We are experiencing a crisis in our Church today. The latest surveys from Pew Forum study and CARA reports indicate that more and more Catholics are spiritually and religiously illiterate. – Jared Dees, TheReligionTeacher.com
Today, only 30% of those raised Catholic are practicing today. The challenges span beyond the Catholic Church walls – many protestant ministers believe traditional religions and denominations will soon be a thing of the past. It seems the more people say they are spiritual, the less, they say, they want religion. If a person believes in God at all, they often do not know whether this is a personal God (as the Catholic Church teaches) or an impersonal “god” or Zen like “cosmic consciousness.”
While these challenges and questions can be a part of a healthy spiritual growth for any person or people, something more is at stake. For over 2,000 years, the Catholic Church and the Christian community at large have served as a place for finding community, discerning one’s purpose, exploring one’s spirituality and serving as the moral compass for much of the world. Today, all of these blessings are being threatened by forces inside and outside of the community. The Church’s 2000 years of traditions, beauty, theology and divine inspiration seem to be going unrealized by most people.
We are experiencing (another) crisis in the world today. The physical literacy of our children has plummeted, obesity is sky rocketing and preventable orthopedic injuries for all ages are on the rise. – Dave Reddy, DaveReddy.com
In the last thirty years, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents. Coincidentally, many of the same things threatening the Church are contributing to these health and fitness challenges – the breakdown of family, economic struggles, sedentary lifestyles, poor education, increasing stress levels and relationship woes.
So here is the good news on the fitness education front: thanks to sites such as Youtube and other information-sharing technology, we have entered an exciting age of collaboration like never before. Universal understanding of human health and movement is being shared between people who have only existed in pockets of practice through the ages around the world.
Fitness experts, teachers, medical doctors, strength coaches and holistic health practitioners are all coming to the table discussing universal (sound familiar?) ways to optimize the health and performance of those they help and teach. The result is the young, but continuing development of a universal language and series of benchmarks that are being used for teaching people to build healthy, strong and resilient bodies.
The Question & Challenge
We have two major crises in our society. The relationship between them, the failings and the solutions, can possibly go hand in hand. Inspired by the universal theme of the Catholic church, can we come together to re-ignite an approach and lifelong association between what it means to be healthy, fit AND faithful?
The challenge, if you choose to accept, is establishing a more universal and productive discussion and guide for navigating the waters of faith and fitness; acting as a crossing guard at the intersection of physical and spiritual health. Our Catholic schools, thanks to parents and teachers just like you, can be a wonderful place for fostering such a foundational bridge.
Being CatholicFIT is not about being super holy and super fit – it is about offering universal, values-based programs for our children so when they struggle in either area throughout life, they look back upon this experience for guidance and support. It is about the sole mission of the Catholic faith – to “make disciples of Christ.” I believe we can meet people where they are by making them disciples (students) of faith and fitness at the same time.
The CatholicFIT programs attempt to touch on just a few of these principles while reaching out to the families of our students in an effort to restore our God-given gifts of health and fitness in mind, body and spirit.
Thank You
My passion lies in coaching, learning and teaching through the prism of health and fitness. I have found no more exciting topic to learn about through this lens than that of my spirituality and Catholic faith. I am excited to work with you in this endeavor and cannot thank you enough for the opportunity.
Dave Reddy – CatholicFIT Creator & Coach
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