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Hi, Francesco —
You quoted from:
Article 6 - "He Ascended into Heaven and is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father":
| 659 "So then the Lord Jesus,
after he had spoken to them, was
taken up into Heaven, and sat
down at the right hand of God." (Mark 16:19) Christ's
body was glorified at the moment
of his Resurrection, as proved
by the new and supernatural properties
it subsequently and permanently
enjoys. (cf Luke 24:31; John 20:19, 26) But during the forty days
when he eats and drinks familiarly
with his disciples and teaches
them about the kingdom, his glory
remains veiled under the appearance
of ordinary humanity. (cf. Acts 1:3; 10:41; Mark 16:12; Luke 24:15; John 20:14-15; 21:4) Jesus'
final apparition ends with the
irreversible entry of his humanity
into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud
and by Heaven, where he is seated
from that time forward at God's
right hand. (cf. Acts 1:9; 2:33; 7:56; Luke 9:34-35; 24:51; Exodus 13:22; Mark 16:19; Psalm 110:1) Only in a wholly exceptional
and unique way would Jesus show
himself to Paul as to one
untimely born, in a last
apparition that established him
as an apostle. (1 Corinthians 15:8; cf. 9:1; Galatians 1:16) |
If you go on and read:
Article 7 - "From Thence He will come again to Judge the Living and the Dead"
This section confirms what you have
said (His Body being in Heaven, glorified)
but also states:
Christ already reigns through the Church. . .
669 As Lord, Christ is also head
of the Church, which is his Body.
(cf. Ephesians 1:22) Taken up to Heaven and glorified
after he had thus fully accomplished
his mission, Christ dwells on
earth in his Church. The redemption is the source
of the authority that Christ,
by virtue of the Holy Spirit,
exercises over the Church. "The
kingdom of Christ [is] already
present in mystery", "on
earth, the seed and the beginning
of the kingdom". (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 3; 5; cf. Ephesians 4:11-13)
Article 6, CCC #661 also states:
661 This final stage stays closely
linked to the first, that is,
to his descent from Heaven in
the Incarnation. Only the one
who "came from the Father" can
return to the Father: Christ Jesus. (cf. John 16:28) "No one has ascended into
Heaven but he who descended from
Heaven, the Son of man." (John 3:13; cf. Ephesians 4:8-10) Left
to its own natural powers humanity
does not have access to the "Father's house", to
God's life and happiness. (John 14:2) Only
Christ can open to man such access
that we, his members, might have
confidence that we too shall go
where he, our Head and our Source,
has preceded us. (Roman Missal, Preface of the Ascension: "sed ut illuc confideremus, sua membra, nos subsequi quo ipse, caput nostrum principiumque, praecessit.") |
For this reason, Yes,the Church has
always taught, that Christ's
Second Coming will be in a glorified,
bodily return.
You may want to re-read both sections from the Catechism together.
I can see where that phrase is confusing.
When it states in CCC 659:
Jesus' final apparition ends
with the irreversible entry of
his humanity into divine glory,
symbolized by the cloud and by
Heaven.
What is irreversible is, His humanity
into divine glory, not his Ascension
into Heaven.
Mike
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