WITH the celebration of the feast of
the Assumption of Our
Lady (August 15), we somehow are reminded of the role of our body in
our life insofar as our eternal destination in heaven is concerned.
Yes, our body is also meant for heaven, for glorification
by sharing the glory of Mary who was assumed to heaven body and soul
as the first fruit of Christ’s redemptive work through his passion,
death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.
It’s a truth of faith that should not be lost in the
overload of info and data that we have today. In fact, it’s a truth
that we should be most interested in, since it is an eternal truth,
and not just a passing one. It’s a truth whose implications as to our
duties and responsibilities toward our body here on earth should be
lived as faithfully as possible.
We need to realize more deeply the importance of the body
in our life. Our Catechism teaches that: “The human person, created in
the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual…The human
body shares in the dignity of the ‘image of God’…
“Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself
the elements of the material world…He is obliged to regard his body as
good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise
it up on the last day.” (CCC 362 ff.)
Our attitude toward the body and the material world, I am
afraid, has suffered a dangerous mutation, a radical reversal of God’s
designs for them. We seem to be falling into two extremes.
One is to consider the body as completely evil, as when
the distinction between the body and the soul becomes exaggerated that
they by nature become hostile to each other. This mindset is prevalent
among those who may be regarded as ‘too spiritual’ in their life.
The other extreme, the more common one, is to consider the
body as completely good, with no more need for spiritual animation and
direction. This is the case of a variety of people—the hedonists, the
naturalists, etc.
We need to understand that our body is organically linked
to our spiritual and supernatural character of our life. While
distinct, it cannot be separated from our integral human nature and
condition, from our beginning and end, and from the plan and purpose
God our Father and Creator has for us.
It is important that all of us acquire a proper
understanding of the world of our flesh and the whole material
reality. We have to be quick to recognize their original goodness,
since they all come from God, as well as the distortions that came and
continue to come as a result of our sins.
What is crucial is that we know how to enter our body and
the material world into the dynamics of divine love that is supposed
to characterize our life here on earth and, of course, beyond.
The theology of the body, ably systematized by the late
Pope now St. John Paul II based on what is revealed in the Gospel and
developed in Church tradition, etc., will show how the body has been
designed by God for this purpose.
It takes into consideration our body’s original state of
goodness and its fallen, wounded nature after sin for which the
pathways for its redemption were given to us by Christ.
Here we will see how the language of divine love for our
body necessarily involves the character of gift, which is actually a
sacrifice that involves self-denial and the whole reality of the cross
as dramatized by Christ himself.
The theology of the body definitely deserves to be taught
as widely as possible, given the current situation where there seems
to be a rush toward a body cult without the animation of faith and
charity. It’s pure unredeemed flesh in all its raging wildness and
lawlessness!
On the one hand, there’s a lot of vanity and arrogance,
the so-called concupiscence of the flesh. On the other, we can have a
spirituality that knows next to nothing about the entire reality of
our flesh—a disembodied spirituality.
We should all recognize the indispensable role played by
Christ’s cross, the whole scope of the spirit of sacrifice, that puts
our flesh in its proper place—in profound humility and “extravagant”
desire to love the way Christ loves us.
We should always feel the edge of the cross so that our
body behaves as it should! Christ’s cross is the body’s liberation and
glorification.
Lady (August 15), we somehow are reminded of the role of our body in
our life insofar as our eternal destination in heaven is concerned.
Yes, our body is also meant for heaven, for glorification
by sharing the glory of Mary who was assumed to heaven body and soul
as the first fruit of Christ’s redemptive work through his passion,
death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.
It’s a truth of faith that should not be lost in the
overload of info and data that we have today. In fact, it’s a truth
that we should be most interested in, since it is an eternal truth,
and not just a passing one. It’s a truth whose implications as to our
duties and responsibilities toward our body here on earth should be
lived as faithfully as possible.
We need to realize more deeply the importance of the body
in our life. Our Catechism teaches that: “The human person, created in
the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual…The human
body shares in the dignity of the ‘image of God’…
“Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself
the elements of the material world…He is obliged to regard his body as
good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise
it up on the last day.” (CCC 362 ff.)
Our attitude toward the body and the material world, I am
afraid, has suffered a dangerous mutation, a radical reversal of God’s
designs for them. We seem to be falling into two extremes.
One is to consider the body as completely evil, as when
the distinction between the body and the soul becomes exaggerated that
they by nature become hostile to each other. This mindset is prevalent
among those who may be regarded as ‘too spiritual’ in their life.
The other extreme, the more common one, is to consider the
body as completely good, with no more need for spiritual animation and
direction. This is the case of a variety of people—the hedonists, the
naturalists, etc.
We need to understand that our body is organically linked
to our spiritual and supernatural character of our life. While
distinct, it cannot be separated from our integral human nature and
condition, from our beginning and end, and from the plan and purpose
God our Father and Creator has for us.
It is important that all of us acquire a proper
understanding of the world of our flesh and the whole material
reality. We have to be quick to recognize their original goodness,
since they all come from God, as well as the distortions that came and
continue to come as a result of our sins.
What is crucial is that we know how to enter our body and
the material world into the dynamics of divine love that is supposed
to characterize our life here on earth and, of course, beyond.
The theology of the body, ably systematized by the late
Pope now St. John Paul II based on what is revealed in the Gospel and
developed in Church tradition, etc., will show how the body has been
designed by God for this purpose.
It takes into consideration our body’s original state of
goodness and its fallen, wounded nature after sin for which the
pathways for its redemption were given to us by Christ.
Here we will see how the language of divine love for our
body necessarily involves the character of gift, which is actually a
sacrifice that involves self-denial and the whole reality of the cross
as dramatized by Christ himself.
The theology of the body definitely deserves to be taught
as widely as possible, given the current situation where there seems
to be a rush toward a body cult without the animation of faith and
charity. It’s pure unredeemed flesh in all its raging wildness and
lawlessness!
On the one hand, there’s a lot of vanity and arrogance,
the so-called concupiscence of the flesh. On the other, we can have a
spirituality that knows next to nothing about the entire reality of
our flesh—a disembodied spirituality.
We should all recognize the indispensable role played by
Christ’s cross, the whole scope of the spirit of sacrifice, that puts
our flesh in its proper place—in profound humility and “extravagant”
desire to love the way Christ loves us.
We should always feel the edge of the cross so that our
body behaves as it should! Christ’s cross is the body’s liberation and
glorification.
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