Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
What Is Christian Spirituality?
In a culture that often equates spirituality with private feelings, personal wellness, or vague belief in “something greater,” the Christian tradition offers a far richer and more demanding vision. Christian spirituality is not primarily about techniques for inner peace, nor is it simply about moral behavior. At its core, it is about how we live our entire lives in relationship with God, others, and the world—day by day, in the ordinary and the extraordinary alike.
Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I., in his influential book The Holy Longing, explains that spirituality is not something optional for a select few. Every person has spirituality because every person has desires, commitments, habits, and ways of relating to life’s deepest questions. The real question is not whether we are spiritual, but what kind of spirituality we are living.
Rolheiser begins with a profound insight: we are born with a deep, restless longing. This longing expresses itself in our search for love, meaning, joy, belonging, and transcendence. We feel it in our hunger for connection, our dissatisfaction with superficial pleasures, and our intuition that life must hold something more. Christian spirituality understands this restlessness not as a problem to eliminate, but as a gift placed within us by God—a sign that we are made for communion with Him.
Saint Augustine captured this truth centuries ago: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Christian spirituality, therefore, is the journey of directing our deepest desires toward their true fulfillment in God.
But this journey does not remove us from the world; it roots us more deeply within it. The Incarnation—God becoming human in Jesus Christ—reveals that holiness is found not by escaping ordinary life but by sanctifying it. Parenting, working, serving, forgiving, enduring suffering, building community—these become the places where God is encountered.
Rolheiser emphasizes that genuine spirituality always involves embodiment. We do not love God in abstraction; we love Him through concrete actions: prayer, worship, moral choices, service to the poor, reconciliation with enemies, and fidelity to daily responsibilities. Spirituality is lived in the body, in relationships, and in time.
Another essential dimension of Christian spirituality is community. Modern culture often promotes a highly individualized faith: “my beliefs,” “my prayer life,” “my spiritual journey.” Christianity, however, is inherently communal. We belong to the Body of Christ. The Church, with all its human weaknesses, is not an obstacle to spirituality but its primary context. Through shared worship, sacraments, teaching, and mutual support, we learn to love as Christ loves.
Rolheiser also stresses the importance of balance. Human beings carry powerful energies—sexuality, ambition, anger, creativity, and compassion. Spiritual maturity does not mean suppressing these forces but integrating them so that they serve love rather than selfishness. When misdirected, these energies can lead to addiction, resentment, or emptiness; when ordered toward God, they become sources of vitality and generosity.
Suffering, too, plays a role. Christian spirituality does not glorify pain, but it recognizes that loss, limitation, and death are unavoidable parts of life. United with Christ, suffering can deepen compassion, purify attachments, and open us to grace. The Cross is not the end of the story, but it is the path to Resurrection.
Ultimately, Christian spirituality is about transformation into the likeness of Christ. It is learning to see as He sees, love as He loves, forgive as He forgives, and trust the Father as He trusts. This transformation rarely happens through dramatic experiences alone; more often, it unfolds slowly through fidelity to prayer, sacramental life, Scripture, and acts of love performed in hidden ways. .
God bless,
Fr. Tom Lanza
Pastor, St. Matthias Parish & School