Opus Dei & "No Pain, No Gain"
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 08:04AM The other night CBC ran a special about Opus Dei, the Catholic organization that is now famous due to the role attributed to it in the Da Vinci Code. I have not read the book and will probably not see the movie, even though intimates inform me it is a rousing tale of the potboiler type. The CBC was making an effort to appear understanding, even though the simple fact of presenting such a topic on national television presupposes criticism. We saw and heard a pleasant member of Opus Dei explain how he wears an uncomfortable spiked chain around his leg for two hours a week, and periodically whips himself on the bare butt with a toy whip – all this in the hope of sharing the suffering and pain of his hero and saviour, Jesus Christ. Indeed, he is hoping that in imitating Christ, some of the spiritual closeness will rub off. He believes his hero must have felt just like this, and so this is what it feels like to be Him!
Is this weird? Well, I am pretty sure that despite its strained neutrality on this topic, our national network once again saw itself as playing a crucial role in showing us that religion, especially Catholicism is, um, very retro. The message was that self-inflicted pain, or so-called “self-mortification,” is weird (and so religion is weird). Now I am not certain of the meaning of the phrase, but I suspect it has something to do with dying to yourself, or making your own physical “self”die, so to speak, so that your spirit can be free from the bonds, allurements, pleasures, and deceptions of the flesh. The underlying notion is that the spirit is always threatened with enslavement to the body.
This reminds me that most of the key writings in our tradition document a continuous struggle in which central figures attempt either to lose the self through immersion in bodily pleasure, or to escape the body and its appetites altogether in search of a purely spiritual experience. For the former type, intense pleasure is the road to ecstasy. There is even a drug called “ecstasy” that serves this purpose. I believe this word is rooted in “ex-stasis” – to exit from the static, or from what is, from ordinary bodily life and awareness. At any rate, this type escapes the self through physical enjoyment. The latter type exits, or escapes the self through mortification, or physical pain.
How common are these two escape methods today, and is there a sense in which not just Opus Dei members, but our entire civilization is caught up in one or the other of these methods of escaping the self? For sure. It is quite possible the CBC interviewer, perhaps a confirmed secularist, after leaving the studio feeling gratified that he had exposed religion as a weird self-punishment thing, happily strapped on his jogging shoes and ran a very painful 10K … to make himself feel purified and “fit,” or to get “an endorphin high.” There are millions of people, and I am one of them, who make a daily habit of this sort of self-mortification. And I am absolutely certain that two hours a week of whipping your butt with a toy whip to feel better spiritually is no match for a two hour ride over punishing hills with my son. I mean, we really grind it out. There is intense pain in the thighs, burning lungs, lactic acid in the mouth, and stiffness that can last for days. And for sure, sometimes we wear the yellow bracelet, or even a special Lance Armstrong biking shirt … and we imagine for a moment, on the crest of a hill, that we are feeling what Lance felt, that this is what it feels like to be him.
And when I go to the gym, I see hundreds of people pumping huge machines, blood vessels popping, carpets wet with sweat, wiping themselves off with towels, exiting painful “spinning” classes they brag about; assuming horribly twisted and painful poses in their Yoga classes; some even don boxing gloves and slug the hell out of each other, or suffer broken hands, ribs, or feet in smelly karate classes; or – I have seen it – lose an eye to a squash ball. Fitness and sport are popular forms of ecstasy we are convinced lift us above or out of ordinary life, and hundreds of millions of people daily drive themselves through this experience of reaching for the feeling of emotional or spiritual purity – even superiority to other human beings – through pain. We say “no pain, no gain,” and coaches tell their athletes, “Go hard, or go home,” meaning - if it doesn’t hurt, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough.
And on it goes. Afterward we often get into a popular form of ecstasy called beer, and many of us suffer the painful consequences after. Some people actually kill themselves this way. During the day, I see thousands of women suffering voluntarily for hours at a time in high heels for the pleasure of personal vanity. In my own case, all my physical pains – a broken and now disabled shoulder joint (three surgeries) and emergency back surgery ten years ago (from an old long-jumping injury) – both of these give me daily pain for a lot more than two hours a day, often even waking me at night. But I don’t regret a thing. It was all for the glory and the high of sports I have loved. So it’s not just Opus Dei. We are all doing it. And maybe the CBC should do a little corrective programming about how normal it all is.
Reader Comments (5)
pleasure to see you last night on Michael Coren's show. When you speak, I always listen for you are one of the great voices in our society. I follow your blog each day. I get the RSS feed on my opening page. I have most of your books.
I am a supernumerary member of Opus Dei. I do not know where I would be if it was not for the support of Opus Dei with my spiritual life. Opus Dei is there for me 100%, 24/7.
Opus Dei provides me with my own personal trainer, my spiritual coach, a spritual director, who has helped me learn to roll with the punches in this life. And they do not charge me a cent for this!
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the CBC documentary. Back in the 1980's Fifth Estate did a horrible presentation on Opus Dei. This one was much better.
In the past have always been very careful on who I tell I am a member of Opus Dei because of that documentary and the gossip it has caused that still keeps going around today.
But after Evan Solomon's documentary on Sunday night, I decided it was time to speak out.
I am one of the 70% in Opus Dei who do not use the discipline or the cilice for corporal mortification which was shown on that show. I do not need to for I have enough mortifications to offer to God each day, just with the natural things that happen to me in my daily life.
I am the mother of 7 children. My children give me countless opportunities each day to make sacrifices through our day to day encounters. I do not need any other corporal mortifications because I have teenagers! Anything else would only be an escape for me.
Before I met Opus Dei I tried to live the life of a good Catholic, but I found it was not possible. Once I had the help of Opus Dei to live the Catholic lifestyle, I was able to do it. They have helped me to be able to organize my life so I can do it all.
They are experts in helping with the spiritual life, which the CBC has not really been able to explain, but it was a good start for them.
I suggest everyone contact Opus Dei through www.opusdei.ca to get the real story. I think you and Father Fred Dolan would have a lot in common Mr. Gairdner.
So on this point I must disagree with you. Exercise is different than inflicting unnecessary pain on yourself. Through exercise you are taking care of your body, unless you do it too often and are underweight ect.. Eating healthily, excercise, playing sports etc.. are all good things, and yes injuries happen in sports, but players are not intentionally going and injuring themselves.
Congratulations Mr Gairdner for your exemplary work.
We had men's meetings at a local parish church. First adoration of the Most Blessed Eucharist, followed by confessions. It is great to have the same confessor (and a strict one) every week. Then we had a talk by a member about the faith or Opus Dei or spirituality.
It was harmless and helpful. Not like Hollywood makes it out to be.