Vigils Reading
May 6
THE REDEMPTION
OF OUR BODIES
From a sermon by Fr Ronald Knox
◊◊◊
I am content to think of my present body as merely the inadequate symbol
of that body which will be mine in eternity. A symbol, yes; but we must remind
ourselves again, it isn’t merely a kind of book token, entitling me to the
possession of a body in eternity; it is rather a kind of cloak-room ticket, entitling
me to the possession of my body in eternity. Our Lord’s Resurrection meant an
empty tomb; our Lord’s Ascension meant, presumably, the disappearance from
earth of a certain quantum of matter which had previously been part of earth. If
it is going to be possible to establish identity between that body of yours which
will lie in the cemetery, and that body of yours which will, we hope, attain the
enjoyment of heaven, aren’t we going to land ourselves in rather difficult
physical speculations to account for it?
What is certain is that the thing, whatever it is, which expresses itself here
and now in terms of a mass of matter about six feet high, will persist, although it
may be expressed in quite different terms, in that order of creation, whatever it
be, which will succeed when the material creation itself has passed away.
The practical importance of that truth for us is, I take it, that as Christians
we are bound to think of our bodies as part of ourselves, as included not only in
the scheme of our creation but in the scheme of our redemption, as having…a
supernatural importance, and as demanding reverence in our treatment of
them. We look forward, as St Paul says, to the redemption of our bodies; they
are not encumbrances which we drag about with us, they are first-fruits of
eternity, entrusted to our keeping…
If you lean towards Eastern spiritualism, you will find yourself talking,
like the man in that poem of Lyall’s, about your body as if it were something that
didn’t matter; it “is a garment no more fitting, is a tent that I am quitting, is a
snare, from which at last, like a hawk, my soul hath passed“. If you lean
towards Western materialism, you will find yourself talking about your body as
if it were the only thing that mattered, like that poem of Housman’s, “The
Immortal Part“, which ends up: “And leave with endless night alone the
steadfast and enduring bone“. If you avoid both those excesses, you will find
yourself talking like Thomas a’ Kempis:
Ah, frail body, earth forsaking,
In what glory wilt thou rise,
Passing fair in thy remaking,
Strong and whole and swift and wise,
Free, and joy in freedom taking,
Framed for life that never dies!
Up, and stir thee, onward spur thee;
What, though toil be hard to bear,
If God’s grace shall count thee worthy
Those unguessed rewards to share?
Brief the pains that shall prefer thee
To eternal glory there.