2016/09/04 — 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year C

The first reading — Wisdom 9:13-18b —  speaks of the limits of human intelligence. There are two factors in play. One is that the body limits the soul. We shouldn't take this to mean that the body is evil, as the Manichæans would say, or that it is not fully part of the human person, as Plato believed. We believe that the human is not a soul which will eventually be released from its prison, the body. We believe that body and soul are both essential elements of a human being. Nevertheless, in our fallen condition, the flesh, as St. Paul uses the term, opposes the spirit. The second factor, related to the gospel of the day, is that our minds are finite and need the help of the Holy Spirit to understand God's will.


In the responsorial psalm – verses of Psalm 90 — we reflect on our mortality and our reliance on God's enduring support.


The second reading — Philemon 9-10, 12-17 — is Paul's instruction to Philemon to recognize his returning slave Onesimus as a brother  in the Lord. Legally, Philemon had a right to punish Onesimus for running away. Morally, as a Christian, he did not have that right. We too must realize that we are called to higher standards than simply taking every benefit the law allows. As Christians, we are to love and forgive, and to recognize the dignity of every human being as a person, not an object we may use.


The gospel — Luke 14:25-33 — presents "the cost of discipleship." We must prefer nothing to Christ: not our families, not our possessions, not even ourselves. Some, like St. Teresa of Calcutta, are called to literally give up everything. Most are called to a renunciation which recognizes that what we have really belongs to God and must not be used selfishly. Furthermore, we are called to love others, so we do not literally "hate" them. We just do not let them draw us away from Christ. We find that a Christian attitude can actually draw us closer to people, as with Philemon and Onesimus. Families should be more loving, employers and employees should deal generously with each other. People should deal kindly with one another. If we are going to call ourselves Christian we need to be aware of the cost, as the world reckons cost. We cannot grasp what it means to be Jesus' disciple without the help of the Holy Spirit, as the first reading indicated, because it's a matter of understanding the mind of God.

Theology of the Body 2014/11/28

Resurrection and the spiritualization of the body.

"Paul describes an interior transformation of man from 'earthly' to 'spiritual.' It is important to note that Paul takes no note of the Manichean division between soul and body. Rejecting the notion that the body is earthly and the soul is spiritual, Paul insist that both body and soul are capable of being spiritual.

"… In the future resurrection, we will inherit a spiritual body from Christ. The spiritualization will be the source of its power and immortality.

"This theme — the spiritualization of the body — originates in Genesis. Before the Fall, body and spirit were united in harmony. Sin caused a rupture …. But in the … resurrection, Paul says, this rupture will be healed.

"The resurrection, however, should not be understood as a return to the state of original innocence, apart from the knowledge of good and evil. Instead, the resurrection will constitute a new fullness of humanity that presupposes the whole frame of our creation and subsequent Fall.

"In our fallen condition, … the earthly body rules over the spiritual, lilting our ability to act in truth and love. We are attracted by evil and have to struggle against temptation.But in the resurrection, the Holy Spirit will entirely penetrate the body, and will redeem sensuality. … The senses will achieve perfect sensitivity and union with the human spirit. Spiritualization is perfected in the resurrection, but it is not limited to it. Even now, we are 'earthly' to the extent that we resist God; and we are 'spiritual' to the extent that we live by his Spirit. [Cf. Galatians 5:19-22.]

…

"The truth of the resurrection is of fundamental significance for the theology of the body. It is vital to our Christian understanding of both marriage and celibacy. In our further reflections, we will focus on the latter — celibacy for the kingdom of Heaven."

Theology of the Body 2014/05/19

"The life of the resurrection will be an entirely new experience — different from Adam and Eve's before the Fall. But it will not be entirely disconnected from our earthly life — it will not be a disembodied or sexless (androgynous) existence. Instead, the resurrection will be the fulfillment of the promise we now carry within our bodies.

"When our bodies are glorified, they will become what God intended … from the beginning — visible signs of the person, means of communication between persons, and tangible expressions of love. The true meaning of the body … will be revealed anew.… in simplicity and splendor, and every person who partakes in the life of heaven will fully realize the nuptial meaning of the body, as they join in the great communion of saints.

"It is impossible for us to imagine exactly what this heavenly life will be like. But … we can begin to see its foundations — the resurrection of the body, eternal life, and the communion of saints.

Theology of the Body 2014/02/09

Continuing the excerpts from Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body in Simple Language by Sam Torode:

"Sin disrupted the original harmony of body and spirit. St. Paul expresses this memorably in … Romans:

When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom 7:[22]-24)

But in the resurrection, the body will be free from this 'law of sin.' Body and spirit will be in perfect harmony.

"Paul … speaks of man as a composite of body, spirit, and soul, with no distinct boundaries among the three. According to Paul, both body and soul are capable of being 'spiritual.' … [I]n the age to come, the body will be filled with light, entirely permeated by the spirit.

"Can the body be illumined even while we are here on earth? Yes, to the extent that we mature spiritually. But in this life there will always be … an opposition between body and spirit that we must overcome. In the age to come, this opposition will be … eliminated. The law of sin will be vanquished from the body, and our spiritualization will be perfected.

"This spiritualization is not dehumanizing. It is the opposition between body and spirit that limits our human potential. The resurrected body will not be less human, but more.

"Since God created the human being as a unity of body and spirit, human perfection could never involve an opposition between them. [It] means a deep harmony between [them.] And we must not conceive of this harmony as a victory of spirit over body, but as a perfect participation of the body in the mystery of the spirit."

Next: divinization.

Theology of the Body 2014/01/27

My post four weeks ago was focused on the resurrection as the ultimate fulfillment of the gift of life from the living God, overcoming sin, and its consequence, death.

"In his response to the Sadducees, Jesus … went beyond what was written in the Old Testament, revealing a key element of the theology of the body: 'At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage' (Mt. 22:30).

"In the resurrection, when human beings regain their bodies in the fullness of 'the image and likeness of God' (gen. 1:26), marriage will cease to exist.  In the age to come, marriage and procreation lose their reason for being.
…
"In the resurrection … the soul will be reunited with the body. More than this, the body will participate in a completely new state of human life. … [cf. Romans 6:4-5 on the new life]

"Jesus' words, 'people will neither marry nor be given in marriage,' do not mean that our bodiesd will be androgynous in the kingdom of Heaven. But while our earthly bodies were designed for sexual union (Gen 2:24) and blessed with fertility (Gen. 1:28), masculinity and femininity take on a different meaning in the resurrection.

"… Jesus adds, 'They will be like the angels in heaven' (Mt. 22:30). This does not mean that human beings will become pure spirit — disembodies beings like the angels. If this were the case, it would be meaningless to speak of a resurrection at all. The resurrection means restoring life to the body, which was subjected to death i its earthly phase.

"Plato taught that, at death, the soul finds happiness by being released from the 'prison' of the body. But  … the body is not just a temporary container for the soul. (In this, Plato's student Aristotle was closer to the Christian view.) A human being is a unity of soul and body, and the resurrection restores life to both through a perfect integration of both.

"While the resurrection does not mean disembodiment, … it does involve a 'spiritualization' of the body. … The body will not be lost; it will be wholly unified with the spirit in a new way, even beyond what Adam and Eve experienced in the beginning."

Theology of the Body 2012/07/15

"Genesis 2:25 says, 'The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. …[T]his detail … introduces us to one of the main elements in the story: the theme of original nakedness. This is, in fact, the key to understanding the biblical vision of man's created nature.

"This verse … is a description of human consciousness. … It describes Adam's experience of femininity as revealed by Eve's naked body, and, at the same time, Eve's experience of masculinity through Adam's naked body. …

"Several verses later, in the account of man's Fall, we read:

…Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Gen. 3:7)

"After breaking their covenant with God, Adam and Eve experience their bodies differently — for the first time, they become conscious of their nakedness and are ashamed. Between Genesis 2:25 and 3:7, there is a fundamental shift.

"… Does this mean that before the Fall Adam and Eve didn't really see each other's naked bodies? Or has a change taken place on a much deeper level.

"It is not simply that Adam and Eve have gone from a state of ignorance to "knowing." Instead, there has been a radical change in the meaning of the original nakedness of man and woman in front of each other. This change emerges from their conscience; it's a fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

"This change directly involves the way we experience the meaning of bodies. After their eyes are 'opened,' Adam and Eve first cover their bodies from each other's sight; then they try to hide from God.

But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' (Gen. 3:8-10)

"Shame is a fundamental human experience. … In Genesis, this experience marks the border between original innocence and man's sinfulness. To understand what it means to be without shame, and what significance this has for us today, we must look back to the time of original innocence."

Theology of the Body — 2012/06/18

"If we want to know anything about man, first we have to notice that he exists as a dual being, male and female. We have to start with the idea of 'communion.' Adam and Eve were created to live in harmony, And … this remains God's design for marriage.

"'For this reason,' says Genesis 2:24, 'a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.' When is this union realized? Most clearly, it is expressed when a husband and wife unite sexually, in the marriage act — giving their whole selves to each other and opening themselves to the creation of new life. This intimate union, where a man and a woman cling to each other so closely that they become one flesh, is made possible by our creation as male and female.

"Every rime a husband and wife come together in this way, they rediscover the mystery of creation. …

"Sex is a powerful bond established by the creator. But it is far more than a biological drive. In becoming one flesh, husband and wife are no longer two separate individuals — each takes the other in, expanding the meaning of 'self.' They arenow a communion of persons.

"… To become husband and wife, a man and woman must choose to cling to each other. This kind of mutual self-giving can only come about by free choice. …

"… When a husband and wife come together in purity of heart, it is not so much a loss of virginity as a rediscovery of the original, virginal value of man and woman.

"Formed in the image of God, and uniting to form a communion of persons, Adam and Eve became the model of marriage for all future couples. That is why Christ appealed to this story in his response to the Pharisees — it was still relevant in Jesus' time, and it is just as relevant today."

Theology of the Body — 2012/03/15

Sorry for the long time between posts on this topic.


"Through the ages, many philosophers have spoken of man as if he were divided into two distinct parts: soul and body. This isn't the biblical view, though. In Genesis, the fundamental distinction is … between dust and breath (life) — between unformed matter and living beings.

[According to Genesis 2:7] "Adam entered the world as a unified being, a 'living soul' brought to life by the breath of God.

" … The human body allows man to perform distinctly human activities …. And even though the body is physical, it is almost transparent — it reveals man's identity, giving physical form to his inner life.

" … Making a covenant with Adam, God says, 'You are free to eat from any tree in  the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die' (Gen 2:16-17).

" …Adam  had known only life; how could he understand the concept of death. The word 'die' … is presented as the total opposite of all that Adam has been given. Adam realizes that his life is entirely dependent on God. God breathed life into man, but that breath still belongs to God. When it is taken away, man returns to dust. In this way, the choice between life and death was set before Adam.

"At that moment, the choice between death and immortality became part of what it means to be human. As a living soul called to communion with God, man faced this choice from the beginning."