THROUGH UNTRUE
Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P.
We celebrate today the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that extraordinary event when Mary was taken into heaven — body and soul — right at the end of her earthly life. It was extraordinary because our body decays after death as a consequence of original sin. But Mary, through the merits of Jesus, was saved from original sin, so she did not experience bodily corruption. Mary's whole person enjoyed heaven immediately after her death.
Among the lessons that this feast brings us is this: The ultimate destiny of the human body is not corruption or extinction. It is destined for glory. St. John Paul II writes: "In the face of the debasement to which modern society frequently subjects the human body, the feast of the Assumption proclaims the body's supernatural destiny and dignity. By looking at Mary, the Christian learns to discover the value of his own body. Mary, glorified in body and soul, shows us who we are."
Many of us have not always thought of the body in that way. In fact, there was a time when people considered the body as a prison from which the soul should escape.They believed that a person could attain salvation only by a complete rupture of the soul from the body. To facilitate this, the body must be subjected to extreme forms of punishment or torture.
Such thinking has been superseded by an even more insidious idea. Today, many people consider the body as a mere instrument they can exploit and manipulate for vanity or pleasure.They arrogantly assert: "This is my body, so I can do anything with it." We thus see the prevalence of various procedures like sex changes, plastic surgery, and genetic manipulation.
Those who treat the human body as a means for pleasure have spawned a culture of pornography, licentiousness, marital infidelity, divorce, and solitary sex. In such a culture, genders lose their distinctiveness since the sexuality of our bodies is nothing more than an accident of nature, something we can change at will.
It is tragic that our modern preoccupation with the body manifests a lack of respect, if not outright disdain, for it. But what we do with our bodies is important. As human beings, we are not pure spirits floating in air. We are embodied creatures. My body is not like the clothes I wear that I can toss away anytime. It is an essential part of me. In a way, the body can be considered as a primordial sacrament. It makes tangible the workings of our soul and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us.
St. Paul writes: “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1).
The COVID-19 pandemic, which relentlessly claims lives and creates a universal paranoia and fear, is perhaps one of the wages of our lack of respect and continuing abuse of the body and the world we live in. A healthy body reflects the harmony and balance within us. Every sickness is a “dis-ease.” When we are sick, we are not at ease, our whole being is tormented by an internal turmoil that robs us of peace, and can even lead to our eventual destruction or death.
On this feast of the Assumption, let us remember that the body never lies and keeps the score. It takes its revenge when we least expect it.