside down, both in society & in our Holy Mother church. We, parents, must be the ones to lead the charge.
Religion is problematic because it becomes tribal and that becomes the rationale for war. History provides evidence for this. The kingdom of God is about justice, inclusion, not judging others, and realizing that power, status, and wealth are the cause of most of the world’s problems. Jesus was adamant about service and humility. Actions speak louder than preaching.”I don’t want sacrifices (worship), rather I want mercy” says God according to Hosea.
“The kingdom of God is about justice, inclusion, not judging others, and realizing that power, status, and wealth are the cause of most of the world’s problems.”
This is a progressive/Marxist interpretation. I would suggest that you read the gospels. No teaching about inclusion there; lots of exhortations to repent, however.
“Religion is problematic because it becomes tribal and that becomes the rationale for war.”
Man by nature is tribal; it’s not a given that religion becomes tribal. Your fatalistic view of religion, without distinguishing differences (i.e., Christianity rather than Islam) is deeply flawed.
“The kingdom of God is about justice, inclusion, not judging others, and realizing that power, status, and wealth are the cause of most of the world’s problems.”
Not according to Christ, who went into great detail about the Kingdom, especially in his Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7). Yes, true justice indeed, but first repentance and holiness. After all, Jesus didn’t announce the Kingdom by declaring, “Inclusion!” Rather, he calls all to confess, repent, and sin no more. And then, to be spiritual sacrifices, as St. Paul stresses:
“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom 12:1)
And St. Peter: “he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:15-16)
Power, status, and wealth are not sinful in themselves, though they do indeed present great temptations, as Christ taught. But the greatest sin is pride, and the seven capital sins “engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia” (CCC, 1866).
Hosea was addressing how the temple sacrifices had become rote and empty of a true spirit of repentance, mercy, and love. Christ, by the Passion and death, demonstrates the true nature of sacrifice, which is complete self-gift for the life of others. Which is why Paul and Peter taught what they taught. It would be good if Catholics today did the same, no?
Finally, your apparent disdain for worship is completely contrary to both Scripture and the life of the Church. Our highest duty is to know, love, and worship the Triune God, for doing so is the highest form of justice–giving to God what is properly due to Him. Which is why we Catholics in the East state at Divine Liturgy: “It is proper and just to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…” In fact, the highest form of social justice is the true worship of God, who is the source of all societies and relationships, for He is perfect Relationship and Communion.
A quote from Christian scripture does not support the premise that “Religion is problematic”.
Further, according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:17), REPENTANCE is necessary prior to any realization of His kingdom. AAMOF, “Repent” is the first word Jesus uttered at the beginning of his preaching.
Finally, the sacrifice God requires is one of a holy body and obedience to His commands. We are to judge ourselves accordingly; we judge ourselves and evaluate the world and our neighbors by the wisdom His Holy Spirit gives us. How do we know when we listen to the Spirit? He says the same as Jesus and God the Father have said since He and Jesus and The Father are ONE AND THE SAME GOD.
Jesus promised that He would abide in His Church until the end of time. The Church has abided with the Holy Spirit through its Scripture, its 2000 year Tradition, and its Magisterium as that has developed over time.
Anything different being taught today is not of God’s kingdom, and Jesus Himself said so. I believe in Him. Do you?