It is more blessed to give than to receive

[Dan_Defender]

In a discussion with a Protestant friend, one of his criticisms went along this line: how can the Catholic Church declare Mother Teresa a saint? she did not perform any healing miracle while alive. I wonder if any of you have heard this argument before and what do you think of it?

I told him first of all I do not know enough about Mother Teresa to know if she performed a healing miracle or not while alive but I know what Scripture tells us (because when talking to Protestants they only wanna hear about Scripture):
‘In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’’ Acts 20:35
So I think Mother Teresa wholly embodied this passage in her life and work and the Church fully recognized this.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Consider Matthew 25. One of the characteristics that separates the sheep from the goats was caring for the sick. Jesus didn’t say anything about performing miracles.

This also illustrates a misunderstanding of what it means to be a saint. It means you’re in heaven. We look for miracles prior to canonization as a sign that the person is truly in heaven.

 

[Dan_Defender]

I agree. It is a common misconception by some Protestants that all Catholic saints are said to perform miracles during their lifetime. This has never been a requirement for sainthood as far as I know.

 

[Kei]

There are at least two healing miracles said to be by her intercession.
One in 2003 and one in 2008

 

[TheOldColonel]

The argument doesn’t quite pass the sniff test. Is your Protestant friend really that close to accepting Mother Teresa as a saint? All he needs are two miracles and he’s onboard with Catholic teaching about who’s a saint? Or, is there another motive behind the question?

 

[Dan_Defender]

It is one more argument against Catholicism… my friend is nowhere close to becoming Catholic much closer to being anti-Catholic

 

[TheOldColonel]

That’s what I suspected. Just reassure your friend it’s ok for him to pray to her since she really is a saint. Offer to pray with him right then and there.