Catholic Replies
Q. Which works of mercy are more important, the corporal or spiritual? I ask this because I seldom hear the spiritual works mentioned. — M.B., via e-mail.
A. They are equally important, although you wouldn’t know it from the lack of attention given to the spiritual works. In our modern culture, we can understand why the main focus is on the corporal works. After all, who could object to feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead? Even unbelievers support those charitable works, which originate in Isaiah 58:6-7 and Matt. 25:31-46.
But it’s a different story with the spiritual works, which originate in the practice of the Church since the time of Christ. The reason for this, of course, has to do with a loss of a sense of sin and with an unhealthy tolerance for the sins of others. You know, the attitude that says, “It’s okay to live together before marriage so you can find out if this is the person for you.” Or “it’s okay to ‘marry’ again after divorce, or to ‘marry’ someone of the same sex, because God would want you to be happy.” Or “I would never have an abortion, but it’s none of my business if someone else wants to have one.”
That’s why we don’t hear much about admonishing the sinner because that would be “judgmental.” We don’t talk about instructing the ignorant, except in sex education classes of course, because people have to find things out for themselves. We certainly wouldn’t want to counsel the doubtful because that would be imposing our moral views on someone else. As for bearing wrongs patiently or forgiving all injuries, that’s much too hard to do. Maybe we might comfort the sorrowful or pray for the living and the dead since that wouldn’t really offend ourselves or another person.
This is all nonsense, of course, but the deleterious impact of these attitudes on contemporary society can be seen clearly in the actions of our political and church leaders, our sports and entertainment figures, and even family members and friends who see no reason why they can’t do their own thing without any moral accountability.
Our task, however, is to speak the saving truth to them in charity and to call upon them to “reform your lives and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). We need to remind them about the warning of Jesus, that we should “not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matt. 10:28).
And recall the words of St. James: “If anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).
Q. There is a question that has been on my mind for years that concerns planet Earth. I understand that at the end of the world, there will be a final judgment by Christ and the saved will enjoy eternity with God in Heaven, but a “New Earth” is not usually mentioned. I assume that the world as we know it will be changed, but not done away with. We know that Christ came back to Earth in His resurrected body, and He walked, talked, and ate with people here on Earth.
So my question is: Will we be able to return to this “New Earth” in our resurrected bodies at the end of time and walk, talk, and eat as Christ did after His Resurrection? — D.M., via e-mail.
A. While we cannot be entirely sure exactly how the world will end or what the world to come will be like, there are some indications in Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
For example, St. Peter says that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out” (2 Peter 3:10). He says that “the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his [Jesus’] promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness prevails” (3:12-13).
Regarding the new heavens and a new earth, the Catechism (n. 1027) says that “this mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: ‘no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’” (1 Cor. 2:9).
In the Book of Revelation, John has a vision of “a new heaven and a new earth…the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them [as their God]. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning, wailing, or pain, [for] the old order has passed away. The one who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ Then he said, ‘Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true’” (21:1-5).
John then describes the gleaming splendor of this city, glowing with the radiance of precious jewels and reflecting the glory of God. He says that there is no temple in the city, “for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of the Lord gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. . . .
“During the day its gates will never be shut, and there will be no night there. The treasure and wealth of nations will be brought there, but nothing unclean will enter it, nor any[one] who does abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (21:22-27).
John is not talking about a literal city — the one described in Revelation is an enormous cube that extends 12,000 stadia (1,500 miles) in every direction — but rather a symbol of a whole new world where God will dwell with His people. We have always thought about going up to Heaven, but what if Heaven is coming down to us and will be relocated on a renewed Earth? What if the new Earth resembles the Garden of Eden before the Fall of Adam and Eve? John makes this connection when he talks about a “tree of life” (cf. Rev. 22:2).
The last time a “tree of life” was mentioned in the Bible was in Gen. 2:9. Those in the new Eden will be able to see God face-to-face, what Catholic tradition calls the Beatific Vision.
In his book Revelation, which is an excellent commentary on the last book of the Bible, Peter S. Williamson said that anyone hoping for a concrete description of what the Kingdom of God will be like in its fullness will not find it in Revelation or elsewhere in the Bible. He said that “while life in the kingdom will preserve some continuity with what we already know, it will so far transcend anything we have ever experienced that symbols, images, and analogies are as close as we can get.”
He offered this analogy:
“A baby in the womb is happy and content. The environment is warm and secure; the infant is close to mom, although having no idea what that means. Everything seems perfect until the baby is pushed out of the womb into the world. The life the baby enters is a continuation of the life already known in the womb, yet it is incredibly different — more diverse, rich, complex, and beautiful. The difference between life in this world and life in the coming kingdom must be something like that. It is so far beyond us that we can only acquire the barest notion of what it will be like through images from the prophets and the words of Jesus” (p. 361).
“The fact that the coming kingdom will be infinitely greater than we can know or imagine,” Williamson continued, “should not deter us from reflecting on the biblical texts that speak of our ultimate future, but should rather encourage us to pray them and allow the flame of our desire to be enkindled. At the heart of life in the kingdom is a perfectly complete and full relationship with God our Father, Christ our Lord, and one another in the Holy Spirit, an extension and completion of something we have already begun to taste (Romans 8:23, Eph. 1:13-14).
“Perhaps Paul says it best: ‘Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known’ (1 Cor. 13:12 NRSV).”
