Every soul, after death, awaits the resurrection of its own body, with which, for all eternity, it will be in Heaven, close to God, or in Hell, far from Him. Our bodies in Heaven will have different characteristics, but they will still be bodies and will occupy a place, as now the glorious Body of Christ and that of the Virgin. We do not know where it is, nor how that place is formed: the earth of now will have been transfigured. God's reward will redound to the glorious body by making it immortal, for expiration is a sign of sin and creation was subjected to it because of sin. All that threatens and impedes life will disappear. Those resurrected to glory - as St. John affirms in the Apocalypse - will no longer hunger, nor thirst, nor will the sun fall on them, nor any burning: those sufferings listed in the Apocalypse were those that most harmed the people of Israel as they crossed the desert: the scorching rays of the sun fell like darts, corruption was quickly unleashed, and the dry wind of the desert consumed their strength.18 These same tribulations are symbolic of the sufferings of the people of Israel. These same tribulations are symbolic of the pains that the new People of God, the Church, would have to endure during its pilgrimage to the definitive Homeland.
Faith and hope in the glorification of our body will make us value it properly. Man "must not despise bodily life, but, on the contrary, must consider his own body as good and honor it, as a creature of God who will rise again on the last day. However, how far from this just evaluation is the worship that we see today so often given to the body. Certainly we have the duty to take care of it, to put in place the appropriate means to avoid sickness, suffering, hunger..., but without forgetting that it will rise again on the last day, and that the important thing is that it rises to go to Heaven, not to Hell. Above health is the loving acceptance of God's will for our life. Let us not be overly concerned about our physical well-being. Let us know how to take supernatural advantage of the discomforts we may suffer - serenely putting in place the ordinary means to avoid them - and we will not lose joy and peace for having set our hearts on a relative and transitory good, which will only be definitive and full in glory.
At no time should we forget where we are heading and the true value of the things that concern us so much. Our goal is Heaven; to be with Christ, with soul and body, God created us. Therefore, here on earth "the last word can only be a smile... a joyful song, "20 because the Lord awaits us beyond with an outstretched hand and a welcoming gesture.