The Ascension
Submitted by jroberts on Mon, 2007-05-21 06:22.
Yesterday (or last Thursday), Liturgical Churches celebrated the Ascension; i.e., the point when 40 days after the Ressurection, Jesus ascended bodily into heaven. What do y'all think are the implications for that? Do you think of Jesus as still having His ressurected body? Do you think we'll have bodies in heaven?
Nate,
Nate,
I'm going to be lazy and state what I believe to be the Teaching of the Church off the top of my head so to speak. I have looked into this a bit in the past, but not recently.
The Catholic Church has always frowned on cremation . . . out of respect for the final end of the body and for the fact that the body is one with the soul in this journey through Life and into Eternity so to speak.
That said, the Church allows for cremation and organ donation, etc . . . as long as they are not done as an intentional contradiction to the Faith and are not manifested as such. Cremation during times of plague or such is allowed for medical necessity, if necessary as a preventive measure.
I believe the Church would not allow for scattering of the remains, but that the remains (the ashes) should be buried in the urn in a single place so to speak as the body would be . . . if at all possible. It is the intention of the person being so intered (buried) which is the deciding point . . . and no wrong intention on the part of any of those who might be carrying out the burial would matter.
Christian bodily burial is the norm due to the respect we hold for the body as well as for the body being the necessary vessel for the soul in this Life and in the next. Human beings have a body and a soul . . . and always will . . . except for the brief time of physical death which is called being 'asleep in the LORD' for those who are in CHRIST through Faith and in LOVE.
I am not saying all of this perhaps exactly correctly as I did not look it up in the Catechism or in the Church rubrics. But I believe I have gotten the main emphasis across correctly.
To Catholics, GOD can and will work out the details toward the good for those who Love HIM.
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As to donors . . .
Who is the biggest Blood and Organ donor in history?
JESUS offered all of HIS Body and Blood for us at Calvary and feeds the same to us in the Holy Eucharist . . . making us one with HIS Body, Blood and Soul.
I have certainly not covered every detail or situtation regarding this subject.