All of us have been called to holiness, and yet everyone’s way of living out holiness is different. However, all humans have at least one thing in common: both the body and soul are called to sanctity. 

Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” that, “you cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself, body and soul, to giving your best in this endeavor.”  

What does that mean for college students?  

Studying.  

Studying uses both the mind and the body; our body carries out action, (in this case, studying), that is willed and chosen by the mind. We use our hands to write notes, flashcards, and essays and our legs to walk to classes or the library. Our minds are a key part of studying because we use them to think and soak in the information and retain it.  

Yet, in all these actions, we also counter vices. We need to teach our minds to focus on work and not be distracted by our friends who want to hang out, the new movie we want to see, or even the constant longing to do nothing. We combat laziness in the continuation of study. In turning down things that we would rather do, we are teaching ourselves self-control and sacrifice. 

 St. Thomas Aquinas understood the struggles of reason in conquering sensual temptations and wrote in the Summa that more are inclined to follow the sensual appetite than the order of reason. It can be a comfort, then, to realize that when we reject something more enticing in order to study, we are growing in holiness rather than merely suffering for no reason. 

However, this is not to say that studying is only successful when we are constantly focused and never making time to have fun. We shouldn’t  study without rest, because both the body and the soul need to recover; breaks are important to keep up stamina, so we do not overload the mind and body. If those become overloaded, the mind and body will shut off.  

Consider how, after creating the world, God rested. God acknowledged there should be a time of rest after work. He established Sunday, the Lord’s Day, as a day of rest. We can then be assured that, if God rested after creating the world and He also found His work to be good, then we can take a day of rest (or at least a few breaks) in order to have that time to relax and thank God for the gift of life.  

This doesn’t mean we have to take a whole day to rest – although, ideally we should not work on Sundays. Instead, we should make sure we focus during the week so that we can take breaks during our studying sessions, and perhaps even take Sundays off.  

St. Josemaría Escriva said that, “if you are to serve God with your mind, to study is a grave obligation for you.” However, the body and soul both, because they are connected, must be taken care of, and that means that for the mind and body to be at their peak capacity, they must be given the opportunity to rest. 

 As college students, therefore, we are called to honor God in our studies, both by working hard and by resting well.