Similar to the butterfly that transforms from caterpillar to butterfly, it takes more than prayer for us to transform inside and out. Biology and how God created our bodies cannot be ignored.

I know that you may be rolling your eyes and saying “of course that’s true” but often we pray without considering what our bodies actually need to perform a successful spiritual fast.

What I discovered is that our bodies are amazing machines, good food is optimal fuel, and that our biology is made for spiritual fasting. What is good for the soul is good for the body and vice versa. God also created us with powerful minds—a will and an intellect. Our minds, our thoughts, our beliefs move our biology.

From a more meta and Catholic level, we are discovering that our thoughts actually determine our lives. While we were all powerfully starting our fasting programs with a rosary and a diet plan written out in a pretty, newly purchased notebook or Lenten journal, we were not considering the thoughts that we were thinking either consciously or unconsciously.

Did you know that we have 60,000 thoughts coursing through our brains on any given day with most of those thoughts being negative or worrisome? It takes more than motivation and a food plan to successfully fast, it takes mind management. Catholic mind management.

Yes, when you learn about your soul, brain, and body through the lens of the Catholic faith and the Ontological Man—your world will never be the same. Your prayer life will explode, your body will transform, and your deepest desires will come true.

Prayer and fasting are powerful.

Through prayer and fasting you can change yourself, your family, and the nation. You are more powerful than you think. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it!

If I go back to the butterfly example, my chosen logo, here’s what we learn from this ancient Christian symbol.

It is a symbol of resurrection that begins life as a caterpillar, is buried in a cocoon, and blissfully bursts into new life as a beautiful creature with the ability to “transcend the ordinary and take flight into the heavens.”

This is the story of Christ Jesus and it is our story, too. It is time to burst forth, to transform from ordinary to extraordinary, from heaviness of tensions to colorful lightness of simply living. All accomplished through spiritual fasting.