Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”

Flesh and spirit in St. Paul's writings seem dangerously close to what we call body and soul. He says, for instance: “If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the evil deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). But St. Paul is not talking about our familiar division of the human being into a material part and an invisible, spiritual part.

Living according to the flesh here means a life focused on the world's values; where appearance and flash are valued more than substance; money and position over goodness and gentleness. To live by the spirit means to live and act in love, patience, generosity, forgiveness and compassion. The great danger in taking his language to mean body and soul is that we think of the body as the source of evil.

Genesis One tells us that everything God made is good. Despite this, Christians have all too often acted as if the body were the delinquent party in the human person. Why would God have gone to the trouble of raising Jesus from the dead if the body was so negligible and unworthy?

The body, like the materials used in the sacraments, contributes to our life in Christ. Through it we do others good; through it we cheer and comfort others. Through the body and such earthly things as music and the arts we praise God and make visible something of God's goodness. Through the body of Christ (e.g., the Eucharist) we are joined to God and to each other.

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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