The Resurrection of the Body

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The Resurrection of the Body

While our children were playing together, my wife and I glanced at each other with a smile in our eyes, expressing with one look our joy in the fabulous, joyful individuals we had brought into the world. Without the love we showered on each other, the children would not exist. We had created wonderful new human beings, who now experienced the wonders of life on their own. Without us, these stimulating vibrant individuals would not be enjoying and enhancing the world.

Similarly, just as our children were totally depended on the love between my wife and me for their existence, so also all Christians are depended on Christ’s love for them; a love exhibited during his life and death on earth and on his Resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the basis for belief in man’s own resurrection. As been said many times by many different people, “The Christian faith stands or falls with the truth of the testimony that Christ is risen from the dead.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation for the Christian belief in the resurrection of Christian bodies. All Christians are emphatically tied to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As demonstrated in his twelve appearances after his resurrection, Jesus possessed a new, transformed body, unencumbered by time or space; a body type man will assume when man enters heaven, signifying a new relationship between God and man….a heavenly minded relationship.

Man was created by God with both a body and a soul, any resurrection of the body must include both the body and the soul in order to return man to the original state in which God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, prior to their Original Sin. The undivided unity of man – body and soul- is a fundamental statement of the fate of man. The salvation of man is viewed as possessing both the body and soul – unseparated man. The Resurrection of dead as expressed in the Apostles’ Creed speaks of the one creation “man’; the person. It is the Christ, as lover of all mankind, whose own resurrection sets the example for man’s resurrection. “All love wants eternity; and God’s love not only wants it but effects it and is it.” (Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, pg.350)  The beginning of the resurrected life actually begins when we form a relationship with Christ on earth; a relationship that outlasts death. There is continuity with Christ from an earthly life through death and into heaven.

The issue confronting man is man’s willingness to form a loving, lasting relationship with Jesus Christ. Will man choose Jesus and the gift of an everlasting, loving life or will he choose only himself and face an eternal existence of sorrow and rejection?  This is the fundamental decision facing each person. Choose well!

The subject of the Resurrection of Jesus is so critical to Christian beliefs that it is demands some review and study. There are numerous books and articles which discuss both the Resurrection of Jesus and man’s resurrection. Listed below is a small sample of these writings.

“The life of Christ” by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Kindle edition, Chapter 62

“Handbook of Christian Apologetics” by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli, Kindle edition, Chapter 8. The chapter examines in some detail the arguments for and against the Resurrection of Jesus and man’s resurrection.

“Jesus of Nazareth, From the Entrance to Jerusalem to the Resurrection”, by Pope Benedict XVI, published by Ignatius Press, Chapter Nine.

“Credo”, by Hans Urs Von Balthasar, published by Ignatius Press, Chapter XI.

“Introduction to Christianity”, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, published by Ignatius Press, Part Two, Section C, part 3.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church”, Part One, Article Eleven, “I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body”  

The Forgiveness of Sins

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The Forgiveness of Sins

With his eyes clouded with tears and his heart filled with remorse, the young boy approached his mother ready to admit his transgression. He had knowingly disobeyed her instructions and now had to face his mother’s wrath. As he apologized to her, the tears in his eyes rushed down his cheeks. He was truly devastated that he had failed his mother. She gazed at him for a few seconds, witnessing his true remorse, briefly scolding him and then gave him a hug, while reminding him of her love for him. He had been forgiven. Oh yes, there would be some punishment attached to his disobedience, but it would be a light punishment. He was back in his mother’s good graces! The mother’s love for her son and his sincere remorse overcame the offense. He was forgiven…without qualification.

All of us have forgiven and have been forgiven for trespasses. Friends and loved ones frequently hurt each other and are often exceedingly angry with one another. Yet all is forgiven in an instance when sorrow and retribution are forthcoming from the offender. Hugs are exchanged and relations between the friends continue; frequently as if nothing occurred.  For most people it is part of our nature “to forgive and forget.”

Most Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church, emphasize God’s forgiving nature towards humans. All humans sin and need forgiveness.  But a question surfaces, “What is sin?  The Catholic Encyclopedia defines sin as “Nothing else than a morally bad act (St. Thomas, “De malo”, 7:3), an act not in accord with reason informed by the Divine law. God has endowed us with reason and free-will, and a sense of responsibility; He has made us subject to His law, which is known to us by the dictates of conscience, and our acts must conform with these dictates, otherwise we sin (Romans 14:23).” No matter how the definition of sin is cast, people know when they sin, unless they have clouded their consciences, failing to accept the impulses of God. (Yes, there are deniers, those who deny that sin exists. They will come to realize their folly at the end of their lives.)To sin is a violation of our basic nature.

During his lifetime, Jesus Christ emphasized on numerous occasions God’s compassion for human weakness and his willingness to forgive mankind’s sins. When a paralytic came to Jesus seeking a cure for his paralysis, Jesus first gave him the best cure of all, “Your sins are forgiven.” Only after the forgiveness of sin did Jesus cure the paralytic of his physical ailment. The importance and priority the forgiveness of sin over the cure of physical ills was emphatically demonstrated. Similarly, Jesus forgave the sins of the prostitute, while encouraging her to sin no more. Then on Easter, Jesus’ first act was to confer upon the apostles the ability to forgive sins. ( John20:23) The forgiveness of sins was/is the priority of Jesus as he guides mankind towards salvation.

How fortunate we humans are….God readily and demonstrably forgives our sins when we humbly ask for His forgiveness. It may be Jesus’ greatest gift to mankind, His Mercy. Similar to the mother who forgave her child’s transgression and gave the child a loving hug so also God forgives our sins and compassionately hugs us. How fortunate we are to have such a loving, caring, and compassionate God!!!

Will we accept His invitation to seek loving forgiveness??

“Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.”  From the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.