Session 11 Christ Appeals to the Resurrection: Mans Fulfillment

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Session 11 Christ Appeals to the
Resurrection Mans Fulfillment
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Overviewwhen people rise from the dead, they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are
like angels in heaven (Mk 1225). They are
equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons
of the resurrection. (lk 2036)

• In this
  session we
• 1. Evaluate Christs pronouncement on
  the resurrected body and specifically his
• 
  quotes taken from Mk 1225 and Lk 2036
• 2. Look at how the resurrection perfects the
  
• 
  person and how we get to that final state.
• 3. Examine how the risen body is the
  fulfillment
• 
  of what man has carried in himself
• 
  throughout the ages.

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Our Final State The Man of HeavenThe man of the
future world will find in this new experience
of his own body the fulfillment of what he
carried in himself perennially and historically.
(TOB 695)

• ? The man of heaven (the man of
• 
  resurrection whose prototype
  is the risen
• 
  Christ) is the completion and
  confirmation
• 
  of the man of earth
• 
  ? In the resurrection, there will
  be victory
• 
  over sin, and death will be
  vanquished
• 
  The last enemy to be
  destroyed is death
• 
  (1 Cor. 1526)
• 
  ? Each one, together with the
  resurrection
• 
  of the body, will fully
  participate in the gift
• 
  vivifying Spiritthe fruit of
  Christs
• 
  resurrection (TOB, p. 256)
• 
  ? There will be unity in
  humanitythe unity
• 
  God wanted from the beginning
• 
  (TOB, p. 249)
• 
  

In the resurrection, God pushes the complete
button not the delete button
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The Resurrection Perfects the PersonChrist said
They neither marry nor are given in marriage but
are like angels in heaven (Mt 2230). But He
did not state that this man of the future world
will no longer be male and female as He was from
the beginning. (TOB, p. 247)

• ? In the resurrection, man will experience
  total
• 
  truth and love, united
  with the vision of God
• 
  face-to-face (TOB, p.
  242)
• ? While keeping masculinity and
  femininity
• in the glorious risen body
• ? The spousal meaning of the body will be
• 
  fulfilled
• ? The body will return to perfect unity and
  
• harmony with the spirit
• ? Man will no longer experience
  opposition
• between what is spiritual
  and what is
  physical in
  him
• ? Spiritualization means the spirit will
  dominate the
• body and the forces of the spirit will
  permeate
• the energies of the body

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The Risen BodyThe truth about mans destiny
cannot be understood as a state of soul alone,
separated from the body, but must be understood
as the definitively and perfectly integrated
state pf man brought about by a perfect union of
the soul with the body. (TOB, 666)

• ? Our bodies will certainly be different in
  the
• resurrection, but we will still have them
  
• Male female
• ? Nothing of our humanity/sexuality will be
• repressed in Heaven Body and
  Soul
• perfectly integrated
• ? In Heaven people will no longer marry
• (Mt 2230) This is because God will
  be
• everything to everyone (1 Cor 1528)
• ? The absence of marriage in Heaven is the
• proper and fundamental mode of
• existence for human beings, male and
• female, in their glorified bodies,
  focused
• on loving God alone.

We Will Be Raised As Male and Female
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The Beatific VisionA concentration of
knowledgeand love on God himself. A full
participation in Gods inner life (TOB, 684)

• ? The definitive fulfillment of every human
  longing for union Mans perfect
  
• participation in grace
• ? Foreshadowed right from the beginning in
• the experience of original unity
  nakedness-happiness
• ? We will behold face to face the
• mystery hidden in God from eternity of
• which the body and the union of spouses
• is only a sign (TOB, 675)

The beatifying experience of Gods gift of self
will be superior to every experience in earthly
life (TOB, 682-3)
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The Communion of SaintsFor man, the
resurrection will be the final realization of the
unity of the human race, which God willed from
creation (CCC, 1045)

• ? The unity in onebody of all who respond
• to the wedding invitation of the Lamb.
  ? The perfect unity-in-distinction ?
  In Heaven, the communion of created
• persons will be the image of the
  trinitarian communion of Persons
• ? In this communion, we will see all and be
• seen by all. We will know all and be
• known by all.
• ? And God will be all in all (Eph.
  123)
• ? The spousal meaning of the body in the
• resurrection will correspond perfectly to
  the fact that man (male/female) is
• created in the image and likeness of
  God
• ? This image is realized in the
  communion of persons

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Pauline Interpretation of Resurrection In the
resurrection the human body is seen as
incorruptible, glorious, full of dynamism,
spiritual (1 Cor. 1542-49)

• ? The first Adam became a living being
• the last Adam became a life-giving
• spiritAs we have borne the image of the
• man of earth, so we will bear the image
  of
• the man of heaven (1 Cor 1545,49)
• ?Our bodies, though corruptible,
• have the potential for
  incorruptibility.
• ? The humanity of the first Adam carries
• within itself the potential (capacity and
  readiness) for receiving all that the
  last
• Adam (Christ) became what He became
• in His resurrection (TOB, 713)

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How Do We Get to This Final State?

• ? Christian revelation recognizes 2 specific
  
• ways of realizing the vocation of the
• human person, in its entirety, to love
• ? Marriage
• ? Celibacy or virginity
• ? Mary and Joseph became the perfect
• example for both of these vocations
• ? In their covenant of marriage
• and virginity, the gift of the
• Incarnation of the Eternal Word
• was realized (TOB, 753)

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Marriage

• ? The married union here on earth gives us
  an image of what is to come
• ? In the joys of their love and family life,
  God
• gives spouses here on earth a foretaste
  of
• the wedding feast of the Lamb
• ? Our ultimate objective is a
• Marriage with God
• ? However, BEWAREthe union of the sexes
  here on earth is not our be-all and
  end-all.
• ? It is only an iconnot an idol

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CelibacyWhen they rise from the dead, they
neither marry nor are given in marriage (Mk
1225)

• ? Those who are celibate for the kingdom
• skip the sacrament in anticipation of
  the
• ultimate reality, the Marriage of the
• Lamb
• ? Celibacy for the kingdom is an exception
• to what is a general rule of this life
• (TOB, 735)
• ? Mk 1225 indicates that there is a
  condition
• of life without marriage
• ? In that condition, man (male/
• female) dedicates his entire
  being
• to the union with Godan
  anticipation of what is to
  come in the resurrection
• ? Those who in life choose celibacy for
  the kingdom of heaven do so in view of the
  value connected with this choice
• ? The choice must be discovered and
  welcomed personally as ones own
  vocation (TOB, p. 263)
• ? Christ chose it for Himself

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Celibacy (Contd.)

• ? Celibacy for the kingdom is not set in
• opposition to marriage, nor is it based
  on a
• negative judgment in regard to its
• importance (TOB, p. 263)
• ? However, there is a clear difference
• between mans state in the resurrection
• and the voluntary choice of celibacy for
• the kingdom of heaven in this life
• ? Celibacy in this life is a choice,
  an exception from the usual
• stage of marriage He who is
• able to receive this, let him
• receive it (Mt 1912)

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• Michael John Poirier
• Once in a Daydream
• www.holyfamilynow.com

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Questions

• 1. What has been your main
  objective in life?
• 2. What do you think of that
  objective after todays
  session?
• 3. Have you ever thought of
  the resurrection
• as a Marriage with God?
• Next Week
• A look at Christs mercy and the need for
• forgiveness in our lives
• Christians are not Perfectjust Forgiven.