Catechism of the Catholic Church

262

Part One

1004 In expectation of that day, the believer’s body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand that he should treat with respect his own body, but also the body of every other person, especially the suffering:

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The body [is meant] for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? . . . You are not your own; . . . So glorify God in your body. 563

II.

D ying in C hrist J esus

1005 To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must “be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” 564 In that “de parture” which is death the soul is separated from the body. 565 It will be reunited with the body on the day of resurrection of the dead. 566

650

Death

1006 “It is in regard to death that man’s condition is most shrouded in doubt.” 567 In a sense bodily death is natural, but for faith it is in fact “the wages of sin.” 568 For those who die in Christ’s grace it is a participation in the death of the Lord, so that they can also share his Resurrection. 569 1007 Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mor tality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, . . . before the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 570

563 1 Cor 6:13-15, 19-20. 564 2 Cor 5:8. 565 Cf. Phil 1:23. 566 Cf. Paul VI, CPG § 28. 567 GS 18. 568 Rom 6:23; cf. Gen 2:17. 569 Cf. Rom 6:3-9; Phil 3:10-11. 570 Eccl 12:1, 7.