Thursday, September 28, 2017

What is the "Communion of Saints?"


What exactly does a Catholic mean when he/she recites the Apostles Creed and says “I believe … in the Communion of Saints?”  What is this “Communion of Saints?”  Or, more simply, one might ask “What is a saint?”  Here are my (Thursday) thoughts on the subject.  Friends, please correct me if I say something wrong here.

Many people, I think, would respond by saying that a saint is someone who has been recognized by the Church as having attained eternal salvation and so has been given that title.  We can think of people who lived in the first century and demonstrated a special kind of holiness.  Examples are St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, St. Thomas, etc.  We can also think of people who lived during the first and second millennia and founded religious orders and monasteries.  Examples include St. Francis, St. Benedict, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius, etc.  In addition, we have people famous for their special leadership and development in Church and religious affairs.  Examples here include St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Gregory, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Theresa of Avila, among many others.  And there are many “modern” saints known for a special brand of holiness, including St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Pope John Paul II, and St. Therese of Lisieux.  I could list literally hundreds and, with a little bit of study, thousands.

But is that all there is?  No.  I could repeat my definition of the word “saint” by repeating the first sentence of the last paragraph and leaving out most of it.  They don’t have to have been recognized by the Church nor given the title.  A saint is anyone who has attained eternal salvation.  Period.  Now, eternal salvation, Catholics believe, is something a person will not be known to have attained until death, at the moment of judgement by God.  As such, we cannot know with certainty whether a deceased person is in heaven.  However, if this person’s life and writings are especially relevant, and, if he/she has been linked to miracles after their death, then the Church may declare them saints through a process known as “canonization.”  The idea is that if miracles can, without doubt, be attributed to their intercession, then we can be sure of their attainment of salvation and they can be canonized.

And so back to my original question:  What is the “Communion of Saints?”  The Church believes that many people currently living on earth will one day attain salvation.  The Church also believes that many people who have died and not attained salvation are in a state where one day they will be given their heavenly reward.  These are those who are in a state we call Purgatory, where they are being purged of their venial sins and/or the lingering effects of their forgiven mortal sins.  So the fellowship that all of these people enjoy together, we on earth, those in Purgatory, and those in heaven, is known as the Communion of Saints.  And as part of this fellowship, we can call upon those who are already in the heavenly state to help us on our own journey.  They can intercede for us via their prayers.  That is why we ask them to pray for us.  That is also why we ourselves can pray for the souls in Purgatory.  Most people, I think, believe in prayer.  And what better use of prayer is there than prayer for someone’s eternal salvation. 

So, as we state in the Apostles’ Creed, we do indeed believe in this fellowship, this Communion of Saints.  Amen.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Faith, Works, and Repentance


Today, I’m thinking about three passages from Scripture that appear to describe how a person’s behavior will affect how he/she will be judged on Judgement Day.  The first is a line from Matthew’s gospel, Chapter 16, which reads as follows:  “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.”  (Matt 16:27).    This appears to oppose the idea that all that is needed for salvation is faith.  It seems that how a person conducts himself in this life is also important. 

The second is the Parable of the Talents found in the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25.  (Matt 25:14-30).  Here, Jesus tells about a man and his three servants, interpreted to mean God and three of his created human beings, each of whom was given gifts.  It is what these servants did with the gifts that is at issue.  Two of them used the gifts to produce more.  But the third, out of fear, did nothing except protect what he was given.  This third servant did not act according to God’s will.  While calling the first two servants “good and faithful,” the third he called a “wicked, lazy servant.”  This third servant was assigned to “the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and the grinding of teeth.”  It would seem from this that having faith but doing nothing with it is not what God has in mind for us and puts us in danger as far as salvation is concerned.

The third is from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, where Paul says that God’s judgement will be revealed based on our repentance, or the lack of it.  He says this “By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgement of God, who will repay everyone according of his works:  eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness."  (Roma 2:5-8).  The point here seems to be that repentance, or sorrow and atonement of our sins, is very important for the attainment of eternal life.

So I would conclude that true faith, i.e. faith that leads to good works, and repentance are key to our salvation.  My prayer for today:  “Lord, please strengthen my faith.  Help me to act on my faith in ways pleasing to you and help me to always seek forgiveness of my sins.  Amen.”

Thursday, September 14, 2017

The Centerpiece of the Catholic Church


Catholics believe that the bread and wine consecrated at Holy Mass are the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.  That belief is based on the words of Jesus during the so-called Bread of Life discourse found in the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 6 (John 6:34-66), and also on the words of Jesus at the Last Supper found in all four gospels.  In addition, this belief is reinforced by St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians 1 Cor 11:23-29).  Today, I‘m thinking about what non-Catholics seem to think about this belief and what might be the Catholic response.

Protestant Christians believe that Jesus was speaking metaphorically in John 6 and in the gospel accounts of the Last Supper in the same way that he speaks metaphorically when he calls himself the light of the world (John 8:12), or the sheep gate (John 10:7-9), or the good shepherd (John 10:14).  Did he speak literally?  No, it is clear that he is not a light, or a gate, or a shepherd in the literal sense … he is only speaking metaphorically.  They believe that he is referring to the bread and wine in that same metaphorical sense.

The Catholic response?  Jesus says this in John 6:  “… the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  (John 6: 51).  Jesus also says this in John 6:  “… unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”  (John 6:53).  And he says this:  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”  And this:  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in my and I in him.”  (John 6:56).  After all this teaching, “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”  (John 6:66).  But did he stop them?  Did he explain that he was only speaking metaphorically?  No, they walked away and returned to their former way of life.

And St. Paul’s reinforcement?  St. Paul repeats the words of the last supper (without having had the benefit of reading those words in Scripture, since they had not yet been written down).  (1 Cor 11:24-25).  And then he says this:  “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself.”  (1 Cor 11:29).  St. Paul thus says that he believes that the bread and wine are the literal body and blood of Christ.  And this is how it was for 1500 years until the Protestant reformers came along and made a new interpretation, telling people that it was only a metaphor … something neither Christ nor St. Paul did.

So in the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is the centerpiece.  Not the sermon.  Not the singing.  Not the personality of the preacher.  The Eucharist.  In the words of Allen Hunt, a former Protestant mega-church minister who converted to Catholicism:  “The Eucharist binds us together.  Without the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we merely have our own ideas rather than true unity.  In the Eucharist, Jesus fuels and empowers his church.  Everything rides on the Eucharist.”  Amen, Mr. Hunt!

Thursday, September 7, 2017

What Heaven is Like


People are known to wonder what it will be like in heaven.  "Will my dog be there?  Will I still be happy when I find out that my spouse didn’t make it?  What if my worst enemy is there?  Will there be pain and suffering in heaven?"  On and on.  I have some thoughts this morning about what the Scriptures say.  So let’s take a look at a few examples.

In his first letter, St. John says:  “Behold, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.  What we do know is that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  (1 John 3:2).  This implies to me that we will have glorified bodies and will behold the Beatific Vision, meaning the face of God.  This is heaven.

St. John writes this in his Gospel:  “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.  If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”  (John 14:2).  In other words, we will be where Jesus himself is.  There will be lots of space there; space prepared by Jesus himself for our personal fulfillment and gratification.

My favorite Scripture passages about heaven, however, are those that present the parables, especially those parables that begin with the phrase “The kingdom of heaven is like …”.  What could be more descriptive of heaven than those illustrations that Christ himself gives us with that leading phrase?  See especially Matt 13:24-50.

Here is a grand example:  The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field (Matt 13: 24-30) and an enemy comes at night and sows weeds.  So we have good seed and weed seed growing together, righteous and sinful men together.  In the end, harvesters (angels) separate the righteous from the sinful, and the righteous will “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.”  (Matt 13:43).

Will your dog be there?  Jesus doesn’t mention dogs or a pet of any kind.  I believe we won’t have any desire to have a pet when we are in the presence of God.  Will you care if your spouse is not there?   I believe we will have no thought about him or her because we will be staring at the face of God.  Will you care that your worst enemy is there.  If this person is there, he/she is on equal footing with you in terms of glory and righteousness and you will have no thought of your enmity back on earth.  Will there be pain and suffering in heaven?  No.  It is impossible to have pain and suffering when living in a place prepared especially for you by God.  Rather, we will be in a place where we "shine like the sun!"

So where are the people who the angels separate out due to their wickedness?  They are in “the fiery furnace where there is wailing and grinding of teeth.”  (Matt 13:50).  A place of torment.  Where would you rather be for all eternity?  Lord, thank you so much for these parables.  Amen!