sainthood

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Is sainthood an honor bestowed by humans or is it a recognition that the sainted person was graced with special characteristics by God?

That’s kind of a leading question that indicates my present bias on the subject.

It came to me while thinking about JPII. Truly, he was a remarkable person. However, the people’s rush to make him a saint so soon after his passing seemed to me more borne of an overwhelming urge to bestow on him our highest honor, rather than our recognition that God had endowed him with special graces.

Am I seeing this in a reasonable light?
 
Sainthood is something that only people in heaven are given. Anyone in heaven is a saint but the Catholic Church sometimes makes people saints because we know for sure they are in heaven. This is why two miracles are required to be a saint
 
St. Paul frequently referred to living Christians as “the saints” or “those who are becoming saints.”

“Saint” comes from the same root as holy - you may recall Jesus’ instructions: “Be ye perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect,” or the words of St. Peter, quoting Leviticus “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”

So that is our calling, each and every one of us. But we become holy only by cooperating with grace. So it’s not something any individual “is” inherently. It is what we can become, as we allow Him to fill us with His grace and conform us to His image - to become what we were created to be.

We know that everyone in heaven is a saint. Only a very small number are declared saints by the Church - declared to be certainly in Heaven, to be interceding for us, and of course, to be models for us. That’s what we mean by “canonized” - add to the canon, or list, of those officially recognized as saints.

And yes, lots of people are uncomfortable with what seems like a “rush” to canonize Bl. John Paul.

Sally
 
I also usually favor a more deliberative canonization process, but if John Paul the Great is not in heaven (ie, a saint) then I fear there’s little hope for the rest of us. When a cause is really flippin obvious (such as Mother Teresa) then I don’t object to a quicker pace.
 
:gopray2:You have to remember there are capital “S” Saints (canonized) and little “s” saints (the rest of us). Saints are simply ordinary people doing extrordinary things in difficult times. We all should be striving for holiness, therefore becoming saints. Saints are given special Graces to be a model to follow in our journey to holiness. JPII is a model of extrordinary capability for forgiveness and humble holiness. That is why the push to canonization. He did nothing we all can’t do, he just made it look so very easy.
 
Very often in other centuries, the saint was well known, loved, and believed absolutely to be filled with God’s Spirit. These people would flock to a saint’s tomb to ask for their intercession, and numerous miracles began to occur, the news of which spread to others.

It is likely that these miracles caused the Church to investigate the saint and eventually canonize them officially. We can easily see that it is the ‘grassroots’ Catholics who know firsthand that a person is a saint, through discernment given by the Holy Spirit. 😉

Maybe you’ve read about St. Therese, the Little Flower of Jesus. Although she was cloistered and never left the convent, after her death, the “Story of a Soul” was in great demand by the faithful, who believed she was a saint – long before the Church finally canonized her.

The same would be true of Pope John Paul II, since great number of the faithful who heard him speak, read his writings, attended his WYD’s etc., are of the opinion he is in heaven. And accordingly, we find that the Church declared him “blessed.”
 
First all men and women are called to be saints. This is our fundamental calling in life, no matter if we are a priest, religious, married, single, teacher, athlete, etc. Our primary call is to Holiness of life, which is the life of a Saint.

When it comes to calling someone a saint or blessed has to do with do we know if someone is in heaven.

A couple of examples of people who would be saints.
  1. an old women who just died of natural causes, she wasn’t that well known in the World, really only the people at her home parish new this Women. Despite this lack of being known this women was an embodiment of holiness. She was always very involved in the parish went to daily mass, and everything else. When she began to get sicker despite the fact that she couldn’t physically help the parish out in a visible way. She never stopped praying for her parish. She has her bible and all throughout the bible she had little note cards for people to pray for she prayed things every day. To put it simply, she was in love with God and his people and she gave everything for God. (I could make up a story all day long but simply she was a living saint)
This women now is enjoying eternal hapiness with God and is a saint.
  1. (name any saint) well known has a major following after their death, sometimes during their life. Also an emboidment of holiness.
The reason I say this is that even though there is a gigantic number of named Saints in the Catholic Church, but this is a tiny tiny number of the actual number of saints in heaven.

A saint is any person who is enjoying eternal life with God.

It is impossible for the church to name every saint. So pretty much a Saint for the Church is anyone who is evidently in heaven (miricles).

Granted i don’t think in heaven who is called a saint on earth means anything, but while we are on our pilgramage saints give us courage and hope.

Hope this helped.
 
In addition to all the other responses, it is important to remember that the Church has been delegated authority to bind/loose on earth and God promised that the Church’s decision will be honored in Heaven.

-Tim-
 
catholictiger said:
First all men and women are called to be saints. This is our fundamental calling in life, no matter if we are a priest, religious, married, single, teacher, athlete, etc. Our primary call is to Holiness of life, which is the life of a Saint.

When it comes to calling someone a saint or blessed has to do with do we know if someone is in heaven.
[snipped for length]

It is impossible for the church to name every saint. So pretty much a Saint for the Church is anyone who is evidently in heaven (miricles).
Click to expand...
Also this is why we celebrate the Feast of All Saints!
 
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