80. Resurrection of the Body

Belief in the resurrection is very consoling. It was this belief that gave the early Christians and martyrs such fortitude under persecutions. Firm in this belief, we should not mourn for our beloved dead excessively: "But we would not, brethren, have you ignorant concerning those who are asleep, lest you should grieve, even as others who have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13). We shall see them again in the resurrection. We should remember the words of Our Lord, Who will raise us from the dead: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, even if he die, shall live; and whoever lives and believes in me, shall never die" (John 11:25 - 26).

What is meant by the "resurrection of the body?"

— By "the resurrection of the body" is meant that at the end of the world the bodies of all men will rise from the earth and be united again to their souls, nevermore to be separated.

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise" (I Cor. 15:52).

1. Our Lord often foretold the resurrection of the body.

"For the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they who have done good shall come forth unto resurrection of life; but they who have done evil unto resurrection of judgement" (John 5:28 - 29).

2. Our Lord said that the Blessed Sacrament gives immortality also to the body.

"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up" (John 6:55).

3. Christ redeemed the whole man, and not the soul alone.

Hence the body must, in the case of the just, rise to eternal life. The body of man was originally destined for immortality, and lost it only with Adam's sin. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made to live" (1 Cor. 15:22). "He who raised up Jesus will raise up us also with Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:14). "Our Lord Jesus Christ will refashion the body of our lowliness" (Phil. 3:21).

4. The resurrection of the body is not an extraordinary idea. If we look about us in nature, we may see types of the resurrection of the body.

In spring, flowers and trees wake up to new life after the death of winter. The seed, buried like a corpse in the ground, sprouts a living tree or bush. The body itself rises to new vigour after sleep, which is a type of death.

Will our risen bodies be the same as those we had on earth?

• Yes, our risen bodies will be the same as those we had on earth.

If our risen bodies were not those we had on earth they would not be our bodies, and we would not be the same persons.

It could not be said then that there was resurrection, nor that our bodies had risen. The words of Job are most consoling in the truth they contain: "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth" (Job 19:25).

2. During life the body is constantly changing, putting on new growth and throwing away waste in bone, muscle, and skin. Yet it is always the same body.

So will it be in the resurrection. Whatever changes there are they will not affect the sameness of the body which we have on earth. In death the body only sleeps, awaiting the last day. Our Lord Himself said that Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus were asleep, although He knew they were dead.

3. Our bodies will rise again even though they will have been reduced to dust. Everything is possible to God. He Who created angels and men and the whole universe out of nothing will certainly not find any difficulty in gathering together the elements of the body even if they were scattered throughout the world, nor in giving them life once more. God has almighty power.

Christ Himself raised three persons from the dead, according to Holy Scripture. At His resurrection, the bodies of many rose from the graves. Holy men and women have in the name of Christ brought back hundreds to life.

Why will the bodies of the just rise?

— The bodies of the just will rise to share forever in the glory of their souls.

"For this corruptible body must put on incorruption, and this mortal body must put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:53).

1. The risen body will be radiant and beautiful, if it is of a just person. It will have the qualities of Our Lord's risen Body, characterized by: (a) Impassibility.

By this quality the risen body will no longer be subject to pain, disease, death, hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep, heat or cold. "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying" (Apoc. 21:4).

(b) Brightness.

By this quality, the risen body will shine with great radiance and glory. "Then the just will shine forth like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43).

(c) Agility

This quality will enable the risen body to pass with the quickness of thought to all parts of the universe.

(d) Subtility, or spirituality.

This quality will enable the risen body to penetrate material substances. even as Our Lord, Who arose from the tomb and entered the Cenacle while doors and windows were barred. "What is sown a natural body rises a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44).

2. The risen body, united to the soul, will remain in heaven forever, to glory in the presence of and in union with God.

When we are disheartened by the miseries of this life, misfortune, sickness, pains, and many other ills, including the difficulty of warding off sin. Let us find consolation in the thought that our body, now so weak and imperfect, will, if we persevere in the love and service of God, some day rise in glory and stand continually in His presence. "If the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1).

Has the body of any human person ever been raised from the dead and taken into heaven?

— By the special privilege of her Assumption, the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary, preserved from corruption, was raised from the dead and taken into heaven.

"Assumption" in this sense means the taking up of the Blessed Virgin's body into heaven. Her Assumption differs from Christ's Ascension, in that He went up to heaven, body and soul, by His own unaided power, whereas Our Lady was taken up by the power of God, not her own. The dogma of the Assumption was proclaimed November 1, 1950.

Why will the bodies of the damned also rise?

— The bodies of the damned will also rise, to share in the eternal punishment of their souls.

1. The risen body of the wicked will be hideous and repulsive, a horror to behold.

This should give pause to those whose chief thought on earth is to pamper and decorate their bodies. This life will last only a few decades; but in the resurrection there will be an eternity. Should we prefer to be painted and "beautiful" for these few decades, and become an object of aversion for all eternity; or pay less attention to our body here on earth, so as to attain glory forever?

2. The risen bodies of the wicked, united to their souls, will remain condemned in hell forever, their companions other wicked souls, and devils, followers of Satan.

And in hell, the body, as well as the soul, will suffer torments such as we here on earth cannot even imagine. What will it profit those lost souls then, that here they had luxuries and pleasures?