In this fourth episode of Play the Tape to the End, Antoine takes us on his journey of moving
to Toronto to get away from the surroundings and people that lead him astray
and took him off of his path. This move he made is key, not just in him getting
clean but it’s also an important move in the spiritual life. In the previous
post I mentioned the scripture that iron sharpens iron just as person sharpensperson. But, the opposite can also be true. People can also blunt you.
For Antoine this move not only meant getting away, but also
getting closer to his trainer. His trainer mentions how at the beginning of a
bodybuilders career or for people who just start working out they find it hard
to concentrate. But, once they get in the groove it builds up their discipline
and they find it easier to say no to things that can take them off track such
as partying, eating unhealthy, having bad sleep patterns, etc. Again, the same
goes for the spiritual life. Once you are able to focus, get away from major
temptations, and really work on yourself, you can advance in your journey.
For me this was really evident back in college. I come from
an awesome devout Catholic family. We read the bible and prayed as a family
every night, made it to Sunday mass and holy days of obligation, and went to
confession as a family. When we moved to Texas into a parish with a Life Teen
program, my faith life was taken up another notch. I graduated high school on
this Jesus high and life was good. Since I was heading off to college I told
myself that I would not become that normal college person going out partying
and being a total idiot wasting my life away. Well, just into my second semester,
that exact thing happened. After about a year and a half I realized I had
become that person I said I wouldn’t. I was suspended from school so I couldn’t
go back for a whole semester. So, I realized that I could not advance, I could
not get back on track if I was around the people that I kept screwing around
with. So I told myself that I could not hang around my friends until I knew I
could be in those environments and be strong enough to not take part. I did not
hang out with my friends for a full 8 months. It was very lonely. But in
hindsight I was able to pray a ton, I hung around some great people, and I met
my future wife!
A few years back at my home parish’s parish retreat, Heart
of Worship, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo described Lent as quarantine. He said it
was quarantine for you to get away from distractions, if you choose your fasts and Lenten activities strategically, to then come out the other side stronger and reoriented with
Christ as your center. I’ve loved this description of Lent ever because I
feel like it turns Lent into a 40 day retreat, if you are intentional about
making it that.
I’ve been reading St. Athanasius’ account of the life of
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