Why is Resilience Important for Catholics?

Why is resilience important?

When I first started learning about the effects of trauma, the research articles and books I read made it seem like all people exposed to trauma suffer greatly. 

But, as I learned more, I discovered that while many who experience trauma can face adverse effects, the reality is that many people who experience trauma can recover and even thrive in the face of trauma. This process is called resilience.

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Resilience research began when Norman Garmzey and other researchers began studying children at risk of mental health disorders due to circumstances, such as poverty, and genes, such as having a parent with a mental health problem. Garmzey, in particular, studied children of parents with schizophrenia to see if they would go on to develop it themselves (1)

Garmzey found that, despite expectations to the contrary, some of the children didn’t develop mental health problems despite their risk exposure. He called these children invulnerable (2). Garmzey called for a focus on factors that made invulnerable children different; thus, resilience research was born (Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back by Andrew Zolli and Ann Marie Healy). 

The first wave of resilience research focused on factors leading to resilience and then on what creates those resilient factors. The third wave focused on developing interventions to improve resilience. Now, some researchers are studying resilience among groups of people (3). All of these waves of research continue to this day.

The word resilience comes from the Latin word resilire, which means to leap back. Many definitions of resilience abound, with many focusing on bouncing back after adversity. 

While there isn’t one agreed-upon definition of resilience, the many definitions tend to fall into one of three categories:

• Healing from trauma
• Bouncing back when facing hassles in life
• Flourishing and thriving 

Resilience is an important ability for Catholics because these three resilience definitions map on to three important themes of Jesus’ ministry. 

Healing From Trauma

In Luke 4:16-21, at the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus proclaims a prophecy from Isaiah about a special servant of the Lord who will bring about freedom and healing. After His proclamation, Jesus announces that He fulfills the passage. Ultimately, Jesus brings about freedom and healing from sin and its effects through His death and resurrection. 

Therefore, healing is a big part of Jesus’ ministry, as we can see through His forgiveness of sins and healing miracles. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that this aspect of resilience is essential for Catholics and could be one way in which Jesus completes His healing mission in us.

Bouncing Back

Throughout His ministry, Jesus calls His disciples to take up their cross (Luke 9:23), uniting their suffering, big and small, to the cross to bring about redemption. By bouncing back when facing life’s hassles, we can better carry the crosses sent. 

Flourishing and Thriving

Finally, Jesus says He came to bring about abundant life (John 10:10). Ultimately, we find this abundant life in Heaven, but by living in light of Jesus, we can glimpse this joy and fulfillment now. 

Numerous factors increase resilience, including: 

• Self-efficacy (4)
• Cognitive flexibility (4)
• Emotion regulation (4)
• Good relationships (5)
• Optimism (5)
• Self-confidence (5)
• Perspective taking (5)
• Having goals and working towards them (5)
• Self-control (6)
• Exercise (7)
• Time outside (7)
• Prayer (7)
• Good sleep (7)
• Problem solving skills (8)
• Gratitude (9)
• Mindfulness (9)
• Moral compass (10)
• Life purpose (10)
• Compassion (Resilient by Rick Hanson)
• Good diet (Resilient by Rick Hanson)
• Intersection of likes, talents, and values in work (Resilient by Rick Hanson)
• Interpersonal skills (Bouncing Back by Linda Graham)

In the course of my reading, I’ve found that these factors tend to fall into five different categories:

• Mental health: Living in accordance with the truth in your thinking
• Physical health: Good friendships and taking care of your body
• Spiritual health: Prayer and the sacraments
• Virtue: Living a virtuous life and striving for that
• Vocation: Lumping together state-in-life vocation, career, and other endeavors the Lord may call you to 

In sum, having good things in these areas can help people to heal, weather daily hassles, and flourish. 

Resilience is important for everyone, but especially for those facing traumatic experiences or working with those you have. I challenge you to take an inventory of how you’re doing in each of those areas that improve resilience to see if you need to change your habits to improve in that area, thus improving your ability to heal, weather daily hassles, and live God’s abundant life.