By Father Rich Tomkosky
The fact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead in His body and soul is the foundation of our Catholic faith. Everything else we believe as Catholics must be seen in light of this awesome truth!
Sadly, today there are some people who claim to be Christian but deny the reality of the Resurrection. For example, there are always these so called “scholars” put on the T.V. e.g., on the History Channel or the Discovery channel, etc., who come out and say, “Well even if they found the bones of Jesus over in Palestine, I would still be a believer in Jesus’ ethical message.” Really? As a priest friend of mine, “If they found the bones of Jesus, I would party my life away, for you might as well eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die.” The hidden despair of unbelief of so many today.
How can this be, that some people claim to be Christian, yet don’t believe in the reality of the Resurrection? Isn’t that an inherent contradiction? Well, yes, it is, but it is a reality that they don’t see the contradiction of because they have lost the supernatural core of their faith; and without the infused gift of Faith accepted in docility from God working in us, we are SPIRITUALLY BLIND! And it is not something new: Saint Paul was dealing with the Church at Corinth. There were some people there who were denying the reality of the bodily Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and flowing from that, our own bodily Resurrection as human beings when Jesus returns in His Second Coming in Glory.
As Saint Paul says in that context, “if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only have we hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” And He goes on to say later in that letter, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!
He then warns them and us what is causing this doubt in their hearts about the Resurrection, “Bad company corrupts good morals. Return to reason, as you ought, and stop sinning. Some of you are quite ignorant of God; I say it to your shame.”
Would Saint Paul say the same thing to some of us? We need to avoid things that harm our Faith – avoid the occasions of sin (the people, places, and things that entice us into sinning); this really is a great part of the battle of living the Catholic life in our time!
Yet Jesus is risen from the dead, body and soul! He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. You and I will one day die, and our souls will go before God and be judged and go to either Heaven, Hell or Purgatory (note: if we die before Jesus returns and are still in Purgatory; when He comes again in glory, Purgatory will be ended and all the souls there will go to Heaven).
Also, when Jesus comes again in glory all of us will receive our bodies back since as human beings we are both body and soul in our being, not simply spiritual like the angels or physical like the animals. That is an amazing thing to ponder: we will have our bodies in Heaven, or terrifyingly in Hell! How does this come about? We do not know all the details scientifically, but the reality is if God the Father can raise His Son Jesus from the dead in His human body, He can do the same for us! We need to trust God and have faith.
As the prophet Jeremiah tells us, “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in the flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a barren bush in the desert.” He is talking about all the people who try to figure EVERYTHING out with their limited human minds and reason, and in our time who reject the faith as “unscientific” and “unverifiable,” e.g., our faith in the bodily Resurrection of Jesus and of each human when the Lord comes back.
Jeremiah goes on to say, in contrast “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: it fears not the heat when it comes; its leaves stay green; in the year of drought, it shows no distress but still bears fruit.
The gift of our Catholic Faith, and our belief in the bodily Resurrection, will carry us through ANYTHING in this life, as it is truly the key to entering into union with our Lord Jesus who leads us to the Father, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in company with our Lady and the good angels and saints in Heaven, and all the good people here on earth. As the psalmist says, Blessed are they who hope in the Lord. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and the Pastor of Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
