Veritatem facientes in caritate: June 2009

Last Tuesday's (June 9, 2009) Catechism class with Canon Moreau was about Article XI (Part I: The Creed) of the Catechism of the Council of Trent -- "The Resurrection of the Body". The ongoing Catechism classes (every other Tuesdays -- the next one is scheduled for June 30, 2009) was initiated by Canon Moreau several months ago and are being attended by mostly young adults and college-based students of St. Margaret Mary Parish (Oakland, CA).

The "Resurrection of the Body" is connected in a lot of ways with the "Theology of the Body" that's being discussed nowadays on some Catholic circles. Canon Moreau explains beautifully that the thelogy of the body is really a union of our earthly body and soul with God. We need to consider everything we do, from the

stand point of eternity.

Below are some excerpts taken from Article XI concerning the attributes of our heavenly and glorified body:

The Qualities Of A Glorified Body

In addition to this, the bodies of the risen Saints will be distinguished by certain transcendent endowments, which will ennoble them far beyond their former condition. Among these endowments four are specially mentioned by the Fathers, which they infer from the doctrine of St. Paul, and which are called gifts.

Impassibility

The first endowment or gift is impassibility, which shall place them beyond the reach of suffering anything disagreeable or of being affected by pain or inconvenience of any sort. Neither the piercing severity of cold, nor the glowing intensity of heat, nor the impetuosity of waters can hurt them. It is sown says the Apostle, in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption This quality the Schoolmen call impassibility, not incorruption, in order to distinguish it as a property peculiar to a glorified body. The bodies of the damned, though incorruptible, will not be impassible; they will be capable of experiencing heat and cold and of suffering various afflictions.

Brightness

The next quality is brightness, by which the bodies of the Saints shall shine like the sun, according to the words of our Lord recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew: The just shall shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. To remove the possibility of doubt on the subject, He exemplifies this in His Transfiguration. This quality the Apostle sometimes calls glory, sometimes brightness: He will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory; " and again, It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. Of this glory the Israelites beheld some image in the desert, when the face of Moses, after he had enjoyed the presence and conversation of God, shone with such lustre that they could not look on it.

This brightness is a sort of radiance reflected on the body from the supreme happiness of the soul. It is a participation in that bliss which the soul enjoys just as the soul itself is rendered happy by a participation in the happiness of God.

Unlike the gift of impassibility, this quality is not common to all in the same degree. All the bodies of the Saints will be equally impassible; but the brightness of all will not be the same, for, according to the Apostle, One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars, for star differeth from star in glory: so also is the resurrection of the dead.

Agility

To the preceding quality is united that which is called agility, by which the body will be freed from the heaviness that now presses it down, and will take on a capability of moving with the utmost ease and swiftness, wherever the soul pleases, as St. Augustine teaches in his book On the City of God, and St. Jerome On Isaias. Hence these words of the Apostle: It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power.

Subtility

Another quality is that of subtility, which subjects the body to the dominion of the soul, so that the body shall be subject to the soul and ever ready to follow her desires. This quality we learn from these words of the Apostle: It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body.

These are the principal points which should be dwelt on in the exposition of this Article.

Advantages of Deep Meditation on this Article

But in order that the faithful may appreciate the fruit they derive from a knowledge of so many and such exalted mysteries, it is necessary, first of all, to point out that to God, who has hidden these things from the wise and made them known to little ones, we owe a debt of boundless gratitude. How many men, eminent for wisdom or endowed with singular learning, who ever remained blind to this most certain truth ! The fact, then, that He has made known to us these truths, although we could never have aspired to such knowledge, obliges us to pour forth our gratitude in unceasing praises of His supreme goodness and clemency.

Another important advantage to be derived from reflection on this Article is that in it we shall find consolation both for ourselves and others when we mourn the death of those who were endeared to us by relationship or friendship. Such was the consolation which the Apostle himself gave the Thessalonians when writing to them concerning those who are asleep.

Again, in all our afflictions and calamities the thought of a future resurrection must bring the greatest relief to the troubled heart, as we learn from the example of holy Job, who supported his afflicted and sorrowing soul by this one hope that the day would come when, in the resurrection, he would behold the Lord his God.

The same thought must also prove a powerful incentive to the faithful to use every exertion to lead lives of rectitude and integrity, unsullied by the defilement of sin. For if they reflect that those boundless riches which will follow after the resurrection are now offered to them as rewards, they will be easily attracted to the pursuit of virtue and piety.

On the other hand, nothing will have greater effect in subduing the passions and withdrawing souls from sin, than frequently to remind the sinner of the miseries and torments with which the reprobate will be visited, who on the last day will come forth unto the resurrection of judgment.

NEW: Videos updated as of 6/7/09.

On June 5, 2009, the Prior General and Co-Founder of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Monsignor Gilles Wach, along with the Vicar General, Monsignor Michael Schmitz, visited St. Margaret Mary (Oakland, California) - one of the parish apostolates of the Institute.

Monsignor Schmitz also announced during the homily that they had met with Bishop Salvatore Cordileone earlier the day to confirm that a Pontifical High Mass marking the 20th Anniversary of the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Margaret Mary is confirmed on Sept. 20, 2009. On Sept. 20, 1989, Fr. Vladimir Kozina was the first priest to have celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Margaret Mary (under the indult from then Bishop John Cummings) in the entire state of California.

There was benediction after the mass, and Canon Jean-Marie Moreau, the Episcopal Delegate of the Institute for Diocese of Oakland, led the consecration prayer of the Institute to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Reception was followed afterwards at the parish basement.