Taking Up the Cross, and Redeeming the Body. Introduction.

We are here in a tent waiting for our redemption. And this tent is our body. The body of Christ is a mystery as well as our participation in it if it happens at all. The body and its natural senses have no direct perception of God. Our bodily situation renders it difficult to realize the existence of communion with God. However, the body is a gift, and as such, is capable of revealing the divine image, in which every human being is made, and the body’s capacity to make visible the divine reality is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is the Incarnate Word of God. Christ has redeemed our bodies. The redemption of the body achieved by Christ is the source of a moral duty that commits Christians to purity. Nowadays the role of the physical body as a vehicle to our atonement and final redemption is seldom mentioned and is undervalued even if it’s considered in many Christian denominations. Accordingly, and to fulfil Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, Christians must take up their spiritual crosses through self-denial toward the redemption of their bodies, achieving their atonement and communion with God.