20160917 THE RESURRECTED BODY AS A GRACE-FULL BODY
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Corinthians
15:35-37,42-49 ©
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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.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 55:10-14 ©
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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.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps118:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord,
that I may consider
the wonders of your
law.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Lk8:15
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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!
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Gospel
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Luke 8:4-15 ©
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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
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 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
)
) 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 Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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