Siena Lam
The delayed Olympics in Tokyo has brought sporting fever amidst the COVID pandemic. Audiences the world over followed different events through television or internet, to cheer up their national athletes to earn medals for the country.
Athletes prepare hard and long for the highest honor – the Olympic medal. Apart from usual training, this preparation requires changes in their daily routine such as a strict timetable, less fatty meals, and a more regimented lifestyle.
I used to be a swimmer in high school, representing the school for different inter-school competitions. Though we did not train for the national team, we trained like professional athletes. We would wake up at 5 AM, arrive at school at 6 AM and get into the water right away. After two hours of training, we would go to class just like other students. After school, we would go through stamina training in the gym, and continuing training in the water for another two hours after dinner. The schedule of a professional athlete representing the country is more rigorous.
For outsiders, this type of training routine seems insane and inhumane, but the athletes enjoy it! Why? Because they have the passion for sports and enjoy being trained, where other people may think harsh training is a torture. The same can be said of our spiritual life: if we have a passion in loving God, we will never find it difficult to practice the faith.
This “athletic attitude” can also be applied to our spiritual life. Even if we are not athletes, we can also develop this athletic spirit, because we do have a Gold Medal to strive for in our life, which is heaven; we too have a record to set, which is our sanctification. In other words, we strive to sanctify ourselves, our work, the people around us, offering everything in this world to God our Creator. Sanctification is the ultimate goal and responsibility of all who are baptized, so that all can reach heaven with the grace of God.
Yes, all Christians have this responsibility, it’s not only for priests or those who are called to consecrated life. Sanctification means going to heaven. Why do we need to go to heaven? This is a very deep topic, but in a simpler way, God wants us to be saved by entering heaven and we will enjoy the fullness of love.
How to sanctify our everyday life? Pope Francis mentioned once in his Wednesday audience, “[sanctification means] you must do your duty all day: pray, go to work, take care of your children. But everything must be done with the heart open to God, so that work, even in illness and suffering, in difficulty too, is open to God. And in this way one can become a saint.” (Pope Francis, Wednesday Audience, 21 June 2017)
Therefore, our life on earth is a sports arena and we need to train ourselves well in order to win over our competitors. But our competitors are not people around us – it’s our ego and the devil – because the devil is always waiting to catch us unawares. “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8). It can tempt us in different things, to bring us away from God.
Persevering and struggling to be saints
Athletes have an indomitable spirit, they never give up easily, because they have a clear goal and strong determination to struggle. I recalled a funny confession experience, where the priest gave me an unbelievable penance – 30 minutes exercise every day, consistent for a week. This sounds like a remedy from a doctor, and yes, not spending 30 minutes to “pray,” but 30 minutes to “exercise”!
I was shocked yet curious inside the confessional, so I asked why this resolution is so “peculiar” and he answered, “Because you need much determination to overcome this weakness, so you have to exercise every day this week to train your perseverance and determination, so you can struggle harder in the future.” His reply immediately reminded me of the training days in my high school life. What a shame, I am now an adult, and my determination is really not as good as I had 20 years ago!
Truly speaking, we can add these two words – “perseverance” and “determination” – into our daily examination of conscience, in order to examine our spiritual life. I once came across an article speaking about the spiritual struggle, and a quote on St Josemaria Escriva came up: “forestall any discouragement – that interior life consists of beginning and then beginning again, day after day…This is our destiny on earth: to struggle, for love, until the last moment. Deo gratias – thanks be to God!”
We need to struggle, in order to have a better future on earth, and get to the finish line, just as athletes strive to do in every competition. Our destination is Heaven. But in order to get over the finish line, we need to struggle in the little things in our daily life. Even if we fall, as St Pope John Paul always said, “Do not be afraid.” We just need to begin again and again after confession, in order to win the gold medal that God has prepared for everyone of us.
Original published in O Clarim Weekly Chinese: 奮鬥——尋找信仰路上的金牌
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