Splendor of the Truth



32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

And We Shall Be Changed

This past week my friend and I were talking about “comic book death.” Actually, I did not know it was an official term until I looked on the internet. “Comic book death” happens when a character in a book, a movie, or on television dies only to return predictably when another writer wants to include that character. I can think of seven well-known superheroes who had comic book deaths, and I saw a list of thirty others. Halloween last week reminded me how every villain in a horror franchise manages to get killed at the end of a movie only to show up again in the sequel. Soap operas use this trick all the time too. The end result is that we do not take death in these shows too seriously.

When Jesus talks about the resurrection, he does not refer to “comic book deaths.” He is not talking about people simply coming back to life. Jesus himself raised several people back to life, including Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son in Nain, and Lazarus. These people came back to life, but they died after the course of their life was finished.

When Jesus talks about the resurrection, he refers to an event like his own resurrection. After Jesus rose again, he did not live his life in the same way as before. He did not die at some point in the future, like Lazarus did. Jesus lived an entirely new kind of life—a mysterious life that we have trouble even imagining.

When I think about what the resurrection will be like, I always sing to myself song #46 from Handel’s Messiah: “The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Handel was quoting St. Paul’s response to the Corinthians after they had asked him what the resurrection would be like (1 Cor. 15:52). If we look elsewhere in Scripture and Tradition, we find that our understanding of the resurrection boils down to these five points:

1. What does rising mean? – God will reunite our souls with our restored bodies

2. What kind of body will we have? – incorruptible, whole, unblemished, glorious

3. Who will rise? – all the dead

4. How will they rise? – by the power of God the Father

5. When will they rise? – at the end of the world as we know it

Many details are still a mystery, but we know enough to make a big difference in our lives now. Belief in the resurrection of the body has a major impact on many Catholic practices. Belief in the resurrection is why death matters to us. Some Eastern religions believe in reincarnation—the idea that our soul will inhabit many bodies before being judged or released from the cycle of life. Jesus clearly did not teach this. He said “that the dead will rise.” Jesus had the same body in the Resurrection that he had in life. Remember, his tomb was empty. He received his own body back at his Resurrection. The same will be the case with us.

Belief in the resurrection is why, if it is possible, we hold funeral Masses with the body present. Each person’s body is important, because each person receives his or her body back at the resurrection. Cremation is permitted, but ideally it should take place after the funeral Mass, and we never scatter a person’s ashes. Cremated remains must also be buried or placed in a mausoleum.

Someone once asked about donating our bodies to science for research. This can be done, but the body must be buried at some point in the future out of respect. Organ donation is also a fine sacrifice to make, as long as the donor still receives a funeral and burial.

Finally, belief in the resurrection is why our actions while we live in the body are important. An ancient religion called Gnosticism tried to convince Christians long ago that sins of the body did not matter because the body was ruled by sin and beyond our control. Only the spiritual really mattered. People have picked up this same line of reasoning today. But if our body is to be raised, then purity, modesty, and self-control are important. Belief in the resurrection is why all our sacraments involve bodily signs: in order to redeem the body. Belief in the resurrection is why marriage is a holy sacrament and why chastity and celibacy are holy vocations. Living a holy life in the body determines our destination at the time of judgment when all the dead shall be raised.

Rev. Eric Culler

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