Wise Words on Wednesday: Strifes and schisms
Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not [all] one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us?
– St. Clement of Rome
"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not [all] one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us?
– St. Clement of Rome
In the JP2 Group last week the question of cremation came up so I thought I’d write a quick post about it here.
Prior to the birth of Christianity, cremation was common. This stemmed in large part from the way Pagans viewed the body and soul. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body. In fact, they had a pretty dim view of the body and cremation was sometimes seen as a way of releasing the soul trapped inside the body.
The Gnostic groups which competed with Christianity in the early centuries held to a similar dualistic beliefs. They viewed the spirit as something good, but the body as something evil.
Christianity, on the other hand, stood in stark contrast to this worldview, affirming the goodness of the body:
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over…all the creatures…” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:26-27
St. Paul also spoke about the body in exalted terms, describing it as a temple:
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Because of this, Christians afforded great respect to the body, both life and in death. We find this in the witness of the Early Church (AD 155) after the death of Polycarp:
[T]he centurion…declared [Polycarp’s] body property of the state and, according to their custom, burnt it. Afterwards, we collected Polycarp’s bones, being more precious than the most exquisite jewels and more purified than gold, we interred them in a fitting place. There the Lord will permit us…to assemble in rapturous joy and celebrate his martyrdom – his birthday – both in order to commemorate the heroes that have gone before, and to train the heroes yet to come… – Martyrdom of Polycarp, Chapter 18
The most important issue here though is that Christians proclaimed the resurrection from the dead:
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power…
– 1 Corinthians 15:42
Therefore, because of their belief in the sanctity of the body, as well as to affirm the resurrection of the body, Christians have historically not cremated their deceased. It is not that God would unable to resurrect a cremated body – He can do anything – it is that Christians simply wish to respect something made in God’s image and to affirm the resurrection from the dead. It is for these reasons that cremation has traditionally not been an option for Catholics.
Producing these Lectionary Notes has been taking too long again. Therefore I’m giving myself a time limit of a few hours. Let’s do this…
The Readings at Mass this week focus around the person of Jesus Christ and his unique, fundamental place in Salvation History. In our First Reading, St. Peter boldly proclaims that “There is no salvation through anyone else”. In our Psalm we sing the words quoted by Peter in that speech to the Sanhedrin, declaring that Jesus is “the stone rejected by the builders [which] has become the cornerstone”. In the Gospel Reading, Jesus declares that He is “the good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep” and, as we hear in our Second Reading, because of this we may truly be called “the children of God”.
At this Sunday’s Mass, confident in the goodness of our Shepherd, let us firmly put our trust in Him.
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever – Psalm 23
Thanks to Patheos for this link
In honour of the Patron Saint of England, here’s a video giving the history of the English language (in ten minutes):
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” – C.S. Lewis
This was another great video link from Neal Obstat