Are all living Catholics on Earth saints?

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Loud-living-dogma said:
  • I was wondering if it would be correct to say that all Catholics on Earth are saints?
  • Also I’d like to know if it would be correct to say that Catholics on Earth are “saints militant”, saints in heaven are “saints militant”, etc? Basically to use the word “saints” and “church” interchangeably there?
    Thanks everyone.
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Absolutely not.
 
I was born and raised in Tulare County, but I am very familiar with Fresno and do the majority of my work there :3 I listen to alot of KMJ during work hours also
 
Same here! Lets keep this state of California and the valley in our prayers, lots going wrong here sadly. Ive thought of leaving, but Im pretty young and rather stay with my family cause their all here in the central.
 
One priest joked about us being saints, after a real good and thorough confession, that lasts until we sin again which is sooner than we expect after leaving the confessional. All said with years of hearing confessions. 😃
 
Nope. “Potential Saints” maybe. Those of us making a sincere effort are “Wannabe Saints”.

We don’t get called “Saint” till we actually achieve the goal of entering heaven.
 
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It depends on how the word is being used. For example, when we profess belief in the “communion of saints” it is used in the broader sense and does include those on earth. This is often how the word “saint” is used in Scripture. More narrowly–which is how most in this thread have been using it–it refers only to those in Heaven. More narrow still, it would be those the Church has canonized.

Here’s the broad usage from the Catechism:
946 After confessing “the holy catholic Church,” the Apostles’ Creed adds “the communion of saints.” In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?"479 The communion of saints is the Church.

947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others. . . . We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head. . . . Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments."480 "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund."481

948 The term “communion of saints” therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and “among holy persons (sancti).”

Sancta sanctis! (“God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people”) is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancti) are fed by Christ’s holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.
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I heard a priest say just recently that babies after baptism are saints! He is wrong so I understand your confusion! Once baptized we are sons of God but our destiny is to be determined! God wills all His children to be saints!
 
The word “saint” simply means one set apart for special purpose. It is used throughout both Old and New Testament in reference to the community of believers who are redeemed by God. The Hebrews frequently refer to the community of believers as saints throughout the Psalms. Likewise, Paul, frequently refers to the living Church whom he addresses in his letters as saints. In that sense, then yes, all who have placed their hope in Christ are saints in the scriptural sense of the word.
 
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When we are baptized, we become saints! We are given a white garment like the attire of the saints in Revelation. We are given a candle so that the light of Christ will shine in our lives.

Sanctity is a gift from God. We struggle to live up to that great of a gift, but it is always a gift given to us, not something we achieve. All of our efforts are to resist losing our sanctity, not to accomplish something on our own.
 
Beg to differ. When we are baptized we are made sinless. The white garment is what we strive to have at the end of our lives. Saints are those who are in heaven!
 
PatK63 said:
Beg to differ. When we are baptized we are made sinless. The white garment is what we strive to have at the end of our lives. Saints are those who are in heaven!
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You sure about that?

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus…”

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi…”

“To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae…”
 
@Hodos
Jason,

So I goggled one of your verses and the Kings James Version and one other said saints. Most of the rest say God ‘s holy people. I think it was Socrates who said define your terms and I will speak with you. The Catholic Church defines a saint as one who is in heaven.
 
PatK63 said:
So I goggled one of your verses and the Kings James Version and one other said saints. Most of the rest say God ‘s holy people. I think it was Socrates who said define your terms and I will speak with you. The Catholic Church defines a saint as one who is in heaven.
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With regard to your final statements, I did define my terms in my initial post using the syntactical and grammatical use in scripture of the word saints as the means by which my definition was derived. If you have a different meaning that is because you have decided to define the term far more narrowly than scripture does, which is fine if you choose to do so, but is irrelevant when asking if it is proper to use the term as the scriptures do as the OP did.

The King James Version frequently disagrees with itself when translating a word into English. This was due to the how the different committees that worked on separate sections of the Bible operated, and that they frequently did so independently, or were not always faithful in elevating the Greek and Hebrew scriptures as their primary text rather than the Vulgate. So I don’t know that I would necessarily use that as a linguistic point for your argument, particularly when holy ones and saints mean the same thing.

That being said, the terms Άγίος (Greek for Holy Ones or Saints) and חסיד (Hebrew for Holy Ones or Saints) are almost always used for living believers. Again, my definition and usage is in line with the scriptural use of the term. If you choose to limit the use of the term, that is fine, but it is perfectly valid for the OP to hold to the position he made in his first point. Saint by the way is the anglicized version of the Latin word for holy one, which again is being used as the receptor language version of the terms hagios or chasid (Greek and Hebrew words) being used in the Biblical manuscripts.
 
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You seem to be working up a head of steam. I am sure you know that the Catholic Faith is not bible based but based on apostolic teaching.
 
PatK63 said:
Beg to differ. When we are baptized we are made sinless. The white garment is what we strive to have at the end of our lives. Saints are those who are in heaven!
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I think you missed the point I was making. God transforms us at baptism. “You are my beloved child!” We receive the white garment then, we are illuminated by the light of Christ at that time.

All the striving in our lives is to retain what God has given us, not to earn a new place in heaven. God has made us a holy people. We must live out that holiness that others may see and give glory to God. But it is always living up to what God has given us. It is being with God on earth as it is in heaven.
 
PatK63 said:
You seem to be working up a head of steam. I am sure you know that the Catholic Faith is not bible based but based on apostolic teaching.
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The New Testament is the teaching of the apostles recorded for posterity. I am not saying the Church is going against that teaching on this matter since as someone else posted earlier, the Church takes the same view I do, but I am pointing out that if your teaching is in contradiction with the Bible, then it isn’t apostolic in its source. And again, I defer to the Biblical usage of the term saint, the one used by the apostles by the way, when answering the OP question.
 
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