Faith of Our Fathers

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 21, 1 June 1922, Page 33

Faith of Our Fathers

[A Weekly Instruction fob Young and Old.] 35. (2) The. Resurrection of the Dead.— dogma teaches us (1) that at the' last day all men, the just as well as sinners, will rise again in their bodies (2) that every one will be clothed with his own flesh, and the body which formerly belonged to him; (3) that the condition and qualities of the risen bodies will differ according to the state of the souls; for the good will rise to eternal life, and the wicked to eternal condemnation; and the difference of destiny will be shown in the bodies of all. The reprobate will be horrible to behold, like the demons and hell which they are in future to inhabit.. The elect, on the other hand, will rise glorious and radiant from their dust, like to the angels, whose brethren they have become; like unto God Himself, whoso true children they are.

36. The resurrection of the dead is clearly expressed in the Scriptures. Its likelihood and propriety are, besides, easily understood; for the body of a man, having served as the instrument of his vices or his virtues, should share the fato of the soul; and as it was the entire man who was sinful or virtuous, so must the entire man bo either punished, rewarded, or recompensed.

The possibility of the resurrection is not less evident than the all-powerfulness of God, Who operates it. Is not He Who made the body when it had no previous existence, and Who drew . the entire world out of nothing, capable also of remaking our bodies, and reproducing them from their ashes? Moreover, God will only work again in the general resurrection the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that of numbers of other particular resurrections mentioned in history.

37. When all mankind shall bo dead, and the surface of tho earth purified by fire, Jesus Christ (says the Gospel) “will send His angels with a trumpet and a great noise,” meaning that angels will be sent to raise up their voices and. proclaim the commands of Jesus Christ.

The great noise of the angels will resound like a trumpet from one end of the universe to tho other, and will send forth these or like words, “Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment!”

At this divine command all souls will...quit heaven or purgatory or hell, and will again take possession of their bodies. The dead, who have risen from the different parts of the universe, will be all mingled together at first, tho just with the sinners. But soon the angels, those ministers of the Supreme Judge, will separate one from the other, and will cause them to assemble in the place of judgment.

38. (3) The Judgment, and the place where it will be. —The place in which the last scene of the world’s history will be enacted is not defined by faith. It is therefore not certain that it will be in the Valley of Jehosaphat, situated near Jeruslem, the place which once witnessed the mystery of the redemption of man, and would thus also bear witness to the mystery of God’s justice. Nevertheless, the place chosen by God as the theatre of judgment will be truly called Jehosaphat, which means the Lord Judge. 39. When the great assembly, comprising the whole of the human race, shall be in solemn waiting, there will appear in the air the sign of the Cross, the glorious standard which will precede the King of the universe. Then the

Son of God Himself, in the sight of the whole human race, will descend from heaven in a luminous cloud with great power and majesty.

Innumerable legions of angels in visible forms will accompany Him ; and all the just, clothed in their glorified bodies, will advance to meet and escort Him.

Christ will sit on His throne to judge the living and the dead, the just and sinners. At His side will be the Apostles, seated also on 12 thrones, to judge together with their Lord rebellious men and angels.

- The Judge will cause the elect to stand at His right hand and the reprobate at His x left. Then, says the Scriptures, “the books will be opened” ; words which signify that consciences shall be laid bare. The conscience' of

each one, all the hidden recesses of his heart, his actions, and his entire life, will be exposed like a living picture, not only to his own eyes, but to those of the whole universe. “Nothing is hidden now,” says the Saviour, “which will not .be i revealed at the great day.”

Jesus Christ will then pronounce the supreme sentence. He will say to the elect, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess ye the kingdom which is prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Then, turning to the reprobate, He will address to them these overwhelming words: “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” Immediately after this double sentence, hell will open and swallow up the bodies and souls of the multitude of the damned, and will then close on them for ever.

40. The elect will remain, forming the glorious Church of Jesus Christ, ready to ascend with their King and 1 ather to the kingdom of heaven ; for they will for ever after be worthy to inhabit that blessed region, both in body and soul, in company with Jesus Christ and His angels, since by their glorious resurrection they have become" celestial beings like to the blessed spirits themselves.

41. The bodies of the elect will be endowed with four glorious qualitiesimpassibility, subtility, agility, and light.

Impassibility will render them invulnerable, and inaccessible to suffering and death.

Subtility will render them able to obey the soul most' perfectly in all kinds of actions and movements without being hindered by any obstacle. They will, as Jestfs Christ did after His resurrection, pass through material substances, and w ill in a manner be spiritualised. Agility will help them to transport themselves to any distance in an almost imperceptible moment. Light will give them an incomparable beauty, and will make them shine like the sun. “Then,” says our Lord, “the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of My Father.” This glory, however, will be proportioned to each one’s merit. “As star differs from star,” says St. Paul, “so u ill it bp with the bodies which have risen to glory.” 42. Plie bodies of the blessed, being immortal and incorruptible, will no longer require nourishment, but they will taste for ever the joys of the senses in all that is most pure and -holy. For if it be just that the reprobate suffer in their senses for their abuse of them, it is also just that the saints be recompensed in their senses for having submitted them to the mortification of Jesus Christ. Their hearing then will be charmed by the most harmonious melodies; their sight ravished by ineffable beauties namely, those of Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, and all the blessed; also by the glories of nature, which they will be enabled to contemplate throughout the whole extent of creation.

43. Clothed in these glorious bodies, the blessed, united with the angels, will form a countless multitude, and will ascend into heaven in the retinue of Jesus Christ, and enter with Him into the heavenly Jerusalem. Such will bo the holy Church of God, brought by the divine mercy to supreme perfection, its final state, its eternal triumph. 44. The Doctors consider that the world and the material creation will, not be destroyed after the end of time ; but purified, renewed, and rendered, as it were, participator in the resurrection of the just. This is the meaning given to these words of St. Peter, “We look for new heavens and a new earth, according to His promises, in which justice dwelleth” (2 Peter iii. 13).