Day 135: The Resurrection of the Body (988-996)

• It’s Day 135!!

• ARTICLE 11: I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

• What does it mean to DIE IN CHRIST?

• What does it mean to RISE IN CHRIST?

• What does it mean to FACE THE JUDGMENT

• We want to highlight VERY CLEARLY that WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

• THIS IS SO CRITICAL FOR US!!

• The Catechism states that many people believe in the PERDURANCE (which means persistence or permanence 🙂) of the soul

• The soul will exist after death in some way, shape, or form

• BUT…

• Christian belief goes EVEN FURTHER than that

• Not only will our SOULS exist after death…

• We believe that our BODIES will be resurrected after death

• Just as Jesus Christ has Risen from the Dead to the Glory of the Father, you and I WILL GET OUR BODIES BACK

• Our glorified bodies will be NEW

• They will be REDEEMED

• They will be RESURRECTED

• They will be like Christ’s Resurrected Body

• We will go into this more tomorrow

• Today we want to very very clearly communicate here is what every orthodox Christian has believed

• Paragraph 991 says, “Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. ‘The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live.’”

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• Paragraph 991 continues, “How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain…”

• THE WHOLE THING WOULD BE MEANINGLESS

• BUT…

• Christ HAS been resurrected from the dead

• YOU will be resurrected from the dead as well

• IT IS SO POWERFUL!!

• IT IS SO INCREDIBLE!!

• Have you ever really reflected deeply on the fact that YOU will get your body back, fully transformed, fully resurrected, fully redeemed, much like Jesus

• Let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We talk to you, Father. We beg you. We love you. We praise you. Today we ask that you please receive our praise. Please receive our thanks. In the name of your Son, Jesus, we ask that you please be glorified. That your name is known not only around the world by every heart and every mind, but by our hearts and by our minds. Help us to know you better, Father. Help us to love you better. Help us to follow you more closely. Help us to be disciples of your Son, Jesus Christ. Give us your Holy Spirit so that we can experience in this life even a shadow of a foretaste of what it will be to walk with you in Heaven forever. Help us to walk with you on this earth right now, so that we can walk with you in Eternity forever. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)

• Fr. Mike is going to go a little bit overboard

• Many of us do not meditate enough on the gift that God has in store for us

• We don’t reflect enough on what it is to be with God in Heaven

• We don't reflect enough on what it is to believe in what we are saying every single Sunday or at the beginning of the Rosary whenever we pray the Apostles Creed, “I believe in the Resurrection of the Body”

• What are we really saying?

• We are saying that God’s plan is SO MUCH MORE than most of us could EVER IMAGINE AND REFLECT ON

• AND YET…

• We believe that this is ESSENTIAL

• Paragraph 991 says, “Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the CHristian faith from its beginnings. ‘The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live.’”

• In John Ch 6 Jesus says, “It is the spirit that gives life. The flesh is of no avail.”

• Jesus is talking about the fallen part of our human nature when He refers to “the flesh”

• It is important to make a distinction because Jesus also says, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood”

• Here He is not talking about fallen human nature

• He is LITERALLY talking about His FLESH AND BLOOD

• Paragraph 990 says, “The term ‘flesh’ refers to man in his state of weakness and mortality. The ‘resurrection of the flesh’ (the literal formulation of the Apostles’ Creed) means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our ‘mortal body’ will come to life again.”

• THE PROGRESSIVE REVELATION OF THE RESURRECTION

• If you go read about early Jewish theology, there would not be a very clear articulation of what happens after death or what happens in the resurrection of the body

• As there is this progressive revelation, it becomes more and more clear that there is this true belief in life after death and the resurrection, and it has its roots in Judaism

• There were some sects in Judaism like the Saduccees who denied the resurrection of the dead and they denied the existence of angels

• In Mark 12:24-27Jesus tells them, “Is this not why you are wrong? That you know neither the Scriptures nor the Power of God?...And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.”

• There is this FURTHER DEEPER AND MORE PROFOUND reality of the resurrection

• Paragraph 994 says, “But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: ‘I am the Resurrection and the life.’ It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood.”

• IT IS REMARKABLE!!

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 995 says, “Encounters with the risen Christ characterize the Christian hope of resurrection. We shall rise like Christ, with him, and through him.”

• Stop for a moment and flex your fingers

• This body…these hands…these arms…these eyes…

• IT WILL RISE LIKE CHRIST!!

• IT WILL RISE WITH CHRIST!!

• IT WILL RISE THROUGH CHRIST!!

• How does that happen?

• What is that?

• Who will do this?

• When is this going to happen?

• We will talk about that tomorrow

• BUT…

• The first piece that we get to embrace with every amount of AMEN we can muster is ultimately…

• (SQUIRREL!! 😉)

• What is death?

• Death is separation of body and soul

• BUT…

• Ultimately, EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING will get their body back

• WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

• SOME will go on to live in everlasting glory with God in Heaven

• SOME will get their body back to live in everlasting shame, horror, and disgrace

• Do you want to live with the Lord?

• OR

• Do you want to live eternity without Him?

• All of us are saying that we want to live with the Lord

• “God, please come to our aid. God, please come to our assistance. Help us to say yes to you today. Help us to live in such a way today that we can live with you forever in Eternity.”

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• The stakes are SUPER HIGH

• THE STAKES ARE ETERNITY!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!