Thursday 14 April 2011

The dignity of the body


My sermon for last Sunday, 5th Sunday in Lent, Year A:

A common pagan religious belief in Old Testament times and in Jesus' time was that human beings are made up of a body and a soul, and that when we die our soul separates from our body and carries on existing in some kind of eternal, purely spiritual realm.

The tradition and the teaching of the Bible on the subject of immortality and life after death, which developed slowly over the course of centuries, is different from that and more precise than that. Right from the start, the Jewish faith took a very positive attitude towards the material world and the human body, because it saw the whole of material reality, including our bodies, as having been created by God for an inherently good purpose.

So when they sought to understand God's plan in terms of life after death they didn't assume that the soul would survive after death independently of the body, they assumed the opposite: that our bodies will also somehow be "raised" and survive in some form in eternity. This is the conviction that lies behind the language of today's first reading, for example.

The official Catechism of the Catholic Church makes a valuable point about the biblical belief in the resurrection of the body.

As we wait for the last day and the final resurrection of the dead, the Catechism says, "the believer's body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand that [each Christian believer] should treat with respect his own body and also the body of every other person, especially the suffering...".

The Catechism goes on to quote a passage from St Paul's writings: "The body [is meant] for the Lord and the Lord for the body....God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Did you not know that your bodies are members of Christ....You are not your own....So glorify God in your body" (c. 1 Corinthians 6:20; Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 992 - 1004).

I think there are two lessons we can take from this particular aspect of our faith.

One is that, like all cultures that are heavily materialistic, our modern culture puts an exaggerated emphasis on physical health and physical attractiveness. There are many manifestations of this tendency, but one of the most striking, over the last few decades, is the steep rise in demand for plastic surgery for purely cosmetic purposes - i.e. surgery not to cure any medical illness but to enhance the person's physical appearance.

It's not that the whole population is going in for cosmetic surgery. But what's noticeable is the way that it's come to occupy a huge space in the popular imagination. It's become a normal and morally uncontroversial course of action - many people wouldn't think for a minute that there are significant moral objections to surgery for purely cosmetic reasons.

But from the standpoint of our Christian belief in the dignity of the body there's surely a criticism to be made, not just about the issue of physical vanity or even about the money and medical resources devoted to procedures that are essentially unnecessary, but about the underlying mentality involved. it's become more common for people to view their own body as an object, a commodity, to be altered and manipulated at will, rather than seeing their body and soul together as a unity and their body as an integral part of their unique identity.

For people to feel alienated from their bodies, rather than feeling "at home" in them, whatever their imperfections, is really a kind of spiritual malaise, a disease of the soul. Christians can only be critical of a culture that encourages people to become preoccupied with their outward appearance as opposed to accepting themselves, body and soul, and indeed dedicating themselves body and soul to the higher purpose of holiness and service of God - as St Paul says.

Secondly, the Catechism refers to the importance of respecting the bodies of other people - especially those who are suffering.

I would argue that this basic Christian principle is more relevant now than ever because, as we are are always hearing on the news, so many people now are living well into old age, with all the physical weakness and dependence on others that this entails.

Throughout the Church's history the care of the sick and old and infirm has been considered a vital aspect of Christian life and ministry. Whole congregations of religious men and women have been founded to carry out this ministry. Tending the needs of the old and frail with patience and compassion has a spirituality of its own and a task that many felt is worth dedicating their whole lives to.

Today, of course, caring for the elderly is a major industry; but I don't think we can be confident that always and everywhere it's governed by Christian notions of patience, compassion and the dignity of the body.

Again, in a culture that puts so much stress on health, youth and independence, people who are well can often struggle to show respect for those who are subtly regarded as no longer useful and productive. In many ways you could argue that without prayer, without the influence of God's grace and the leavening, humanising effect of Christian values, it's normal for people to fall into an impatient and contemptuous attitude towards weakness and frailty of any kind. At the extreme end of this attitude is the growing belief that it's acceptable and somehow kind to end someone's life once it's become dependent and burdensome.

The only thing Christians can do in this sort of climate is to carry on putting the moral argument against this way of thinking, and also to try to revive, in some form, the practical motivations that led to the great nursing congregations of the past.

This might seem to be moving at something of a tangent from Jesus' raising of Lazarus, but I think these are actually very valid reflections for us to make on today's Scripture readings, which reiterate our Christian belief in the dignity and therefore ultimately the resurrection of the body.

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