20140920 THE RESURRECTED BODY AS A GRACE-FULL BODY

20140920 THE RESURRECTED BODY AS A GRACE-FULL BODY

First reading

1 Corinthians 15:35-37,42-49 ©

Someone may ask, ‘How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?’ They are stupid questions. Whatever you sow in the ground has to die before it is given new life and the thing that you sow is not what is going to come; you sow a bare grain, say of wheat or something like that, It is the same with the resurrection of the dead: the thing that is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable; the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.

  If the soul has its own embodiment, so does the spirit have its own embodiment. The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit. The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven. And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.

Psalm            Psalm 55:10-14 ©

I shall walk in the presence of God in the light of the living.

My foes will be put to flight

  on the day that I call to you.

This I know, that God is on my side.

I shall walk in the presence of God in the light of the living.

In God, whose word I praise,

  in the Lord whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not fear;

  what can mortal man do to me?

I shall walk in the presence of God in the light of the living.

I am bound by the vows I have made you.

  O God, I will offer you praise

for you have rescued my soul from death,

  you kept my feet from stumbling

that I may walk in the presence of God

  and enjoy the light of the living.

I shall walk in the presence of God in the light of the living.

Gospel Acclamation           Ps118:18

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider

the wonders of your law.

Alleluia!

Or        cf.Lk8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

Gospel           Luke 8:4-15 ©

With a large crowd gathering and people from every town finding their way to him, Jesus used this parable:

  ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up. Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture. Some seed fell amongst thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell into rich soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.’ Saying this he cried, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

  His disciples asked him what this parable might mean, and he said, ‘The mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed to you; for the rest there are only parables, so that

they may see but not perceive,

listen but not understand.

‘This, then, is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God. Those on the edge of the path are people who have heard it, and then the devil comes and carries away the word from their hearts in case they should believe and be saved. Those on the rock are people who, when they first hear it, welcome the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of trial they give up. As for the part that fell into thorns, this is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life and do not reach maturity. As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.’

THE RESURRECTED BODY AS A GRACE-FULL BODY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 COR 15:35-37.42-49; LK 8:4-15
http://www.universalis.com/20140920/mass.htm

Like the Christians in Corinth, we too, speculate about the resurrected body in the next life.  Like them, we are keen to know, “How are dead people raised, and what sort of bodies do they have when they come back?”  And the response of St Paul to such questions was harsh.  He told them off saying, “They are stupid questions.”  Why are these stupid questions?  Well, one thing for certain is that the resurrected body would be vastly different from that of an earthly body.  Otherwise, we do not have a transfigured perfect body but a resuscitated earthly body.

Though the resurrected body has some continuity with the earthly body, there is also a discontinuity as well.  The analogy given by St Paul is that of a seed sown on the ground and dies, and the plant or tree that appears as a result.  The seed is so small and insignificant, yet the transformation is beyond imagination.  More so if we speak of the mustard seed and the full grown mustard tree.  Hence, St Paul concludes, “it is the same with the resurrection of the dead: the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.”

Indeed, the resurrected body is a spiritual body.  In itself, this term appears to be paradoxical as one is either a body or a spirit.  So what then is a spiritual body?  St Paul tells us that Christ, the heavenly man, the last Adam who “has become a life-giving spirit” pours forth that same Spirit in us, the Spirit that the Father raised from the dead.  Hence, like the soul which only has the earthly body as its embodiment, “so does the spirit have its own embodiment.”  A body that is so filled with the Holy Spirit is what the resurrected body is all about.

At the present time, by virtue of our baptism, we already have a share of this Spirit as the sons and daughters of God, the brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.  However, the indwelling of the Spirit in us is not full, or rather, we are not fully conscious of His presence.  We are still not full of grace because of the vestiges of sin that remain in us.  We can therefore only say we have a foretaste of the resurrected life.  Indeed, as long as we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and His grace to work in us, we are filled with joy, peace and love.   If our spirit is one with the Spirit of Christ, surely, it will impact our body as well.  After all, we know that the body is the window of the spirit and many of our illnesses are psycho-somatic, or at least the consequence of not living an integrated life.   Yes, how we feel and what we think affects the health and state of our body.  But if the Spirit of God lives in us fully, then this body of ours would also be so perfected and raised to a level and state that is unimaginable.

So how then can we be so filled with the Spirit that our body becomes transfigured in Him?  The gospel gives us the key to a spirit-filled body.  It is through His Word.  Unless His Word dwells in us, how can His Spirit fill our hearts and minds?  Jesus, who is the Word of the Father and the One whom the Father sends in His name, seeks to give us His Spirit.  But the way to avail of His Spirit is primarily through the receptivity of His Word.

Within this context, we can better appreciate the parable of the Sower. In the first place, we must be clear that just as the resurrected body is a gift from God, so too is the Word.  Salvation is always the initiative of God.  This means that grace has the primacy in everything.  We cannot earn our salvation.  We cannot arrive at God through our human ingenuity or through human merit alone.  Salvation is pure grace given by God.  This is the fundamental meaning of the parable of the Sower.  Jesus’ intent is to emphasize that the kingdom of God is brought about by the sheer graciousness of God’s love and generosity.  Like the sower, He sows His seed.  Both the sower and the seed do not come from us but from God Himself.

Again, one might ask, why is it that some seeds fell on the edge of the path, some on rock, some among thorns and some on good soil?  It is not fair, we might argue. Again, this is sheer grace!  In John’s gospel, Jesus Himself said, “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me.”  This is true in life as well.  Whether we are born rich or poor, healthy or weak, intelligent or dull, is not within our control.  They are the givens in life and we simply have to be grateful for whatever the Lord has given to us, since He has sovereignty over how He wants to distribute His gifts.

However, this primacy of God’s grace does not dispense us from exonerating ourselves from the work of salvation.  The truth is that although everything is the grace of God, God has given each of us sufficient graces to be saved, since He wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:4)  The part we are called to play in the work of our salvation is that of response and receptivity.  He has given us all the necessary graces to come to know and find salvation in Him.

The question is not so much what we do not have, but whether we are receptive to His grace that comes to us in different ways.  It is immaterial whether the seed falls on the edge of the path, on rock, among thorns or fertile soil.   Even within the situation we are in, regardless of our status in life, we can be saved, that is, find real happiness on earth and in heaven, since happiness is not tied down to one’s wealth, power, popularity, status or even intelligence.  Rather, it has to do with one’s inner state of mind and soul, whether he or she finds love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22)   Indeed, as St Paul says. “The Kingdom of God does not mean eating or drinking this or that, it means righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit.”  (Rom 14:17)

In the light of God’s grace in giving us His Word through His Son, Jesus Christ, we must at least show our gratitude by disposing ourselves to receive His Word that comes to us each day in so many different ways.  God’s Word, which is His grace, can come to us through prayer, meditation on the Word of God, the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, through the blessings of nature and created things, through our daily experiences and world events happening each day, and most of all, through the kindness and love of our friends.   If only we are attentive to His grace coming to us, we would have more than enough to see us through.

Consequently, we must ask, “what is it that hinders us from receiving the full installment of His grace which He wants to give to us?”  Perhaps we do not have our priorities right.  Just like the pathway, we marginalize God in our lives.  For many of us, prayer and relationship with God is bottom in our list of things to do each day.  We give higher priority to work, pleasure, food and human relationships than God in our lives.

Or perhaps, we are just like the rock that puts up barriers to the grace of God at work in us.  This rock could very well represent our pride and ego, the biggest obstacles to faith.  We do not want to let go till we can find an explanation for everything.  Or sometimes, we know the truth but we just refuse to admit to ourselves that it is so.  Quite often too, when the truth is given to us by someone else, we are not receptive because we are too proud to acknowledge that they are right.  So we need to break that ego of ours if God were to be able to reach out to us.

Thirdly, we could be in the situation of the thorns.  We are simply too preoccupied with many things.  We give all the reasons why we have to attend to these demands, as if without us, the whole world will collapse.  We have this messianic-complex that the salvation of the whole world depends on us.  So we try to please everyone and exhaust ourselves spiritually, physically and mentally, so that we are ill disposed to prayer or to meditation.  God is so far away from us even though deep in our hearts, we cry out for Him.   Of course, the thorns could also symbolize those people in our lives we cannot tolerate or forgive, or all the sins in our lives which we cannot give up.  The thorns of resentment, bitterness, anger and hatred will also choke us so that we have no space for the Spirit of God to fill our hearts.  By refusing to let go of sin, our hearts are only able to receive a trickling of God’s grace.

But blessed are those whose hearts are like the fertile ground!  Those who are docile to the Spirit and receptive to His grace that comes through the Word of God, preached, proclaimed or mediated by the Church, or our fellow brothers and sisters, will be so suffused with His presence that their minds and hearts will be transformed to be like His. Putting on the mind of Christ and clothing ourselves with the love of God in our hearts, our bodies, even on this earth, will be radiant like the heavenly Jerusalem, because our faces will glow with joy, our hearts filled with love and our minds filled with peace.  In this way, as St Irenaeus says, “the glory of God is found in man fully alive!”

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED