The Body

Pope Shenouda III reflects on Saint Paul’s words, “Glorify God in your bodies and in your spirits, which are God’s,” explaining that the body is not evil in itself, but rather a gift and blessing from God. God is the One who created the body, and the Lord Christ Himself took a pure human body. The Church also honors the bodies of the saints because they were instruments through which God worked in holiness and service. The body is called to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and therefore a person should use his body to glorify God rather than to satisfy material desires.

Spiritual Message

Pope Shenouda emphasizes that the body becomes a blessing when it submits to the spirit and walks in obedience to God and His will. A person should not make food, clothing, comfort, and pleasure the goal of his life, but should regard material things as means that serve the spiritual life. The body also glorifies God when it becomes tired through prayer, fasting, service, and worship, and when a person accepts the suffering permitted by God with thanksgiving and contentment. The glory of the body is also shown through purity and cleanliness, because a pure body is suitable to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Educational Lesson

Pope Shenouda compares the human body to the Church: the Church is a house of God, and likewise the human body is a holy temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Just as prayers, praises, and incense rise from the Church, everything that comes from the human body should glorify God. Therefore, a person must respect his own body and the bodies of others, because our bodies are members of Christ. Pope Shenouda gives special attention to the tongue, explaining that a person can glorify God through his words by offering praise, prayer, encouragement, consolation, advice, and apology, just as he can sin with his tongue and hurt others.

Practical Application

Pope Shenouda calls each person to examine every member of his body and ask: Does he use it to glorify God or to sin? The tongue should be used for words of blessing and teaching, while the eyes and ears should stay away from everything that defiles the heart. The hands should be used for goodness, service, prayer, and worship. A person should also offer his body to God through prayer, service, fasting, prostration, and worship, making his entire life a means of glorifying God. The goal is for the body, with all its members, to become an instrument of holiness and a living testimony to the glory of God.

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