Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

The Significance Of The Glorified Body

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, March 13. 2022

Our readings for this second Sunday of Lent are meant to awaken in us a sense of wonder, a sense of mystical consciousness, and a sense of a world beyond this one we live in now. In the first reading, Abraham enacts the ritual by which the Lord established a covenant with him. The covenant narrative has all sorts of mystical symbols—the mountain, a deep terrifying darkness, the flaming torch, and the voice from heaven, which clearly indicate one thing: that Abraham is not making a regular contract he would usually do with a fellow man. Rather, he is making a covenant with God, a reality that he cannot control, a reality that is beyond this world. In the second reading, St. Paul excoriates the Philippian Christians for making their stomach their God and for being exclusively preoccupied with earthly things. More to it, he tells them that “our citizenship is in heaven.” Paul is the most competent biblical figure to speak about dual citizenship. Although he is a Jew, he is also a Roman citizen. So, he knows the meaning of dual citizenship. Now, every person is a citizen of a country. However, St. Paul says our true citizenship is in heaven, not here. Heaven is ultimately where we truly belong. That’s why the Church Fathers called heaven, the Patria, i.e. the Fatherland. But how do we become citizens of heaven? St. Paul says our Savior, Jesus Christ, will come from heaven to “change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.” Finally, Paul says that this familiar world we live in is not the final reality. These two readings are meant to wake us up from spiritual and religious aridity, from complacency and indifference.

In our Gospel reading, we have the account of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Consider this! What the Apostles saw on Mount Tabor, the Mount of the Transfiguration, was precisely Christ’s glorified body. Right before Peter, James and John, Jesus suddenly changed. He was transformed and transfigured. In fact, the Greek word used is metamorphoo (metamorphosis in English), which means he changed in form. His clothing became dazzling white. By the way, the Transfiguration of the Lord is not just about the Lord, it is about us too. We are summoned to the Mount of Transfiguration, to the heavenly place just to have a glimpse of what it means to have a glorified body like the Lord’s. 

What does the glorified body mean? Based on the Transfiguration story and on the Resurrection appearances, St. Thomas Aquinas said the glorified body will have identity. By that he means it will be the same body we have now. Those in heaven, he said, will recognize us and we will recognize them. We will see each other, know and recognize each other. But this is not to say it will be utterly the same. Think of the caterpillar which goes through a kind of trial of the cocoon only to emerge as something completely more beautiful and more powerful. After going through cocoon, the caterpillar becomes a butterfly able to fly and looking like one of the most splendid things of creation. It is the same body that is now glorified and lifted up. Aquinas suggests something similar will happen to us in our glorified body. Secondly, he says, the glorified body will have quality. By that he means it will be at the height of its powers and integrity. To those of us who are now older, remember when you were much younger, when you were teenagers or in your twenty or thirty. Remember you can do whatever you wanted with your body. At that age, you can play all sorts of sports. In my twenties and thirties, I played soccer a lot, and sometimes I played for over two hours nonstop. I had incredible pace and power. My kick was strong and powerful too. In your younger years, some of you engaged in sports too. But as you get older, your body begins to lose some of its flexibility. It gets heavier, less responsive, and begins to lose its power. But the glorified body, says Aquinas, will be full, integral, powerful, beautiful and will be at the height of its perfection. Thirdly, Aquinas says the glorified body will possess impassibility, meaning it will never change or diminish. The diminishment of our power is one of the saddest things in life. The other day I saw group pictures of my classmates in the minor seminary. I have not seen some of them in a very long time like 30 years. As I look at their pictures now I wondered what happened to them. They really looked changed and quite old, and they they are likely going to say the same about me too when they see me. But with the glorified body in heaven, we will not worry about being less than we were. Added to it, the Bible says that every tear will be wiped away. Sickness and death will not threaten us again. Imagine how much of our life is diminished because we are always afraid of sickness and death. But it won’t be true in heaven in our glorified bodies. Fourthly, St. Thomas Aquinas says that the glorified body will have agility. By this, he means the utter submission of the body to the soul so that we will be able to accomplish what we want, travel where we want and be with who we want at a speed of thought. If you remember a very good friend that lives in a distant state or country that you will like to hang out with, you will go through the pain of buying ticket and flying for hours to get there. And if the person lives in a nearby State in the US, you will drive for hours to get there too. And when you arrive at your destination, you may have to sleep in a hotel. But in the glorified body, Aquinas said we will be able to do what we want and when we want it because the body is utterly submissive to the soul. Finally, the glorified body, as we see in the Transfiguration story, will have clarity or luminosity. What does this mean? It means that the glorified body will be free from any deformity and will be filled with beauty and radiance. 

The Second Vatican Council stresses the implications of the Christian Faith for this world which are commitment to social justice, concern for the poor, concern for the planet we live in etc. And these are indeed indispensable ingredients of a lively Christian faith. Deeply believing Christians know that social justice, care for the poor and for the planet earth etc. are integral to Christianity. They are not footnotes but subject-matters. However, there is nothing in the Catholic Tradition, including Vatican II that approves or encourages Christians to forget the supernatural preoccupation of Christianity. Time and again, the Bible reminds us that we are sojourners here, that we are passing through this world to a higher one. But it does not mean we should become indifferent to the goods of this world and to what is happening around us. Christians are interested in the world, but as Paul tells us, our true and lasting citizenship is in heaven.