Lent and spring provide a time for beginnings

As director of the diocesan Consultation Center in Albany, which offers individual and group counseling, Father Chiaramonte often meets people looking for "new beginnings" through therapy.

As a priest, he also meets Catholics who see Lent as a time not for starting something new, but for "giving something up." He would like to see another attitude.

Life and Lent

Part of emphasizing the joy that Father Chiaramonte says can be found in Lent is improving our physical, emotional and spiritual selves -- something The Evangelist examined in this year's Lenten series on varieties of self-improvement.

Over the past five weeks, The Evangelist has explored the "physical improvements" of signing an organ donor card and getting a healthcare proxy, the "emotional improvements" of paying attention to intuition and learning to deal with anxiety, and the "spiritual improvements" of trying spiritual direction or different prayer styles.

One organism

He cited a magazine article by Louis Savary and Patricia Berne in which the authors note that the mind, body and spirit each have different preferences: The body needs food and exercise; the mind, thought and communication; and the spirit, meaning and purpose in life.

The therapist also noted that a story in Parade magazine several years ago listed characteristics that centenarians share, which would also be valuable to anyone looking to improve him- or herself: activity, discipline, altruism, optimism, spiritual faith and love of life.

Vitality

* "How do we become actively engaged in life?

* "How do we have a sense of disciplining ourselves, bridling our emotions?

* "Do we have a sense of concern for our neighbor [or do we say], `I have to be number one?'

* "Do we really look at our present day in an optimistic way and see the beauty in each person?

* Have we lost our sense of the spiritual? Do we no longer value the basic underpinnings of society?

* "We are a country and a people that probably have the highest rate of depression, suicide and murder in the world. What in our society is taking away our love of life?"

Self-improvement

If the latter is the case, Father Chiaramonte remarked, it will affect the rest of the person. He recalled attending a conference on "Healing and Spirituality" where "they said that spirituality brings healing, and healing needs to be spiritual. We're willing to take all kinds of quick fixes: medication, alcohol, drugs, pleasure-seeking. We don't recognize that the spiritual is essential for well-being."

It's important "to come aside and be with ourselves and our God," he explained, adding that that includes prayer and meditation; enjoyment of nature, art and music; and having support systems. Mentors or spiritual directors can also help.

"These all nurture the spirit within us," he noted.

Working at it

The therapist advocates Christianity as a means of working on life's challenges. "Christianity says, `We have a value system that we think will help you deal with life, and an emphasis on Christ we say will lead to a better life and life hereafter,'" he said.

In fact, Father Chiaramonte noted that Jesus was probably the person who most successfully integrated body, mind and spirit.

"If we believe Jesus was God-man and He was able to integrate those two entities, that He was fully and totally holy. We like to believe there's a total integration there," he stated.

Lifelong effort

Life is an "ongoing journey and search for God and meaning," he said. "I don't think it happens for a six-week period of time. It's a journey of a lifetime."

He added: "Wholeness is holiness. We have to look at body, mind and spirit. To be whole is to be holy. The healthier we are in all aspects of life, the more spiritual we are. That's why holistic wellness and holiness are synonymous."

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