The 5 Senses and the Catholic Faith: Touch and Disciplining the Body

One of my sons is attending a military academy this year. Those of you who know me know that my academic philosophy is to discern what is best for each child each year. 

This has led to my children attending 3 different Catholic schools, 7 years of homeschooling, a micro school, the local public school, and now the military academy.

I have some kids that absolutely thrived in every single setting they were thrown into- and others who couldn't reach their full potential in any of them.

Never in a million years would I have dreamed that I would send one of my kids off to a boarding school! Who even does that? No one I have ever met... until now.

The Cadets at the Military Academy

But through many signs and spiritual "green lights," we discerned that this was where God was calling him, and our son has just hit the one-month mark there and is absolutely thriving. 

Being a military academy, they focus on disciplining the body. The cadets learn to march as one fluid unit, in step to the cadence of a drum.

Every cadet is required to be a 3-season athlete, so they have a 2-hour daily sports practice. 

The Academy knows that to train the mind, you must discipline the body. So, if their bed isn't made to standard, or they misbehave in any way, they get PT. Lots of push-ups!

Marching in the town parade

Learning to control the body is what St. Paul talks about in 1 Cor 9:22, when he says, "But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." 

When vetting the school, one of my first phone calls was to the Catholic church that some of the cadets get bused to on Sunday mornings.

The gentleman on the phone assured me that the Academy really does send the boys to Mass on Sunday; it isn't just a sales pitch that they give to the hard-core moms. 

He then told me that many of the staff members attend the same church. I expressed my surprise, to which he responded that many military men and women are deeply Catholic because of the self-discipline required of both. 

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him, for the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

-Hebrews 12:5-11

As a mom, among many competing emotions, I am so hopeful for my son's military academy experience. We made today's decision with his future self in mind. 

The self-discipline he is learning has the potential to change the entire course of his life, and the lives of countless others.

The skills and self-control he is building now are shaping the person he will be years into the future. My hope is that the sacrifices we are all making in doing this will pay off 1000-fold in his vocation as a father, or God willing, a priest.

New Cadet Resolution

We are now wrapping up our series on the 5-senses and our Catholic faith.  While this isn’t a classic example of dissecting “touch” as it relates to our faith, it is a helpful reminder that we are one: mind, body, and soul. How we train our minds and bodies today can help form the virtues by which we live for God and prepare our soul for eternity.

Lord,

Thank you for my body. Help me to remember that I am fearfully and wonderfully made in Your image and likeness. Teach me discipline, not in a degrading and shameful way, but in a way that allows me to live a life of freedom. As your beloved daughter, help me to conduct myself in such a way that is worthy of my royal status. As I learn to discipline myself, let me be as effective as possible in living out Your will for my life.

Amen.

Until next time, your sister in Christ,

Leah