Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 5th Sunday of Easter.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The eleventh article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” There are five (5) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 1016.
Our faith in the resurrection of the body teaches us about our very selves. As human beings we are composite creatures, body and soul. There are different heresies which run counter to both our bodily and our spiritual aspects. Most gnostic dualistic heresies downplay the importance of the body in this life and the life to come. On the other hand there have arisen a ‘cult of the body’ and a ‘cult of youth,’ such that the physical appearance and bodily health are all that are deemed to be important, to the detriment of spiritual realities such as the soul, the virtues and the like.
To help us avoid errors on every side our faith provides us safe markers to avoid the pitfalls: Good Friday teaches us, through the death of the Lord Jesus about the reality of death, when a division or separation between body and soul occurs. When the Lord Jesus breathed His last on the Holy Cross, His body and soul were separated from each other. When each of us die, similarly, a separation of body and soul occurs. We give up the spirit and breath our last (cf. Luke 23:46).
Easter on the other hand teaches us, through the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus about the reality of the reunification of body and soul. When the risen Lord Jesus offered His hands and His side to Thomas it was in part to establish the reality of the resurrection (cf. John 20:26–27). When Mary Magdalene had to be instructed by the risen Lord Jesus not to cling to Him, how could she have if He had not risen bodily (cf. John 20:11–17)? Even the bodily consumption of fish by the risen Lord Jesus establishes the reality of His Resurrection (cf. Luke 24:38–46)
Christ’s resurrection on the third day, Easter, is the principle of our resurrection on the last day (cf. Matthew 17:2; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46; Acts 10:40). We believe in both Jesus’ resurrection and our own to which in we look forward (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:12–20).
We will rise on the last day. Our faith in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a prelude to our own resurrection on the last day. What He has done we hope to do. We have already spiritually been raised from the death of sin in the saving waters of Holy Baptism and the redeeming grace of Penance. While our souls will go forth from this world immediately upon our death to heavenly glory or infernal damnation, body and soul will not be rejoined until the last day, when the trumpet sounds (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr