Faithful Living: Self care is for both body & soul

Catholics, or Christians in general, can sometimes forget that we are both body and soul as human beings. We are not spiritual beings like the angels even when our human nature also has a spiritual dimension. We are human beings beautifully made by God, body and soul. 

• Watch this 10-minute video by Christopher West on the unity of the body and soul to understand how we should understand and see ourselves according to the teachings of the Church. 
  
  

Sometimes we can go on extremes with how we take care of our selves.

• We can focus so much on our bodies that when something goes wrong with our bodies we may think and feel like it is no longer worth living. Vanity will have a lot of control and influence on our lives, and we become enslaved by it. We can become like hollow shells.
• We can also see ourselves mainly as spiritual beings trapped in the shell of a human body. We can overspiritualize things and begin to neglect the proper care of our bodies. Some even begin to form an inherent hatred towards their bodies.

How we see and treat ourselves will often shape how we see and treat others.
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Christ became one of us as a human being, body and soul, in His incarnation while continuing to be God at the same time. He even bothered to be raised both in body and soul in His resurrected state because we matter. We matter to God both in body and soul and only death separates both from each other. Thus, the Lord opens for us the path of the resurrection to eternal life.

Consider this... God loves you - body and soul. You are wonderfully made. ​

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows." ~ Matthew 10:28-31