Physical fitness is easy to measure. More pushups, a faster run and better stamina when working out. You see it and so do others. There is nothing better than when someone else notices and mentions your newly toned physique.

How about your spiritual fitness?

I’ve never had someone say, “Gee Mike, you’re holier this year than last year...” or “Wow, your humility is off the charts!” You don’t get a new halo to try on this side of heaven.

This realm is harder to measure and yet, one place to start might be the ordinary. The mundane, abundant for sure, is often our best place for learning. The daily chores, errands and tasks to be done are very important to what God can do in and through us. The people we interact with each day are God’s gift to our sanctification.

Fr. Jacques Philippe writes in Searching for and Maintaining Peace, “The first steps on the ladder of sanctity could very well be those in my own apartment!”

Don’t ignore what’s right in front of you today, it may very well be the Lord, making you more spiritually fit.

—