"Self-mortification" and "Saint" John Paul II?
The Catholic world is abuzz with a new book about the late Pope John Paul's "heroic sanctity" by the main advocate for his beatification cause. And what makes JPII so special? He used to whip himself with a belt, as have so many saints of the past and a few modern types, including the Opus Dei.
While there is much about the late pope to commend--his travels, his openness to interreligious dialogue, his witness for peace--and some things to criticize--his handling of sex abuse, his centralizing tendencies, and the fact that he stayed on as pope way too long--I don't think self-abuse is something we should be holding up as exemplary.
For too long Christian tradition has denigrated the human body; add to that the desire to imitate Christ, and let's just say Christianity hasn't always been kind to the corporeal. While it makes sense to keep balance in our "appetites," and periods of fasting have long been recommended as a way to keep the spiritual/physical balance. But our long tradition is one of moderation, not privation or starvation, and certainly not pain.
It also seems to me that to imitate in our own bodies the torture of Jesus is to miss the ponit of his Passion. Torture of any human being is a sin, and what the Roman soldiers did to Jesus was evil. God could not and did not will it, any more than God wills anyone's torture. By seeking pain, we imitate not Christ, but those who inflicted abuse against him.
It's unfortunate that in the Middle Ages Christian piety took a strange turn toward punishing, rather than valuing, the human body. But that is no excuse for continuing a mistake, especially in an age in which intrinsic moral evil of torture is once again becoming acceptable. Rather than held up, this kind of Christian piety should be discouraged, if not rejected outright as a violation of the integrity of God's gift of the human body.
Comments (15)
Mortification and the Tradition of the Church
By Dave (not verified) on Saturday, February 6, 2010It would be near impossible to find a Saint that did not practice these "severe" acts of mortification. If you want to be a saint then you better get comfortable with it.
For more info: http://vanvick.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/john-paul-ii-mortification-and-t...
Where do we draw the line?
By JC (not verified) on Saturday, February 6, 2010I have always been an admirer of Pope John Paul but I am disappointed. There is a point at which one can go beyond being a pious person and being a zealot.
My faith weakens when I see church leadership engage in bazaar acts of senseless cruelty, even if self inflicted. Not only is it an act of barbarism, it is a type of self judgment.
"Judgment is mine, thus saith the lord". Why? Because his judgment is perfect, ours is not. Not even JP's.
Self mortification crosses over the line. We are no longer following the Lords admonition to "render unto the Lord that which is the Lords".
Why do you let you faith
By Anonymous (not verified) on Saturday, February 6, 2010Why do you let you faith weaken for any reason, especially for the acts of someone else?
Don't confuse Faith which is a response to God and feelings, opinions.
Mortification, properly done and understood, isn't barbarism, anymore than being scourged before being crucified. If they're done for love, or as a way to detach from oneself, there's nothing wrong it.
You have to ask what the intent is?
Is it barbarism to jump on a hand grenade to save others?
Is it wrong to fast?
self-moritificatoin
By jmd (not verified) on Thursday, January 28, 2010The thought is that it is harder to change one's heart - to not hate - to practice kindness, to give of one's self to ease the suffering of another -of others - the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit - where God resides - how is beating it bringing you closer to God - want to be closer to God - love as He loved - be as He would be -
Amen Mr. Cones!
By Linda (not verified) on Sunday, January 31, 2010I think Mr. Cones raises an excellent point in this post---why are we admiring violence to the body when Jesus' mission was unequivocally about non-violence?
I say if the practice does not "agree" with the Gospels, it is not a holy practice.
St. Catherine of Siena was known to have died from anorexia yet we do not think a woman is sanctified by starving herself to skin and bones for the love of God. She, like JP II, can be admired for many things but not for the harmful ways in which she treated her body.
Read Isaiah 58:5-8
These are the sacrifices Jesus knew would be pleasing to God the Father!
The body is the temple of
By Bill (not verified) on Thursday, January 28, 2010The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but we know, from Scripture and personal experience, that it is also weak. We are prone to concupiscence to some degree or other.
Jesus fasted; Jesus prayed to strengthen himself; Jesus voluntarily suffered for others. And so can we. He brought supernatural meaning to suffering. Through Jesus so can we.
Jesus' suffering continues...he continues to offer Himself to the Father 24/7 through the Holy Mass, the divine liturgy that continues on earth and in heaven.
re: beating. Jesus in numerous passages in the Bible reminded us that we shouldn't let anything get in the way of loving God, not even our body ("pluck it out").
I've never led a Church of 1 Billion people as the Holy Father did. I will never do the work of Mother Teresa. Both, though, engaged in mortification under the supervision of a spiritual director.
A couple of points on JP2
By Jim (not verified) on Thursday, January 28, 20101. If JP2 had intended for his private mortificatiions to be imitated by the faithful, I think he would have made them public during his lifetime. For example, during his pontificate, we learned that he was receiving the sacrament of reconciliation on a weekly basis. By publicizing this practice, JP2 brought attention to the importance of frequent confession. He didn't do the same for his corporeal mortifications.
2. There are a lot of temptations in the celebrity world. Look at Tiger Woods, John Edwards, Bill Clinton. It seems to me that it'd be easy to give in. Maybe self mortification is how JP2 kept himself humble and avoided worldly temptations. Given the choice of discovering a love-child or discovering self-mortification, I'd choose the latter.
Odd how we can accept and
By Bill (not verified) on Thursday, January 28, 2010Odd how we can accept and near-adore people who watch their weight/lose weight, pound their flesh in a gym, train and improve their health for a variety of secular reasons (some good and not so good...e.g., pride, vanity)..but we can't seem to stop and consider doing it for a supernatural reason...to seek perfect union with God, leaving all else behind.
Wearing a religious habit is a form of self-denial, a form of dying to oneself, leaving oneself behind...and can be a way to grow closer with God.
Another descriptor...
By Meredith Gould (not verified) on Thursday, January 28, 2010"Commendable or immoral"? I prefer another descriptions: downright nutty. Better to take all that energy and divert it into doing good for other rather than mortifying one's own miserable flesh. Lord have mercy.
David, well said. We are all
By Bill (not verified) on Thursday, January 28, 2010David, well said.
We are all called to be saints. Saints lived heroic virtue. We need to put aside anything that keeps us from this....from perfect unity with Christ.
So anytime we suffer (passively..that is when it's thrust on us...illness, accident, etc.)...we need to do this WITH Christ....we need to turn that suffering into an opportunity for union with Christ...turn it into prayer...a conversation with Christ..suffering becomes an encounter with God.
Now, there are many things that keep us away from Him...e.g, inordinate attachment to comfort, pleasure, focusing on ourselves, ease. etc.
Taking a cold shower is a form of mortification..it's not torture. It's a way of having one's will take charge of one's body, one's emotions.
Some are called to huge tasks for God....the Holy Father used to do penance for others. He suffered for others...like Christ, and like we should.
