Homily Notes, 09-13-20 - Death and New Life

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 September 13th, 2020

"I say to thee, arise."

The mother is weeping over her dead son.  This was a great act of mercy of Our Lord when he brought him back to life.  It is also a reminder that we will rise to a new life; not an earthly life, but a new heavenly life.  Our body will be reunited at the end of time.  Our Lord foretold many times that there would be a resurrection: to life for the good, and to judgment for the evil.  Our Lord promised this resurrection.  He died on the cross to save mankind; to save the entire man, the whole man, the body and the soul.

Because of Adam's sin, all men die.  Because of Christ, the new Adam, all will live.

Our Lord wants to stress this point by giving us different types of this nature of death and new life. 

(1) Spring is a new life every season after the death of winter.  (2) A seed falls from the plant and comes to life to produce a new plant.  (3) We go to sleep each night with a new rising every morning.  This resurrection of the body is part of our faith and creed.

Why will we have this resurrection?  Why will the just arise? So that the body can partake in the same glory as the soul.  When we save our soul, it requires both our body and our soul -- we save our soul by matters of both internal and external actions.  Our soul is more important, but we do also have a body.  The body will also enjoy the glory.  It will no longer have pain, sorrow, death, hunger, or thirst.  There will be no more bodily suffering. It will have a shining radiance (think of the Transfiguration).  This is the glory that is promised to each of us.  The body will share in the glory and beauty.

This should be a consolation while we are suffering on earth.  Our body is weak and imperfect, but it will be strong and glorious before God if we persevere until the end.  The body will suffer on earth, but it will be glorified in heaven.

At first, Job was very blessed by God.  He had family and wealth, but he loved God above those things.  God allowed the devil to take away his goods.  He was stripped of everything; even his wife and his health.  When everything was taken away, he still loved God.  He knew that it didn't matter if he died a miserable death on earth because he would be rewarded for his faithfulness in Heaven.  He was rejected and treated as nothing on earth, but he persevered and God rewarded him.

What of the damned?  Will they also arise at the end of the world on the last day?  Yes.  Their body will share in the state of their soul.  It was the work of their body and soul together that caused damnation, and so the body will be reunited to the soul to share in its eternal damnation. Our body helps our soul gain or lose eternal life, and the body will be reunited to the soul to share in its fate.  The body will be there to partake in its suffering and it will share in its ugliness.  The body will be glorified in heaven to reflect the beauty of the soul; the damned bodies in hell will reflect the ugly corruption of the damned souls.

What a man shall sow, he shall reap... Sow in the flesh, and reap corruption...

Rejoice in the things of God and be detached from the things in the world!  Ask for the spirit of detachment from things of the world and from the things that keep us from doing the things of God.  He promised us a great reward in heaven.


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