When I came back to the faith, I modeled myself more off of the Desert Fathers than modern exercise culture. I wanted to fast and embrace asceticism like they did, but early on I couldn’t understand how to integrate traditional asceticism with the modern health movement.

I will call Asceticism 1.0 what was practiced by the saints of old. The word asceticism means training or discipline, and the idea was that the spiritual life involved embracing penances and other physical disciplines in order to tame the lower passions and cultivate the stillness needed for contemplation. At first I saw only a conflict between these traditional sources and the modern health movement, but after years of training and study, I feel comfortable enough now to talk about how the ancient practices can be applied to modern situations.

I am calling this Asceticism 2.0. By this I mean that we have now the tools in terms of health, nutrition, and exercise to be able to fast better and develop our minds and bodies to be more available to God and neighbor. The goal is not necessarily to look great or to impress other people, but to train our bodies so that they assist us in the spiritual life and carrying out our mission.

My journey towards the integration of Asceticism 2.0 began 3 years ago when I took the step of working with a personal trainer. Mark Washington at Max Fitness helped me develop the tools I needed to develop a foundation for effective exercises. His training and mentorship was a catapult that led me to deep dive on exercise and nutrition, and my life has been transformed by the time and effort we put in at the gym.

As happens over and over again, when the Lord brings me to freedom, he opens new doors in ministry. I have many exciting projects that I will be helping with that integrate these insights to serve the poor and those seeking God. Stay tuned.