Body

One can physically do many things with one's body and soul, but not all choices are good or beneficial. We possess free will, but our moral choices are not indifferent: every deliberate decision either ennobles or degrades us. A person is physically capable of committing suicide or abusing drugs, but he ought not to do so. One has the physical capacity to self-mutilate or get drunk, but must not do so (freedom).

This claim prompts an immediate question: do you truly want to harm yourself? The human body is not an external possession that we merely own; we are body and soul together in substantial unity. Therefore, to harm one's body is directly to harm oneself. Any degradation inflicted upon the body is a degradation inflicted upon the human person. True reverence for the body is reverence for personal dignity.

is the glory of God: whoever respects his body honors a sacred creation of God. Conversely, whoever abuses or degrades his body offends the Creator by mistreating something God deeply values. The Lord loves each human person, and whatever harms a person constitutes an offense against God.

No, certainly not. Doing so leads to the progressive deterioration of the person:

• We frequently experience disordered impulses. We must discern with reason whether what our appetites crave is truly good or harmful.
• Whoever surrenders to every sensory craving (pleasures) becomes soft, undisciplined, and capricious. To prevent the human will from becoming the helpless slave of sensory impulses, one must deliberately train and master the body.
• Embraced with faith, physical hardships can become a source of spiritual maturity for the soul, and therefore a profound good for the person as a whole.
• Voluntary bodily sacrifices serve as reparation for our sins and constitute a direct way of following in the footsteps of Christ on the Cross.

Superficially it seems not, because the body experiences pain. Yet strictly speaking, the physical organism in isolation neither suffers nor rejoices—as is evident in a corpse; it is the conscious human person who suffers. And a person can experience profound interior peace and purpose in the midst of physical adversity when he knows it attains an eternal good. A martyr, for example, endures acute agony, yet wins eternal beatitude. His temporary bodily pain becomes an enduring fountain of everlasting joy for the whole person—body and soul.

A creative tension arises: on the one hand, the body must be treated with genuine respect; on the other hand, Christian life calls for mortification and taking up the Cross. How do we harmonize them? By consistently seeking the authentic good of the human person. And what is that good? It coincides with the loving will of God, who always desires our ultimate fulfillment. As a sound rule of life, it is always wiser to govern the body with loving firmness.