Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Lots of non-Christians have wanted to claim that Christians are dualistic: that is, that they separate the body and the mind. They claim we see bodies as evil, that we don't like sex, or eating, or anything else that is bodily. Instead, we promote fasting and abstinence and giving up things as a way of trying to make our bodies insignificant.
In practice, this time of year, I think we might be somewhat guilty of trying to separate our bodies and our minds, to our detriment. We make mental lists and try to get through our "to-do's" while running our bodies to the ground. We eat lots of cookies and chocolate and forget that this affects our minds and spirits.
But today's scriptures should remind us that Christianity truly advocates for a body-soul connection. In today's gospel (Matthew 9:27-31), two blind men approach Jesus to be healed by him. Jesus asks them point blank: "Do you believe I can do this?" and when they say yes, he says, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." The two men go away, being able to see. Soul and body are so clearly connected, for Jesus. He will not heal the blind men's bodies unless their souls are also seeking Jesus' healing. (And Jesus usually makes this kind of connection when he's healing people.) What is good for our bodies is good for our souls, and vice versa.
In the first reading (Isaiah 29:17-24), the prophet tells us what will happen when Jesus comes: the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the ones who "err in spirit" will find understanding, and everyone shall keep God's name holy. This passage is filled with body/soul references to the point that trying to make an intelligible distinction between them is almost impossible.
I would put it this way: to be whole is to be holy. We cannot follow God and be holy without seeing the importance of both body and soul.
Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Ambrose, who was a bishop of the church in the fourth century. When he was elected bishop, one of the first things he did was to give away all his possessions and have established times of fasting and prayer. Part of this was that he knew he could not be a bishop to the people in his care, without making sure that his own body and soul were focused on God and God's command to love his neighbors. He knew that following God's commandments required bodily commitments as well as spiritual ones.
In this Advent season, and especially in this season of busy-ness, let us be mindful of this body/soul connection. Let us be aware of all that we do and think, in an effort to follow God with our whole lives.
- Jana M. Bennett