UK Day for Life: Caring for our bodies, glorifying God

(Vatican Radio) “Christianity in general and maybe Catholicism in particular, is often accused of having a very negative view of the human body and of human sexuality when in fact nothing could be further from the truth”, says Fr. Tim Bartlett, assistant at the Irish Bishops Conference and co-author of this year’s message for the annual Day for Life celebrated in parishes throughout Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales on Sunday July 29^th. Listen to Emer McCarthy’s interview with Fr. Bartlett:
While the worlds eyes are on London, the Bishops have decided to exploit the Olympic fever to focus peoples attention on caring for their health and wellbeing, in looking after their bodies, under the theme: “use your body for the glory of God’ (1 Cor 6:20).
“I think it’s a timely theme, not least because of the event of the Olympics and Paralympics, but because there is a crisis about how we treat the body, how we regard the body in society and having a healthy respect for the dignity of the body”, continues Fr. Bartlett. “It’s also an opportunity to reflect on what the Holy father has described as the ‘indivisible book of nature’, and that the human body is not just part of our personal identity here on earth, but also our eternal identity”.
In a context where the Theology of the Body is often reduced to the defense of unborn life and end of life, Fr Bartlett notes fostering a greater awareness of the ‘Gospel of the Body’ is one way to promote a greater understanding of why all life – from cradle to grave – should be cherished: “One of concerns was a lack of appreciation even in the Christian community of the fact that God does not throw away our body at the moment of death. That this human body that we have is an extraordinary an unique gift”.
This year’s Day for Life message reads: ‘The athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic games help us to celebrate the human body in all its wonder, especially when it faces the challenge of disability, physical limitation and pain. They testify that to achieve success in sport requires a harmony between the body, the spirit and the mind brought about through training and discipline.’

The Archbishop for Day for Life in England and Wales, Archbishop Peter Smith says: “In the next few weeks we are going to see Olympians and Paralympians do the most amazing things. It will be incredible to watch world records being broken; gold medals being won and after years of dedicated training, personal sacrifice and daily discipline, the body performing feats that humanly we would think impossible. This year’s Day for Life reminds us all of the importance of taking care of our bodies at every stage and in every condition – it’s a call ‘to use our bodies for the glory of God.’”