Day 135: The Resurrection of the Body

We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives forever, so after death, the righteous will live forever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day. Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity... CCC 989

In today's reading, the Catechism speaks on the hope of all believers in Christ: the resurrection of our bodies after death. This is a belief that is at the heart of our faith, one found in Scripture and expressed in the Nicene Creed. We all will die one day and we all will be raised again, some to eternal glory while others to eternal separation from God. The Catechism in CCC 991 quotes from St. Paul just how central this belief is, especially in light of the example given to us by Christ: "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Cor 15:12-14). The Catechism Compendium summarizes Church teaching on this:

Just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and now lives forever, so he himself will raise everyone on the last day with an incorruptible body: “Those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation” (Jn 5:29). (#204)

Jesus speaks of the resurrection and identifies Himself as "the resurrection and the life" in Whom we shall find eternal life (Jn 11:25). Christianity is unique in our belief that our bodies will be resurrected and reunited with our souls after death. They will be glorified, cured of whatever frailties and imperfections they currently may have, but like Jesus, we will have them for all eternity and just be spiritual entities. The Catechism Companion, Vol II notes:

The resurrection of the flesh means both that the soul is immortal and that the body will be restored. "Hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead... [is] a consequence intrinsic to faith in God as creator of the whole man, soul and body" (CCC 992)... Believing in the resurrection of the dead is to live in the hope of God's glorious promise. (p. 34)

Christ himself is the resurrection and the life, and it is only in him that we are raised (see CCC 994). (p. 35)