Every Sunday, Catholics profess our faith in “the resurrection of the body”: We firmly believe, that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives forever, so after death the righteous will live forever with the risen Christ in a physical, bodily eternity.
Since humans were created by God as bodily beings, the fullness of our redemption will also include a resurrected, glorified body. We will have bodies in eternity: hands, feet, mouths, eyes, and ears, just like Jesus did after his resurrection. This body will have the characteristics of Christ’s glorified body.
Perhaps inspired by his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, St. Paul explains that our resurrected bodies will be radiant with divine glory.
Thomas Aquinas reflects upon this further stating that the resurrected body will be incapable of suffering; we’ll be able to move without difficulty or labor. In the resurrection there will no longer be sickness, pain, or disability.
But what will we do with our bodies? St. John affirms that in eternity we shall see God as he is. We will share in the very life of God, the eternal exchange of love within the Holy Trinity.
In today’s passage from the Gospel of Mark, the Lord teaches about life after the resurrection. He says, “When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.”
In an earlier passage, the Lord teaches that marriage is part of God’s plan “from the beginning” and is a sacred bond that no human is authorized to break.
In today’s passage, the Lord affirms that marriage on earth is “until death do us part”. As good and necessary as marriage is for the present age, it will give way to something far greater, a union with God and all the saints that will infinitely surpass the earthly one-flesh union of husband and wife.
In Catholic tradition, the vocations to consecrated virginity and celibacy are especially valued as signs reminding us of this ultimate destiny. Consecrated virginity and celibacy remind us, that in this life, no matter our vocation, we are to aim at the divine, turning to God with our whole body, mind and soul; to want to please God in everything; as Paul writes in Romans: to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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To God the Father Almighty, may every prayer of our heart be directed, for it is His will that all humanity should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.
For the peoples of all the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them, and deepen in them the virtues of justice and religion.
For the support of all of the churches consecrated virgins and celibates, and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.
For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, especially for the sick and victims of war and terror and natural disaster.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.
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