The Spirit and the Body

In this profound sermon, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks about the relationship between the spirit and the body, explaining that their conflict is not natural or constant, but happens when the body is led by lust and sin. He emphasizes that the body itself is not evil, for God created it “very good.” Christ Himself took on a body, the Holy Spirit dwells in our bodies, and God will glorify them in the resurrection.

The Pope teaches that the body can glorify God when it is guided by the spirit, but can fall into sin when it follows worldly desires. The body’s members that serve God—like hands that give or eyes that see good—sanctify it, while those used for sin defile it.

The spirit, though pure in its nature, can also sin, as some angels did. A strong spirit is one that works with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fill and strengthen it with power, love, and zeal. A person filled with the Spirit knows no fear, for “the Holy Spirit gives power,” and such a spirit has authority even over evil forces.

The Pope calls everyone to care for their spirit as they do for their body—feeding it through prayer, Scripture reading, contemplation, hymns, confession, and spiritual solitude. The spirit should also be adorned with virtues like meekness, humility, and love, for these are its true adornments before God.

He concludes that walking in the Spirit is the foundation of Christian life, and that every act of worship—whether prayer or fasting—must be done in the Spirit, not merely by form. True prayer connects the soul with God, and true fasting is when both soul and body abstain together, making the whole person holy and glorifying to God.

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