By Erika Glover
I’m a pinterest-aholic, I'm not sure if any of you have heard of or know what pinterest is, but if not I recommend checking it out-it’s a great way to waste time. On pinterest you can create virtual pin boards and “pin” things to them so you can come back to them later. I have somewhere close to 3.5k pins (an accomplishment of mine), and one of my boards is called “people.” Now Erika, what kind of things could you possibly pin to such a board called people? And the answer is just that. I’ll pin pictures of famous celebrities, old time superstars, ryan gosling with puppies, and one direction, you know, the important things in life. These people are considered role models in society. Which makes me wonder what kind of world we are becoming.
I think role models are very important. But no, I’m not talking about the Hollywood teen idols, movie stars, or famous athletes. In fact, I’m talking about people who, for the vast majority, have never been on TV, never received a grammy, never recorded a single, never so much as had a personal photograph taken, and yet there is an innumerable list of role models out there, that no one looks up to. You’re probably wondering at this point who I’m talking about. As Catholics in the 21st century, we have access to the biggest, best, most powerful group of friends anyone ever had. The saints. And they’re all pulling for us in heaven.
What We Believe:
Clearing things up for everyone, Catholics and Protestants believe firmly in the command that we are to pray to God constantly, and without reservation. We agree on that. The Catholic Church does not and has never encouraged people to take their prayer away from Jesus. When we pray to Christ for a friend, like if they ask you to pray for them for their test or something, it’s called secondary mediation. (that’s been going on a lot lately with exams between by friends and I) That’s an easy way to explain what the saints do for us when we ask them to pray with us… they join their prayers to ours, en route to Christ. Since they’re closer to Him than we are, it actually makes even more sense for them to pray for us, rather than for my earthly friends to pray for me. (love you guys though)
Prayer to God includes worship. Prayer with Mary and the saints includes honor, but not worship. Many people have a misconception of what “mediation” really is and quote something like 1 Timothy 2:5 – which is speaking about how Christ is the only Mediator between man and God (which by the way, we agree with but that’s for another day). However mediation in a more general sense is any one of us praying for or with each other. St. Paul encourages this in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. Prayers on our behalf to Christ by either saints living in Heaven, or friends living on earth would be called a secondary mediation. St. Paul talks about this throughout his epistles, like in Romans 15:30-32, Colossians 1:4, 9-10 and 2 Corinthians 1:10.
Now think about this, you're about to get in trouble because you didn’t clean your room or do your chores, but you walk in with a friend, your parent's blow is softened, correct? Think about the saints as your friends. They’re there to give us courage and grace and to talk to our heavenly Father with us.
The saints in Heaven are alive and are unendingly in prayer. They are absolutely living in Heaven, just as you and I live, but to an even fuller extent, because they are at home with God. He is ‘the God of the living, not of the dead’ (Mark 12:26-27). And since they are much closer to God than we are (2 Corinthians 3:18), as sinful humans walking the earth, their prayers are more dominant. The saints in heaven are free of all sin, which is what impedes our prayers and they are in total, faultless union with God. We are still unified with our saintly brothers and sisters, as “death cannot separate us from Christ” (Romans 8:35-39).
Our friendship with the saints is rooted in a theological concept we all have heard of but probably haven’t spent much time studying: the Communion of Saints. Every time we pray the Apostles’ Creed, we declare that the Communion of Saints is one of the things in which we believe. But what is it? The short answer is the Catholic Church is the Communion of Saints. We here on earth, the souls in purgatory and the souls in heaven are all united in one sacred community.
It’s less a matter of praying to Mary and the saints as it is praying with or through them, to Christ. After all, the Mother of our Lord prophesied that “all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). No other faith on earth satisfies this prophecy with the degree of faithfulness that the Catholic Church does. We honor Mary and the saints not because they desire it, but because they deserve it.
The saints are the heroes of the Church. They are our role models — men, women and children whose virtues we try to emulate. They are our inspiration, our companions in good times and in bad. Through their prayers we receive countless blessings from God. Finally, anyone who strives to imitate one of the saints will draw closer to God and, by his grace, become a saint, too. In closing, I hope I’ve helped you see how you should try to make the saints an important part of your life. They’re praying harder for your salvation than any soul on earth.
Take some time to get to know the saints, read their stories and talk with them, allow them to expand your relationship with God.
That being said, there still lots of questions to be answered so check out these resources:
- Hebrews 12:1, 12:18-19, 12:22-24 and Revelation 5:8, 14 and then Revelation 6:10 and 8:3-4
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/faq.php
- http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm
Mother Mary, through your humble intercession lead us even closer to your Son, Jesus Christ. May all the saints and angels, pray for us! St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron saint of test taking, pray for us in this time of academic challenges.
Love,
Your sister in Christ, Erika
I think role models are very important. But no, I’m not talking about the Hollywood teen idols, movie stars, or famous athletes. In fact, I’m talking about people who, for the vast majority, have never been on TV, never received a grammy, never recorded a single, never so much as had a personal photograph taken, and yet there is an innumerable list of role models out there, that no one looks up to. You’re probably wondering at this point who I’m talking about. As Catholics in the 21st century, we have access to the biggest, best, most powerful group of friends anyone ever had. The saints. And they’re all pulling for us in heaven.
What We Believe:
Clearing things up for everyone, Catholics and Protestants believe firmly in the command that we are to pray to God constantly, and without reservation. We agree on that. The Catholic Church does not and has never encouraged people to take their prayer away from Jesus. When we pray to Christ for a friend, like if they ask you to pray for them for their test or something, it’s called secondary mediation. (that’s been going on a lot lately with exams between by friends and I) That’s an easy way to explain what the saints do for us when we ask them to pray with us… they join their prayers to ours, en route to Christ. Since they’re closer to Him than we are, it actually makes even more sense for them to pray for us, rather than for my earthly friends to pray for me. (love you guys though)
Prayer to God includes worship. Prayer with Mary and the saints includes honor, but not worship. Many people have a misconception of what “mediation” really is and quote something like 1 Timothy 2:5 – which is speaking about how Christ is the only Mediator between man and God (which by the way, we agree with but that’s for another day). However mediation in a more general sense is any one of us praying for or with each other. St. Paul encourages this in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. Prayers on our behalf to Christ by either saints living in Heaven, or friends living on earth would be called a secondary mediation. St. Paul talks about this throughout his epistles, like in Romans 15:30-32, Colossians 1:4, 9-10 and 2 Corinthians 1:10.
Now think about this, you're about to get in trouble because you didn’t clean your room or do your chores, but you walk in with a friend, your parent's blow is softened, correct? Think about the saints as your friends. They’re there to give us courage and grace and to talk to our heavenly Father with us.
The saints in Heaven are alive and are unendingly in prayer. They are absolutely living in Heaven, just as you and I live, but to an even fuller extent, because they are at home with God. He is ‘the God of the living, not of the dead’ (Mark 12:26-27). And since they are much closer to God than we are (2 Corinthians 3:18), as sinful humans walking the earth, their prayers are more dominant. The saints in heaven are free of all sin, which is what impedes our prayers and they are in total, faultless union with God. We are still unified with our saintly brothers and sisters, as “death cannot separate us from Christ” (Romans 8:35-39).
Our friendship with the saints is rooted in a theological concept we all have heard of but probably haven’t spent much time studying: the Communion of Saints. Every time we pray the Apostles’ Creed, we declare that the Communion of Saints is one of the things in which we believe. But what is it? The short answer is the Catholic Church is the Communion of Saints. We here on earth, the souls in purgatory and the souls in heaven are all united in one sacred community.
It’s less a matter of praying to Mary and the saints as it is praying with or through them, to Christ. After all, the Mother of our Lord prophesied that “all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). No other faith on earth satisfies this prophecy with the degree of faithfulness that the Catholic Church does. We honor Mary and the saints not because they desire it, but because they deserve it.
The saints are the heroes of the Church. They are our role models — men, women and children whose virtues we try to emulate. They are our inspiration, our companions in good times and in bad. Through their prayers we receive countless blessings from God. Finally, anyone who strives to imitate one of the saints will draw closer to God and, by his grace, become a saint, too. In closing, I hope I’ve helped you see how you should try to make the saints an important part of your life. They’re praying harder for your salvation than any soul on earth.
Take some time to get to know the saints, read their stories and talk with them, allow them to expand your relationship with God.
That being said, there still lots of questions to be answered so check out these resources:
- Hebrews 12:1, 12:18-19, 12:22-24 and Revelation 5:8, 14 and then Revelation 6:10 and 8:3-4
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/faq.php
- http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm
Mother Mary, through your humble intercession lead us even closer to your Son, Jesus Christ. May all the saints and angels, pray for us! St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron saint of test taking, pray for us in this time of academic challenges.
Love,
Your sister in Christ, Erika