CINCINNATI — Health and Wellness were the focus of a recent issue of SJB News Notes, the weekly publication from the Office of Communications of St. John the Baptist Province, based here.
“The perception is that men don’t take care of themselves — and statistics would seem to support it,” writes communications director Toni Cashnelli in the e-letter’s cover story. “But based on results of the province’s first-ever Health & Wellness Survey, most friars do in fact know what’s good for them.”
According to St. John the Baptist’s Health & Wellness Committee chair Fr. Robert Weakley, OFM, “Guys living in community are more conscious of their heath than we used to be.”
“How’s your health?” includes a variety of statistics from the survey, tabulated by Fr. Robert, who told Cashnelli, “Would I use a gym membership if the province covered it? You bet I would.” Roughly 25 percent of the survey respondents share Fr. Bob’s opinion.
Following the theme of the issue, Provincial Minister Fr. Jeff Scheeler, OFM, shared his own struggles with squeezing exercise into a busy schedule. He encouraged friars to try to fit some form of exercise in and proposed a “virtual province pilgrimage” to Assisi by tracking all the miles friars walk, run, bike and swim.
“I looked it up online,” wrote Fr. Jeff, who earlier said he had walked about 12 miles that week. “Assisi is approximately 4,751 miles from Cincinnati. Only 4,739 more to go!”
A list of 13 statistics from the survey are included on the cover of the July 9 SJB News Notes.
In 2007, Holy Name Province conducted a wellness survey of its friars. Since then, the Province has offered a workshop on nutrition and written a series of articles about various aspects of physical, emotional and mental health.