This Sunday's readings are a perfect opportunity to look at what Catholics actually believe about something we profess every week in the Creed: "I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."
It's a core belief of Christianity that, after we die, God will raise us up, body and soul, to new life.
There are two aspects of this fundamental truth that I think are important for us to look again today - and to keep in mind throughout our lives.
The first is that our resurrection to new life involves both our souls and our bodies.
This truth caused problems for the first Christians. It was a common belief back then that our bodies weren't really good - in fact, they might even be called evil. They were just temporary, decaying things that imprisoned our true selves, our souls; and we can still run into this idea today.
Christianity, however, firmly states that our bodies are good. Despite the fact that sometimes they break down and eventually they all stop working because of sin, they were made by God and are a fundamental part of who we are. We are designed by God to be both matter (our bodies) and spirit (our souls) - so, if they come from God, our bodies are good.
It is the fact that we have bodies that distinguishes us from the angels. Angels are purely spiritual beings. We only see them in, what appears to be, relatively human form when they reveal themselves to us. They are far more than just "glowing people in robes who have wings" - they are powerful spiritual beings who communicate God's word and carry out God's will.
But they don't have bodies like we do. That's why it's incorrect to say that, when we die, we become angels. In today's Gospel, Jesus says that people in Heaven are "like angels" - they are glorified, immortal, and living in union with God. We shouldn't take for granted the great dignity we have as human beings - the Son of God became a man, not an angel. It was a human body that was crucified and rose from the dead.
So, to understand what our resurrection really is, we should look at Jesus' resurrection. When the disciples encountered him he wasn't a ghost or a spirit: he breathed, he ate, they could touch him, he still bore the wounds of his crucifixion.
But he could also suddenly appear in a locked room, he wasn't bound by time or space, he was on a whole new level of existence.
Jesus' glorified human body is the model or the pattern that our bodies will follow when they are raised. That is our great hope, and hope is the second important point that we always need to remember.
A good friend of mine once shared something very wise with me: "Heaven is not a consolation prize."
When someone dies, we often comfort each other saying, "They're in a better place," and that is true. But it would be more true to say, if someone is in Heaven, they are in the best place. To be in Heaven means to be truly alive - more alive than any of us here.
Brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ we're privileged to hear the truth that we are not made for this world. Our destiny is not for us to be buried in the dirt - we're made to live forever, in glory, with the loving God who made us. Our knowledge of the resurrection should permeate every moment of our lives on earth.
When we live with an eye towards our true home, then we will finally be able to see the things of earth in the proper perspective: not as bad things, but as tools, as part of our training. Our lives here are our only opportunity to grow in holiness; to become people who love like God.
God has already allowed us to share in the life and death of Jesus through our baptism and our participation in the sacraments. We already have the life of God within us; but it's only in the end, after our resurrection, that we will be fully the people He made us to be.
Starting at this Mass, when we are given a glimpse of Heaven in receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, let's dedicate ourselves to our true destiny. Let's live and love like people who will one day see God face to face and live with Him forever, because that is exactly who we are.
No comments:
Post a Comment