Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on Corpus Christi Sunday.
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 Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 1052.
The Catechism again cites the Solemn Profession of Faith of Pope Paul VI, promulgated on 30 June, 1968 AD, here regarding the ‘Last Things’, specifically everlasting life.
The Saints are those who die in the grace of Christ (cf. Acts 4:33; 13:43; Romans 6:23; 11:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Each of us enters into the state of grace thanks to God’s gift in Holy Baptism. For those times when we sadly find ourselves in a state of sin we are able to return to the state of grace in Christ thanks to the Sacrament of Penance, which was called by Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390 AD) ‘a laborious baptism’ as cited by the Council of Trent (1551 AD) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 981.
The Saints who are in Heaven are called by Pope Paul VI ‘the People of God on the other side of death.’ The Lord Jesus promises His holy ones, the saints, both joy and reward in Heaven (cf. Matthew 5:12). Myopically, some think only of the other people in the pews on Sunday as the Church, forgetting that the Saints in Heaven, some know only to God alone, are also a part (a majority at any particular time) of the Church. That there are a multitude of the holy ones who are already with God ought to widen our horizons and give us encouragement knowing that they pray for us, interceding from on high (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Revelation 7:9). To invoke the ‘People of God’ is to say ‘the Church’ which is the new Israel.
We await the resurrection of the body on the last day, or better, the beginning of the day without end (cf. Acts 23:6, 8; 2 Peter 3:18). On that day our souls will be reunited with our bodies, to enjoy the blessings of Heaven or the pains of Hell accordingly, depending upon the state of our soul when we breathe our last. Those who die in a state of grace, free from any and all stain of mortal sin go to God to worship Him in spirit and truth with all of the countless saints who have preceded us. While those who sadly die in mortal sin suffer eternally the pains of Hell. Often enough our bodies participated in our graced or wicked living, so too, our bodies will share in the rewards or punishments which our soul receives immediately upon death and judgment. Now we await the resurrection of the body on the last day, when death will be no more and every tear wiped away for the saints while only tears of suffering and torment await the damned (cf. Acts 24:15; Romans 2:9; 5:17; James 5:20).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr