Bulletin Column: We Are No Longer Our Own

Greetings in Christ on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. One of the most astonishing teachings of the Christian faith is that the divine life of God dwells within us as his baptized sons and daughters. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that at Baptism every "adopted son (or daughter) of God ... become a partaker of the divine nature, member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit" (CCC 1265). So as not to miss this incredible reality, the very first words of the Catechism tell us that "God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life" (CCC 1).

Once again let me reiterate the profound truth that the living God -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- dwells within all of us as his baptized children.

This brings us to our second reading for this Sunday: 

"Brothers and sisters: The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; Cod raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from Cod, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify Cod in your body" (l Cor. 6:13c-15a, 17- 20).

One thing St. Paul wants to make clear to us in this reading is that our physical bodies are for the Lord: "The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body."

At the time this was written, the Church was having great evangelistic success in the city of Corinth, and a new Christian community had been established. However, there were difficulties that included pagan ways of thinking and acting that were still influencing the Corithian Christians. Pagan rites, that included temple prostitution and other forms of sexual immorality, were still being practiced by some in the community. It is in this context to which St. Paul is writing his letter. He reminds them of the truth that what we do with our physical bodies really matters.

Why is this the case? The truth is that our physical bodies are important, and part of God's plan of salvation, because of the incarnation of Christ himself who, as the Son of God, took on human flesh. In divinizing of the human person, Christ elevates and redeems the whole person -- body, soul, and spirit.

St. Paul points to Christ's resurrection of his body as proof of this, declaring that "God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power." This is also why we, as God's people, profess in the Creed that we "look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."

This is a profession of our belief that our physical bodies will rise in Christ.

Since our physical bodies are included in God's plan of salvation, it naturally follows that what we do with our bodies truly matters. St. Paul reminds us that our "bodies are members of Christ" and those who are 
"joined to the Lord become one Spirit with him." We need to reject those voices in our culture today that our preaching that we are free to do with our bodies whatever we want or desire. The end result of this philosophy is that the human religious impulse is relegated only to the interior domain of feelings and sentimentality. Failing to see the importance of our physical bodies in God's plan can lead us to grave immorality and abuse of our bodies, including our sexuality.

This is what was happening in Corinth, and this is why St. Paul reminded them that they are to "avoid immorality," that their bodies are "a temple of the Holy Spirit," and that they "have been purchased at a price."

What was that price? It was the sacrificial act of love that Christ himself made on the cross for all humanity. May our prayer today echo the letter of St. Paul to the Romans:"/ urge you therefore ... by the mercies of Cod, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Cod, your spiritual worship" (Rom. 12:1).