The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-03-18

my God Whom ! myself shall see,
and my eyes behold, and not another"
IT we turn to the New Testament
we have the words of Our Divine Lord
Himself. clearly teaching this doctrine
| of the Resurrection of the Body. St.
John records these words of the
| Saviour; Wonder not at this: for the
hour cometh, wherein all that are in
| the graves shall hear the voice of the
Son Of God And they that have done
good things, shall come forth unto the
| resurrection of life; but they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of
the judgment" All men, therefore,
are to arise from the dead, resuming
the bodies which were their own in
| life. Both the good and the aevil are
to come forth from their graves i'll re-
Spouse to the call of the Son Of God;
the good to receive reward, the evil
punishment (Which they are to enjoy
or suffer in body as well as in souD,
for the actions of their lives.
st. Paul predicated a belief in the
Resurrection of the Body to be Il fund
amental doctrine of Christianity, on
three different occasions. His last
words spoken before the Athenians
were an explanation of the General
| Resurrection which the Areopagites
received with scorn and mockery:
And when they had heard of the res
| direction of the dead, some indeed
Knocked, but others said We will hear
| thee again concerning this matter"
Again the Apostle of the Gentiles,
preaching before Felix, said: HAY
| ing hope in God, which these also
! themselves look for, that there shall
be a resurrection of the just and the
unjust And on a third occasion, he
spoke to the Thessalonians: For the
Lord shall come down from Heaven
with commandment, and with the
voice of an archangel, and with the
trumpet of God: and the dead, who
are in Christ shall rise first"
The Scriptures, again and again.
teach this dogma of Christian, Catho
lie Faith. And our human judgment
accepts it as a doctrine which is in
no way opposed to reason. The resur
rection of the dead in the Identical
bodies which were their own in life
will evince the infinite wisdom of God
who is able to reassemble the minute
bits of dust of which these bodies
were composed; the infinite power OF
God, Who is able to reyivify them;
and the infinite goodness of God Who
| glorifes the bodies as well as the
souls Of the just. 1t is, besides, only
| fitting that we who are the members
of Christ should be conformed to Him
in everything that does not involve
impossibility. Therefore, as Christ
rose from the dead, SO should we, anG
so we shall. And as our bodies are il
the natural order, SO closely united tC
the soul during life, not merely as its
passive instrument but truly as part
of the composite human being, partici
patiug III the good and evil doings Of
the soul, it is fitting that our bodies
as we'll as our souls, should enjoy OF
suffer the eternity which we have mer
| tied. 1t is not cOnSOnant with reason
that these bodies of ours, which have
| been sanctified-as it were, consecrat
ed by the reception of the Sacramento
especially that of the Holy Eucharist
should be suffered to remain forever
| in corruption. The human soul with
out the body which it has once vital
lied, is imperfect and the whole man
body and soul, should be immortal.
Our reSurrected bodies will be, not
only immune from death, but also in
capable of suffering. This impossible
ity will arise from the perfect subjec
ton of the body to the soul. Our bod
les will also be subtle, in the sense
that they will be capable of pene
trating other bodies, even as the glor
flied body of our Lord entered through
the closed door at Jerusalem. They
will be agile, having the power OF
transferring themselves, with great
celebrity, from one point to another
They will possess clarity or an un
deniable refulgence of appearance
which will render them rayishingly
beautiful.
1t is our belief that we shall arise
from the dead on the Last Day; thai
our bodies and souls will be reunited
that we may perfectly enjoy, as We
hope, the joys which God has prepared
for those who love Him.