Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 4th 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 1015.

In presenting our belief in the resurrection of the body the Catechism cites St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (AD 35-108) who was a Successor of Saint Peter without being the Bishop of Rome. Safeguarding the deposit of faith, and writing to the Church in Rome where he was to be thrown to the lions, St. Ignatius highlights our faith in the resurrection of the body with the following words: “The flesh is the pivot of salvation.” The three (3) key terms are: flesh, pivot and salvation. Flesh here has to do with our bodiliness, being incarnate beings. Pivot here is being used as a noun, not the verb, so we are to understand St. Ignatius’ meaning here as referring to the central point, pin or shaft upon which a mechanism turns. Salvation is the condition of being saved, preserved or delivered from harm, ruin, or loss called damnation.

As evidence of St. Ignatius’ correctness, the Catechism provides four (4) pieces of evidence proving that we are not Manichaen gnostic heretics who despised matter in general and the human body in particular.

God is the creator of flesh. If God hated matter, the body, why did He bother to create us? God, in creating the heavens and the Earth and all that is therein saw all that He had made and that it was good (cf. Genesis 1:1-31). The flesh has been tied to sin only as a consequence of the Fall or Original Sin (cf. Romans 7:5; Colossians 2:13). Some sins committed with the flesh include both gluttony and lust which disregard temperance and chastity respectively.

The Word became flesh (cf. John 1:14). We celebrate this great truth of our saving faith liturgically each 25th of March and 25th of December, the Annunciation and Nativity respectively, when Christ was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in Our Lady’s virginal womb and when He was born in Bethlehem with His foster-father Saint Joseph looking on.

The Word made flesh redeemed our flesh, having His nailed to the Cross on Good (or Holy) Friday and rising gloriously triumphant from the grave on the third day, namely Easter (cf. Matthew 27:35-50; 28:5).

We believe in the resurrection of the flesh. Not only has the Lord Jesus Christ been raised, but we too, ourselves, will rise body and soul on the last day (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:32, 51-52). Our body and soul will be reunited for all eternity, to glory and bliss in Heaven or shame and punishment in Hell.

May we live lives so as to enjoy God’s presence and communion not only in the here and now, but also forever in the hereafter.

God bless you!

Father John Arthur Orr