In strength training, we are aware that when we stop physical training for an extended period, our muscles begin to change. Our muscles atrophy or lose conditioning if we don’t use them. “Use it or lose it’ is often what we say jokingly, but that keeps us going day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. Some of the athletes I’ve had the privilege of working with have been training in our group for 10 years — and thankfully, we don’t see an end in sight!
If you’ve been reading this column for a while you know that the Holy Spirit inspires me to make comparisons between the physical life and the spiritual life. In this case, use it or lose it applies to the spiritual life as well — if we don’t pray and stay committed to a daily relationship with Jesus, we can begin to lose our zeal and fall away from practicing our faith and, for example, little-by-little, start to pray less, miss Mass, avoid the Sacrament of Reconciliation and become more self-focused.
The atrophy can begin almost invisibly, but the evil one takes great delight in any inkling of spiritual atrophy and will tempt and cajole us to move it along more fully and swiftly.
It is important to note that ‘use it or lose it’ does not refer to losing God’s love — that can’t happen even if we walk away from him forever — as he never gives up on us or stops loving us. However, we can begin to lose our zeal and fervor for him if we don’t practice our faith and seek to stay close to him with a consistent spiritual life.
Maintaining holy and healthy habits of prayer, reading scripture, attending Adoration, frequenting Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation are key ways to ‘train’ and be strengthened to stay close to Jesus.
My husband and I often travel in March and i always think that I will have more time to pray and go to daily Mass when I’m on vacation, but maintaining those habits is definitely a challenge when I’m not in my home routine. Since we traveled during Lent this year, I was particularly determined to keep my habits of morning prayer, daily Mass and exercise. That really was the best part of the day — and being able to pray and read scripture and spiritual books outdoors in nature was very special indeed.
In this life we are called to be beacons of light and to flex our spiritual muscles in all areas of our lives — each in our own way by forming good spiritual habits that open our hearts to hearing God’s voice and responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We are called to freely and frequently share the gifts and talents God has so generously poured into us.
Pope Francis said this about our life in God, “The great gift of life is the first gift we have received. Sometimes we risk forgetting about this, as if we were the masters of our existence while instead we are radically dependent. In fact, it is a source of great joy to hear that at every age in life, in every situation, in every social condition, we are and remain sons and daughters.”
May we, as beloved sons and daughters of God, be faithful to and ‘use’ our good spiritual habits to grow in holiness so that we don’t ‘lose’ the gift of our fervor and desire to love and serve God and his people.