The concept of “wellness” is ever growing in popularity, with many podcasts, workouts, diets and more trying to address the issue. In the U.S. alone, the wellness industry is valued at close to $1.2 trillion. This raises the question: Why? There must be something about “wellness” that is so attractive, that speaks to a deep human desire. More importantly, if we are created in the image and likeness of God, with a beautiful integration of body and soul, how do we as Catholics respond to the concept of “wellness?” In this year of the National Eucharistic Revival, how can the Eucharist serve as a model for our understanding of wellness and integration?

To begin, let’s look at why man was created. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us a start, saying, “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life” (CCC 1). Man was created to participate in the blessed life with God, and the Lord continues to desire this for us. This call is for all people in the entirety of who we are. Yet we all know the reality of sin, bringing sickness and isolation into the world. In this season of Lent, we remember why Christ came to restore us to right relationship with the Father. So, what does any of this have to do with health and wellness? Everything! 

In the Creation accounts, Scripture tells us that man (meaning the human person) was created good in the fullness of who he is, in spirit, mind and body. This essential truth has been proclaimed by the Church throughout the centuries amid countless Gnostic heresies that have sought to separate the interconnectedness of the person as body and soul. St. John Paul II speaks to the beauty of the human person in his Theology of the Body saying, “The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus be a sign of it.” The body then, is the tangible sign of the invisible mystery that is man. We can only fully understand man when we are mindful of this integration!

A Catholic wellness model must start from this point. The human person, in this integration of spirit, mind and body, is created good, and ultimately for eternal communion with God. It is with that telos, or direction, of man’s ultimate end that any discussion of wellness finds its richest understanding. If all people, including the secular wellness world, truly understood that the authentically human desire for ultimate flourishing and happiness was a desire for God, they would be running to Catholic churches, and longing for the Eucharist to partake in the “blessed life” found there.

So what does this tangibly mean? When setting goals, seeking virtue, and striving to live magnanimously, etc., it can be tempting to come from a place of “I will achieve happiness when I am finally doing ‘X.’” Many wellness models are tempting but ultimately unsatisfying because they look at the means of achieving wellness as the end in themselves. The problem is that losing a desired amount of weight, finally forgiving yourself, or meal prepping each week will not provide the ultimate satisfaction and flourishing the heart desires. St. Thomas Aquinas speaks to this in the Summa (I-II, Q. 2, A. 8), saying, “It is impossible for any created good to constitute man’s happiness. For happiness is that perfect good which entirely satisfies one’s desire; otherwise it would not be the ultimate end, if something yet remained to be desired.”

Does this mean that we should not desire to set these goals? Should we not care about our physical or emotional health, and solely focus on our spiritual relationship with the Lord? Not at all! As St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “It is not the soul alone that should be healthy; if the mind is healthy in a healthy body, all will be healthy and much better prepared to give God greater service.” Our call as Christians is to live this call to wellness in the fullness of who we are and be signs to the world of the supernatural call we have received. If the body is a visible sign of the invisible mystery of man’s destiny with God, living an authentic understanding of wellness will be a sign to the world. 

So how do we live this Catholic model of wellness? We aren’t meant to do this alone. Man is made for community, so walking this path to flourishing is aided by others. Seek authentic friendships, and look for mentors who can walk with you and help you be rooted in your own goodness. It is only from a place of recognizing that our worth is outside of what we can achieve that we can freely set goals. This is one of the beautiful aspects of wellness coaching, and a beautiful fruit of therapy and/or spiritual direction. Having support in realigning these essential areas of our life reminds us to recognize the goodness in which we were created and more importantly, the goodness we are created for. 

We must also take care of our physical bodies so that we can be the “signs” we are called to be. Living joyfully, authentically and happily in the world and taking care of ourselves allows us to have the energy and capacity to serve others. As the Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes reminds us, we are called to “serve as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society,” and a healthy lifestyle allows us to respond courageously to the life the Lord is calling us to live. This includes having proper nutrition, exercising and getting good sleep. As St. Francis de Sales once said, “Take care of your health, that it may serve you to serve God.”

Now, there are times when one might be called to accept the cross of physical suffering for the glorification of souls, and it would be naïve to say that the call to ultimate flourishing and wellness can only come when we are physically healthy. One only needs to look at the joyful surrender and suffering of St. John Paul II, Blessed Chiara Badano, St. Gianna Molla and Blessed Carlo Acutis to see the good that can come from redirecting one’s suffering toward God. These saints certainly viewed their physical health as a good, but they saw their suffering as an opportunity to sacrifice their lack of health as a witness for others. It is only because of the goodness of health, that they, like Christ, were able to offer this up for greater unity with the Father. 

As we are this beautiful integration of body, mind and spirit, taking care of our mental health is essential. We hear from Christ in the greatest commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). Both Christ here, and St. Thomas Aquinas in discussing love, explain the power of our will. As humans, we must be free to love both God and others and this often requires finding the healing and the freedom to choose another’s good above our own. Taking care of our mental health and seeking this healing allows us to know that we are loved, and to love God and others more freely. 

Maybe you have spent time asking the Lord how he might be calling you to more authentic flourishing. Wherever you are, remember that the journey to wellness and holiness is just that, a journey and the Eucharist is our fuel! In this year of the Eucharistic Revival, we are provided with many opportunities to delve into our understanding and love of the Eucharist. The Eucharist feeds our entire person, in spirit, mind, and body. There is no better example of the wellness we are called to than in literally receiving God into our body to bring us back into eternal relationship with the Father!