I believe in the resurrection of the body—my relationship to faith.

The evangelist Saint Luke commented on the reactions to Jesus’ words after his resurrection: “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Who among us will count the prayers, holy masses, communions, confessions, window displays, and alms that we have sacrificed for the church? …and our faith is correspondingly so strong?

After the resurrection, Jesus makes direct contact with the apostles to help them that he is not a spirit, that he has a body, that he really rose from the dead, that he has a body that they can touch, that they can see the wounds of the nails and the spear, and since he is still he says to the disciples: “Do you have anything to eat?” They handed him a piece of baked fish. And he took it and ate it in front of them (Lk 24:41). This is how he wants to strengthen the disciples’ faith. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus was not a return to life on earth, as it was in the cases of those he raised from the dead. They did not have glorified bodies. So the young man from Naim, the friend Lazarus or the daughter of Jairus, had to die once more. In the case of Jesus, we see the transition from death to a new, eternal life. In this, we can see the work of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus gives the disciples proof of the goal of human life, that life does not end with death. What he taught and predicted is being fulfilled. In Jesus, the predictions of the Prophets, the words written in the Law of Moses, and also the words in the Psalms are fulfilled (cf. Lk 24:44). We know that the testimony of two or three was an argument with the Jews. Jesus presents a condition that binds those who believe in him, that they are bound by the mission “to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 24:48). And this activity should be manifested as Jesus himself defines it: “You are witnesses of this ” (Luke 24:48). He invites the disciples: “Touch me and see for yourself” (Lk 24:39). These meetings have their gradation in the life of the apostles. At first, they are afraid; they are so scared, but gradually they become convinced that Jesus is among them.

Questions may be asked: Why does the Risen One care so much that the disciples become convinced that he is not a spirit? Why does he specifically manifest his bodily rapture by taking food? The answer will be that we do not limit our faith to spiritual things, only to the historical Christ, while forgetting the meaning of his bodily rapture. A man should seek the final goal of his life: the resurrected Christ. It would be a fundamental mistake for anyone to approach their mission on earth superficially, irresponsibly, and badly. Doesn’t a person have an obligation to search for a reasonable meaning of his existence, where death is not the “last word”?

The resurrected Jesus teaches us to accept theoretically and through everyday life that life does not end with death. We believe that the soul does not die. We believe that even our mortal body will have a time when it will rise to a new life. Let us not be surprised that even in our life, it is up to us to show with our lives that we believe in the resurrection of our body to a new life.