This Mortal Coil

Looking forward to the resurrection of the dead

04/18/2021

Luke 24:35-48 The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

One of the most natural things we do on earth is wonder about the supernatural things of heaven. Have you ever wondered what heaven would be like? Here are a few letters children wrote to their pastor asking about the afterlife. An 8 year-old wrote: “Dear Pastor, I would like to go to heaven someday because I know my brother won’t be there. Sincerely, Stephen.” Another tiny tot wrote, “Dear Pastor, I hope I go to heaven someday, but later than sooner. Love, Ellen.” I totally agree with Ellen! Another little lad wondered: “Dear Pastor, How does God know the good people from the bad people? Do you tell him or does he read about it in the newspaper? Sincerely Marty.” Actually, I tell God because I hear everyone’s confessions, but don’t worry, they are all good people.

Now, one of the most common confusions about our heavenly condition is thinking that only our souls go to heaven, while our bodies decay and deteriorate on earth. Hamlet said in his soliloquy “To Be or Not To Be,” “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil / Must give us pause.” Hamlet felt the need for his soul to be free of the “mortal coil” of his body.

Indeed, doesn’t the body begin to feel like a burden as you grow older? An elderly friend of mine likes to say: “Getting old ain’t for sissies! It’s hard!” Sometimes we feel our human body is like a coil constricting our souls and heaven will be our final freedom from it. St. Augustine stated surprisingly: “On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body.” People deny the resurrection of the body.

In the gospel today, we see why that way of thinking is a major mistake. How so? Well, the risen Jesus stands in the midst of his disciples with his body, soul and divinity intact. But what did the apostles think? They thought like Hamlet: Jesus’ body was merely his “mortal coil” he had left back in his grave, and now he was a glorified ghost.

But Jesus corrects this chronic confusion, saying: “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And to drive his point home, Jesus added: “Have you anything here to eat?” After “they gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.” In other words, Jesus’ body was glorified, to be sure, but it was still his own, personal, distinctive human body, full of flesh and blood.

Now, here is today’s take-home point: Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the reward we all have to look forward to. What happened to his human body will happen to my human body, when our human mortal bodies will be raised from the grave, glorified and united to our souls. Heaven is not full of glorified ghosts. That is what we mean at the end of the Creed when we say, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.” That is the true Christian and Catholic faith that the Church has professed from the beginning and that we profess today.

Have you ever wondered how old your body will be in heaven? After all, babies who die shortly after birth would surely want to walk and run in heaven. The elderly whose bodies have been crippled by illness and old age want to throw away their walkers. St. Thomas Aquinas speculated on that question and suggested that our glorified bodies would be 33 years old in heaven because Jesus was that age when he rose from the dead. I don’t know about you, but I would be glad to get back my body of 33!

Sometimes people ask me if we will recognize our loved ones who are in heaven. Will we look different or the same or somehow changed? Again, the answer becomes apparent when we accept the reality of the resurrection of the body. Just as our fingerprints are unique to each person, and because fingers are found on bodies, so our glorified bodies will only enhance our uniqueness rather than diminished it.

We will be more our true selves in heaven than we were on earth because our bodies will be bound perfectly to our souls with no sin to separate them. We will experience an inner peace and harmony between body and soul like Jesus promised in Jn 14:27, a peace this world cannot produce, but only the next world in the resurrection of the body.

Finally, do not feel bad if you begin to lose some of the beauty of your earthly body. You will not lose it permanently The fact that I need glasses, or I walk instead of run for exercise, or someday I may clutch a cane or waltz with a walker, does not mean my body’s final destiny is dust. The weaknesses and wearing out of the body are consequences of the original sin and expulsion from Eden, our earthly paradise. But all those regrettable results are reversible because of the resurrection of the body. I had really thick curly hair when I was a baby boy, and I look forward to running my fingers through it again. Why? Because “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.”

My friends, when all is perfected in the Parousia, and it’s time for the resurrection, we will stand in our bodies before our Savior and say – not for his sake but for ours – “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” In other words, we will not be glorified ghosts in heaven, but rather we will be gladly clothed again in this mortal coil.

Praised be Jesus Christ!