Lectio Divina Encountering Jesus Christ In His Living Word

Preparation for Lectio Divina

 Choose a quiet prayerful place in your home, office, outdoors, or local church
 Select a passage of the Word of God, for example the Sunday or daily Gospel, or a continuous reading of one
book of Scripture
 Select an appropriate time and duration (20 to 40 minutes for those beginning)
 Assume a prayerful and serene posture, comfortable yet not too relaxed

Introductory Prayer

 Humbly recognize the Presence of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
 Praise and thank Him for His Word and this moment of prayer
 Ask the Holy Spirit for the gift to receive the Word of God as He wills Him to be received

John 3:31-36

You believed in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen, but still
believe!

The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the
one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of
God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon
him.

Reading--Lectio - What does the Word of God say?

 Slowly read the passage with great attention and reverence a few times, aloud if possible
 Notice the words that strike you in a particular way, positively or negatively

Meditation--Meditatio - What does the Word of God say to me?

 Think about why those particular words and phrases struck you; how do they apply to you?
 Reflect on your own reactions to the Word; what is God showing you about yourself?

Prayer--Oratio - What do I say to God in response to His Word?

 Respond sincerely in a conversation with God as with a friend; talk about what is really in your heart
 Praise, thank, trust Him; ask for forgiveness; intercede, petition for graces

Contemplation—Contemplatio - No questions here, Just humbly and gratefully rest in the presence of God.

 Be with the Word and rest in God

 Simply spend time with God in adoration

Concluding Prayer Concluding Prayer

 Praise and thank God for the graces received

  Close with Our Father

After Lectio Divina Repetition--Repetitio - Where was I moved most in my prayer?

 Return the next time to the Word of God that moved me and where I found fruit

Action--Actio - What am I resolved to do now that I have received the Word of God?

 Make concrete resolutions about how my life is going to change because of what God has given me.

Lesson 7: The Message of the Gospel

Introduction

One of the most important factors in the development of the New Testament is that the writers understood Jesus to be
the promised Messiah. Therefore, they interpreted his life in terms of the revelation of the Messiah in the Old
Testament. Throughout the New Testament writings, reference is made to the fact that Jesus was “fulfilling” the
prophecies and promises made about the Messiah in the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus cannot be understood except in
the light of what went before in Jewish history and of the Jewish expectation of a Messiah. The Old Testament is the
base and foundation of the New (CCC 128-130).

The Formation of the Christian Scriptures

Let us first identify some very basic elements, or realities, which underlie everything written in the books.

I First Reality: The Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the key event in our understanding of the New Testament writings especially
the gospels. Faith in the resurrection is essential to Christian life, to Tradition. The Christian life cannot be understood
without faith in the resurrection (CCC 651). St. Paul leaves us in no doubt on this point:

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then
our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile and you are still in your sins. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be
pitied (1 Cor 15:13, 17, 19)

Not only is there a statement here that Jesus was raised from the dead, but a clear indication that we too shall rise from
the dead if we are faithful to him.

There is no doubt that the apostles had an actual experience of Jesus: it was not mere fantasy, nor an overactive
imagination, nor a hallucination. They experienced him “in the body,” a body which was his but not quite the same as
the body they knew had died on the cross. This experience completely transformed the lives of the apostles. They began
to reflect on the life of Jesus from a totally new perspective.

Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God, for only God can conquer death and give new life. How does this
supreme event fit into our lives? What does the resurrection mean for us?

A. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is a statement by God that the effects of sin have conquered.

Suffering and death, we are told in the Bible, are the result of sin. Jesus conquered both, but it doesn’t mean that
now we cannot sin, or suffer, or that we won’t die. Rather it means that now we have the help of God’s power and
 presence to deal with these realities and to overcome them. As St. Paul reminds us, sin the “sting” of death (1
Cor15:56); it is our guilty conscience that makes us fear death. Freed from that burden of guilt by the power of
Christ’s resurrection, death will hold no terror for us. We are no longer slaves to sin, we are no longer trapped in
fear by suffering and death; we can rise above sin and death to a new life. This is a tremendously liberating
experience.

B. Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus alive, means that he is continually present with us.

“And remember,” Jesus said to his apostles, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Jesus is our
friend and companion throughout life, someone who shares our human nature, someone who knows the meaning
of suffering, someone who loves and understands us. Jesus is God with us – Emmanuel – in every aspect of our life.
Again, this is a very consoling and liberating experience.

C. The resurrection transforms our understanding of human life.

Human life has meaning and dignity; human life is worthwhile. If we live according to the teachings of Jesus, we shall
experience the effects of the kingdom he came to bring – justice, love, peace, liberation from evil and the slavery of
sin. But more than this, God’s salvation, given to us in Jesus, is continued and completed in and through our working
and living in the world. We are the church, and it is through us that Jesus continues his work in the world.

D. We can expect to share in this resurrection, to rise to a new and better life.

As we have seen, St. Paul leaves us in no doubt that there is a resurrection from the dead. It is crystal clear from our
own experience that our human desires and aspirations are never perfectly fulfilled in this life. No joy or happiness
ever totally satisfies us, for we experience them as transitory, ephemeral. Because Jesus was raised from the dead,
we are filled with hope that we shall experience this fulfillment after death.

This is the basic faith in the resurrection that transformed the lives of the first apostles, the first believers in Jesus. It
is because they believed that we believe. We were not there, but we believe their testimony to the resurrection. It is
a belief that has been the bedrock of Christian faith from its inception, a belief that has never varied down through
the centuries.

II Second Reality: Christian Scriptures are rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures

We can only understand the New Testament writings if we understand that they were written in the light of what went
before, that is, the Old Testament writings that were accepted by all religious Jews. The apostles, as good Jews, were
steeped in the idea of the coming of a Messiah, and Jesus seemed to fulfill all the messianic promises. It was important
for them, in their early preaching to mainly Jewish audiences, to point out that Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of what
the Scriptures had spoken about; the messianic age had indeed arrived. And here we have a most important principle of
scriptural interpretation: if we have difficulty understanding what the New Testament writings mean, we must go back
to the Old Testament. As the Catechism reminds us, “The New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old
Testament… As an old saying [from St. Augustine] puts it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old
Testament is unveiled in the New” (CCC 129). And again, “The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of
God’s plan and his Revelation. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two
shed light on each other; both are true Word of God” (CCC 140).

III Third Reality: The Influence of the Early Christian Communities

From the very beginning, the first converts to Christianity formed themselves into small groups, or communities, after
the example of the apostles and close followers of Jesus. Some aspects of the birthing and teething pains of these early
communities are related in the Acts of the Apostles, and are well worth reading. It was in these early communities that
the memories of Jesus were most specially preserved.

In his book The Making of the Bible, William Barclay points out that stories about Jesus became stereotyped because
were constantly repeated in the communities and were used for preaching and teaching. In fact, a community is the best
place to preserve unvarying memories. We have only to recall how children always seem to want the same story read in
exactly the same way, the way they learned it first. Barclay quotes F.C Grant as follows:

This has most important consequences. It means that the Gospels are in fact the possession of the church; it means that
they embody a social tradition, which was the common property of all the churches, and which did not rest on the
recollection of few individuals.. The memories of a few individuals might be mistaken – since human recollection is
notoriously fallible – but the testimony of a group, even if anonymous, is more likely to have been verified, criticized,
supported, culled, and selected during the first generation of early church evangelism.

The gospels, therefore, developed out of the early Christians communities. They were influenced by the expressions of
faith, the meditations, the prayers, the desires and aspirations, the myths and the recollections of these communities.

The Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

The word “gospel” (derived from the Old English Godspell) means “good news,” “glad tidings.” This good news of God’s
salvation in Jesus Christ was first proclaimed in words by preaching. It was witnessed to by the lives of the early
disciples; as St. Paul tells the Corinthians, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by
all” (2 Cor 3:2).

Mark is generally thought to be the earliest of the gospels, written about the year 70 C.E. Matthew comes next, written
in Aramaic in the mid 70s C.E for an Aramaic-speaking community. Luke is the most literary of the gospels, probably
showing Luke’s superior education. It was written in Greek towards the end of the 70s or early 80s C.E. John, the most
mystical of the gospels, also written in Greek, was written for a Christian community at the end of the first century. The
major witnesses of the tradition from which this gospel arose is identified as the “Beloved Disciple” (Jn 23:24). Scholars
are uncertain if this Beloved Disciple is John, one of the apostles named as the son of Zebedee. John’s gospel gives
internal evidence (i.e, from the text itself) that it is probably not the work of a single author, but came from a
community of which John was the leading personage.

Each of the four gospels has its own peculiar “stamp” or “fingerprint,” its own theological approach to the life of Jesus
developed from the faith life of the particular community from which it came. The gospels, in fact, probably say as much
about the community and its faith life as they do about the main subject matter. Matthew, for example, was clearly
writing for a community of recent Jewish converts, so careful is he to link every aspect of the life of Jesus with
prophecies and sayings in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Gospel of Luke, written in Greek, was aimed at a community of
Gentile (non-Jewish) converts, for whom Jewish customs would have been a non-issue.

Of all the scriptural writings, the gospels hold pride of place. As the Catechism points out, “The Gospels are the heart of
all the Scriptures ‘because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Saviour’”
(CCC 125). And so, “The fourfold Gospel holds a unique place in the Church” (CCC 127). Taken together, the gospels
provide a rich mosaic rather than a one-dimensional view of Jesus and his life. It is from this richness that we can nourish
our own faith and foster our personal relationship with him.

The Gospels are NOT Biographies

The gospels are in no sense biographies, as we understand that word today. For example, we have no record of what
Jesus looked like, how tall he was, whether he wore his hair long, and so on. The purpose of the gospels is not to give
accurate historical detail. In no way should they be taken as similar to newspaper reports. The gospels are statements of
faith written to strengthen the faith of the early Christian believers. They are written by believers for believers in a faith-
language appropriate to the community from which they arise. As one writer puts it, “The material in the gospels was
chosen primarily for what it had to say about the meaning of the Christian life. Almost everything said about Jesus in the
gospels ultimately is a statement about what a Christian is to be. The gospels are substantially historical in that they are
based on historical fact, but the historical life of Jesus is much obscured in them. We must not let our passion for
accurate historical detail cloud our minds and make us look in the gospels for things that are not there, things which the
gospel writers had no intention of addressing. We cannot ask the gospels questions the writers never intended to
answer.

The Words of Jesus

If the gospels are not biographies, how can we be sure, for example, that the words of Jesus recorded there were
actually spoken by him and are not the result of interpretation and elaboration by the early communities? The answer,
in short, is that we cannot be absolutely certain. The gospel writings are a mixture of fact and interpretation. The
historical fact of Jesus is indisputable, but he did not write anything himself (that we know of); his life was his message.

The gospel writers themselves were interpreters – they wrote from a certain point of view (as do all people who write
history). They would not deliberately distort what Jesus said (if they knew exactly what he said), but it is quite
understandable that they selected from the memories of the early communities and interpreted this material to suit
their purpose. To repeat, their purpose was not to write accurate history or biography but to bolster the faith of the
early communities. Even if Jesus’ words are not recorded exactly as he spoke them, the writing in the gospel conforms to
the faith of his early followers, the beginning of Christian tradition. As we have said before, their faith is our faith. Jesus’
message has not been substantially distorted. That some of Jesus’ words recorded in the gospels are the actual historical
words he spoke is also beyond doubt, but to discern which these are is a difficult problem of historical and textual
reconstruction. Many Scripture scholars have made this their main area of ongoing research.

The Synoptics

The gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke are very similar in content and arrangement, which is why they are referred to
as the Synoptics. So, similar are they in content and arrangement that the various incidents in Jesus’ life can be put side
by side in parallel columns. Such an arrangement has the advantage of making comparisons easy. To be able to compare
one gospel with another is a great help in determining the theological stance of the authors, as it lets us see easily how
each author approaches the event described. The relationship of the Synoptic gospels to one another is a complicated
one that we shall not go into here.

The Teaching

1. The Kingdom of God

Without question, the notion of the kingdom of God is absolutely central to Jesus’ teaching (CCC341-546). One
cannot pick up any of the gospels without being struck immediately by the importance that Jesus gave to it. It is not
the easiest of realities to understand, but we must make some attempt to do so if we are to enter deeply into the
teaching of Jesus.

Central to Jewish faith was the belief that in due time God would overcome all the forces of evil that beset the world
and thus bring about the total triumph of good. With the evolution of the political fortunes of Israel and their
decision to adopt kingship as their form of government, the king became the symbol of the presence of God among
the people. Thus, the kingship of God is a common enough theme in the Old Testament. Although Jesus speaks of
 the kingdom, it would perhaps be better to speak of the reign of God, a period in which, according to the prophet
Isaiah, “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord” (Isa 11:19). As the forces of evil and sin are overcome,
everyone will observe God’s will and live according to his ordinances.

Summary and Conclusion

Since the gospels are such an essential part of our faith, since from them we draw most of our understanding of Jesus
and his message of salvation, let us repeat the major principles that affect their writing and our understanding.

1. The gospels are not biographies; they do not pretend to be accurate history. The purpose of the gospel writers
was to present the Good News, to proclaim Jesus and this message of salvation. As a result, we can expect that
the details of the historical person of Jesus will be somewhat obscured. Many of his speeches and sayings were
edited, worked over and interpreted so as to present the sense of what he said.
2. The gospels were written in the light of the resurrection experience. The life of Jesus is re-interpreted, newly
understood, because of the resurrection experience. The apostles understood things about Jesus and his life
they had not understood before. They now try to explain things that before had not been a problem for them;
for example, the early life of Jesus, his origins, how God had come to born on earth.
3. The early Christian community, the church, is an important factor in the production of the gospels. The church
came before the gospels; the communities of believers were there before the gospels were written. It is these
communities that preserved the memories and traditions about Jesus. The church enabled the gospels to be
written. As we have seen, Scripture come from tradition. The gospels come from the church, not the other way
around.
4. Each gospel bears the distinctive mark of its human writer – a distinctive theology, a distinctive style, a
distinctive agenda. The writers were writing to nourish and develop the faith of Christian communities with
which they were involved. We can expect, therefore, that the different gospel portraits reflect the different
traditions and understandings of Jesus that developed in the different early communities. When we put the four
accounts together, the portrait of Jesus that emerges is far fuller and richer than if there had been only one
writer.

Lesson 8 Christology and Paschal Mystery

I. Etymological definition of Christology

Christology (from Greek Χριστός Khristós and -λογία, -logia) looks into the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded
in the in the Canonical Gospels and the letters of the New Testament (ReEd 2 Christology,2)

A. INFANCY NARRATIVE

The Nativity of Jesus or simply the Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical Gospels.
These are the Gospel of Luke and the Gospels of Matthew described Jesus being born in Bethlehem, in Judea, to a virgin
Mother. The accounts of the birth and early childhood of Jesus in the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke are often
referred to as the INFANCY NARRATIVES.

Matthew clearly presents Jesus as the expected Messiah the whole Israel is waiting for. Luke beautifully presents Jesus
as the Good News (Salvation) for all and, in a special way, for the poor, the underprivileged, the voiceless and the
outcasts.
The major theological points of Infancy Narratives are the following 1) Both Matthew and Luke's infancy narratives make
it clear that Jesus was God from birth. 2) Both stress that Mary was a virgin and the birth of Jesus was a work of God. 3)
The purpose of His life was to offer salvation to Israel and all humanity.

The Infancy Narratives in the Gospels according Matthew and Luke are there to complete the main theme of the
Gospels, namely, the salvation brought by Jesus Christ. Therefore, the theological tone of these stories is that of the
marvelous work of God in accomplishing our salvation, the major event which was the Passion, Death and Resurrection
–Paschal Mystery

The Paschal mystery is one of the central concepts of Catholic faith relating to the history of salvation. Its main subject is
the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus – the work that God the Father sent His Son to accomplish on earth.
Catholics also believe that the resurrection means Jesus is still with us and is guiding us every day. Through resurrection,
Christians believe life has triumphed over death, good over evil, hope over despair. ... Jesus' death and resurrection
open the possibility of eternal life with God for all people.

B. THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF JESUS

The best historical evidence we have seems to indicate that Jesus began his “public” life at about the age of thirty. It is
from this point that the bulk of the writing in the Gospels begins. For about three years after his baptism in the Jordan
by John the Baptist, Jesus assumed the life of an itinerant preacher and teacher.

There were many different kinds of itinerant teachers; for example, the philosopher types (the sages) who taught about
human wisdom; there were those who taught about Jewish law and custom (the scribes and rabbis); and then there
were the prophets and visionaries. Jesus ‘teaching perhaps combined some of the characteristics of all these types and
he too attracted followers. The first group of followers were apostles, some of whom specifically were chosen by Jesus
to join him ( for example Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathaniel- John 1:35-51) but the Gospels report that great
crowds seemed to follow him everywhere( for example Mark 3:9).

1. Two Aspect of Ministry of Jesus

1.1 Teaching –

a) The Kingdom of God

b) The primacy of Love
c) Style of Teaching

1.2. Healing –

a. Outreach to Sinners
b. Miracles

TEACHING

a. The Kingdom of God – the central ministry of Jesus’ teaching is the notion of the kingdom of God. Theme of Jesus’
Preaching and teaching: “This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand. Reform your lives and believe in the
Gospel” ( Mk 1:14-15; Mt 4-17). Jesus Proclaimed the coming of a new kingdom of God in both His words and actions.
Jesus himself never introduced the notion of the kingdom of God. It was already a central reality for the Jewish people of
His time, so it was not surprising that Jesus would speak about it. For Jesus, however, God the Father (ABBA0 is the basis
of His concept of God’s kingdom (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:14- 15; Galatians 4:6) For Jesus, The kingdom of God requires
METANOIA ( a change of heart), a turning from selfishness towards openness to God and his call love, a change in the
way we live. God’s kingdom is a new relationship between God and His people and among individuals (Mark 1:15;
Matthew 4:17 and Luke 13: 1-5)

b. Primacy of Love

There is no doubt that Jesus’ teaching center on the primacy of love as the pre-eminent Christian virtue, the virtue in
which “the whole law and the prophets is contained. Jesus’ teaching on love is the basis of his teaching on the kingdom
because of his own intense conviction of the uncompromising love of God His Father for everyone. The reign of God
means the reign of God’s love in the world. The love that Jesus teaches is love of the most radical kind (radical, from the
Latin word radix meaning root).

The radical nature of the love Jesus teaches is graphically expressed particularly in the Gospels according to Matthew
and Luke, where Jesus asserts that we are to “love our enemies.” How literally are we to take such exhortations as to
“turn the other cheek if we are beaten and insulted by our enemies.

C. Style of Teaching

Jesus taught in parable. He addressed his listeners in simple language and used examples that would be familiar to the
people in his time. The story is a good way of conveying deep truths which are difficult to describe directly. A good story
always makes us wonder; there is always an air of mystery which make us question. Thus, the parables are not meant to
supply us with concrete answers to particular problems. Rather, they are meant to make us examine our own life in the
light of the story and in the light of our Christian duty.

HEALING

a. Outreach to sinners and social outcast

Jesus was deeply compassionate person shines through the Gospel story; in fact, he called “the compassion of God” His
compassion reaches out to any situation where he perceives human suffering or even discomfort. The great miracle of
the Multiplication of the loaves is introduced in the Gospels in the following fashion “I have compassion for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat” (Mark 8: 2-3).

Jesus seemed to seek out by the preference the least fortunate in society: the prostitutes, the dishonest and despised
tax-collectors and the sinners.

b. Miracles

Jesus not only taught about the Kingdom of God, but he also worked actively to bring it about in his own time and in the
circumstances in which he lived. He did this especially by his work of mercy and healing.

The word miracle comes from the Greek words: dynamis, an act of power, ergon, a work; and semeion, a sign of some
deeper reality. A miracle is an event caused by a special divine power does not follow the normal laws of nature but that
which carries a religious message for people now and late. Far from being mere astonishing prodigies, Jesus’ miracles
are a saving and revealing sign from God (John 2:11, 18;23; 12:18, 37). The Synoptic Gospels and Acts of the Apostles
witness to Jesus ‘miracles which were tied up with powerful proclamation about the God’s kingdom.

Conclusion

The infancy narratives serve an introductory purpose to the figure of Jesus, as they prime the reader to anticipate what
is to come in the rest of the Gospel. We can glean much about Jesus the religious teacher and ethical prophet by
focusing on central aspects of his ministry. First and foremost, among these is his teaching on God's kingdom or reign.
The notion of the reign of God is the central and recurring motif in Jesus' public ministry. The Paschal Mystery teaches
Catholics that living, dying and rising are a part of their experience as Christians. It reminds Catholics that there may be
times when they struggle and are in pain but that, if they follow Jesus' teachings and have faith, they will reach Heaven.

Lesson 9 Eschatology and the Last Things

I. Etymological Definition of Eschatology

Eschatology – the word derives from two Greek roots meaning "last" (ἔσχατος) and "study" (-λογία) – involves the study
of "Last things", whether of the end of an individual life, of the end of the age, of the end of the world or of the nature of
the Kingdom of God. Broadly speaking, Christian eschatology focuses on the ultimate destiny of individual souls and of
the entire created order, based primarily upon biblical texts within the Old and New Testaments.

Therefore. Eschatology focuses on the study of the individual’s last things (eshata)

 Death
 Judgement
 Heaven or Hell and
 Christ’s Second Coming

But the primary biblical basis for eschatology focuses more on humankind’s collective destiny expressed in the Old
Testament messianic hopes and directly grounded in Jesus Christin the New Testament. The “end time” has already
begun in Jesus’ proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God, in his Death and Resurrection, and in the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. But it is still to be consummated when Christ comes in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Eschatology, then, plays an essential role in the “Good news” of the Gospels, expressing the goal and purpose of God’s
treats of the final destiny on the three levels: The Individual persons, the whole human race and the entire material
cosmos.

II. Church’s Teachings

a. Death – it is the cessation of the bodily functions of a human being through the departure of the soul from the body.
At death, the soul is separated from the body. The soul is judged by God and rewarded with heaven, punished with hell
or sent for a time to be purgatory.

b. On Judgment – when we say that Christ will come to judge the “living” and “the dead.” It is supposed that those who
are living on earth when He comes to judge will die and rise at once like the rest of mankind.

1. Particular Judgment – is the individual judgment by Christ of each human being a moment after his death (Heb
9:27)
2. Last Judgment (General Judgment) – is the final judgment by Christ of the human race on the last day at the
resurrection of the dead (Mt 25:34,41).

c. On Heaven, Hell and Purgatory – heaven will certainly be the place and condition of perfect supernatural happiness.
Purgatory is the place or condition in which the souls of the just are purified after death before they can enter heaven.
Hell will be the place and state of eternal punishment for the fallen angels and human beings who die deliberately
estranged from the love of God.
d. On Parousia- the second of Christ is the Day of Judgment. The “dead will be raised to share in Christ’s glory” ( 1 Thes
1:4; 13-17). “Death will come as thief in the night” ( 1 Thes 1:5) the wicked will be punished and the righteous will find
rest and reward.” God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ (Rom 2:16). On the Last Day, our Lord will
pronounce a sentence of eternal reward or of punishment to everyone who has ever lived in this world.

e. On the Resurrection of the Body – In “Resurrection of the body” each term must be clearly understood. Resurrection
means first of all new life in the Risen Christ- not just a restoration of our present earthly life as, for example, in Lazarus
who restored to physical life for a time by Christ (Jn 11:43f)

The doctrine implies that at the end of the world the bodies of all men will rise from the earth and be reunited to their
souls, never to be separated again. St. Paul says, “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither Christ has been
raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty too your faith.” (1 Cor 15:13-14). Hence,
our very hope of salvation solidly rests on Christ’s resurrection. Job has nothing similar to comment on this: “But as for
me, I know that my vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; whom I myself shall see: my own
eyes, not another’s shall behold him, and from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing” (Jb
19:25-27)

When we rise again in the perfect state of man – body and soul united – there will be a great difference between good
and bad; for the bodies of the just will possess four principal qualities:

1. Impassibility (freedom from suffering and pain)

2. Brightness (radiance and glory)
3. Agility (as quick as thought, to all parts of the universe)
4. Subtility (spiritual existence of the soul)

f. On life everlasting – it points out that after this life there is another that will last for eternity that after the General
judgment man will die no more but will continue forever in a state of perfect happiness with or misery with the devil.

1. Nature of Everlasting Life

The Christians believe in and hope for is based firmly on God’s promises in the Old Testament Covenant (Gn 3:16-18)
and particularly in Christ’s resurrection and risen life. The dimpliest meaning of Creed’s “life everlasting” can be
grasped by contrasting our risen life-with-Christ with our present earthy living.

1. No longer will we have to lie to ourselves that what we enjoy now will last forever. It will not, but it will be
returned a hundredfold.
2. No longer must we fear and disguise the reality of Death. We will die but live ever more fully in Christ.
3. No longer need we deplore the fleeting, transitory character of time that drains away even the memory of
our earthly fragile joys. These momentary sparks of Joy will be brought together in the eternal light of the
risen Christ.
4. No longer must we bewail twisted limbs, withered by age or dread the revelation of our sinfulness- we shall
be made whole in a new creation of body and soul.
5. No longer will solitary emptiness and loneliness threaten us- we will be received in the company of all
Christ’s joyous members.

Such is the quality of life that Christians-Christ-bearers- believe I and hope for (CCC 1010-14)