Thursday, June 18th, 2020

“Even in death his body prophesied. In his lifetime he performed wonders, and in death his works were marvellous.” So speaks the author of Ecclesiasticus, evoking our wonder at the miracles of Elisha - even after he was dead, even though his body was dead. And here my friends we see a biblical announcement of the devotional practice of the relics of the saints. When a dead man touched the bones of the long dead Elisha, he was brought back to life! So many other wonders has God done through the relics of his saints. This reminds us that God loves our bodies. Christianity is not an intellectual exercise: it is not a religion of good intentions. That we leave for the atheists. Christianity is the sacredness of flesh and blood: it is imagination of God, of the sacramentality of creation. It is only when we can’t see creation as a sacrament, and the beauty of being as the expressed beauty of God, that we miss out on the best human life: the noble beauty of our body, and the love God has, like a lover, of working through them. So lets revere our bodies, love them, and thank God for them.