Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 18th Sunday of Ordinary time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The twelfth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in everlasting life.” There are ten (10) In Brief passages in the 8Catechism of the Catholic Church* regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 1060.
Our saving faith in life everlasting includes not only the “Four Last Things” (death, judgment, Heaven and Hell) but also eternity, or time without end. There was “a beginning” when God created the heavens and the Earth and all that is therein (—). Christ our Lord came in the fullness of time (cf. Galatians 4:4). He will return again not only to judge the living and the dead but also to begin our eternity. Christ’s return in glory will occur at the end of time, on a day, at an hour we do not know (cf. Matthew 24:36; 25:13; Mark 13:32; 1 Thessalonians 5:2).
This second coming of Christ complements His first coming. When He came the first time as the eternal Son of the Eternal Father born of Mary in Bethlehem Christ the Lord inaugurated the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christ is the King of the Kingdom of God. When He returns in glory at the end of time Christ will realize in it’s plentitude the Kingdom of God.
In the fully realized Kingdom of God, the just, who are the saints, will reign with Christ forever. If we live holy lives according to God’s grace and holy will we will be among their number. How we live now will determine our eternity.
The just, who are the saints, will be glorified in both body and soul in the eternal Kingdom of God fully realized with Christ’s return in glory. Now and until the end of time only the souls of the saints enjoy the glory of Heaven, except for Our Lady who was assumed body and soul as we celebrate each 15th of August. Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that the qualities or properties of the glorified bodies of the saints in Heaven include: impassibility, subtlety, agility, and clarity (Summa Theologiae III, Q. 82–85). Impassibility means being unable to suffer. Subtlety here means that tough the saints have material bodies, like our Lord in His resurrection, like His, the glorified bodies of the saints are not limited by their matter (recall how He was able to seemingly walk through walls…). Agility here means that the glorified bodies of the saints in Heaven are totally under the direction of the soul, and in this way there is no stumbling, no fatigue… Clarity, as a quality of the glorified bodies of the saints means that the glory of the soul is able to be known and recognized immediately.
What is further, at the end of time not only will the saints receive their glorified bodies but all of the material universe will be transformed. No more floods or tornados or droughts or earthquakes… What a glorious future awaits us!
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr