Saints...can someone explain?

[april_hosen]

You’d think by now I would have learned my lesson to just give up and stop trying to understand Catholicsm. But, unfortunately, I just cant stop asking questions. So, here’s my most recent. Who decides who becomes a Saint? What makes that person worthy of becoming a saint? Oh and somewhere ion the Bible (excuse my refrences) doesnt it mention that all who are His disciples will become saints? I’ve got a ton more questions but I figured I should just start with these.
Thanks for your time!

 

[George_Waters]

april_hosen:

You’d think by now I would have learned my lesson to just give up and stop trying to understand Catholicsm. But, unfortunately, I just cant stop asking questions. So, here’s my most recent. Who decides who becomes a Saint? What makes that person worthy of becoming a saint? Oh and somewhere ion the Bible (excuse my refrences) doesnt it mention that all who are His disciples will become saints? I’ve got a ton more questions but I figured I should just start with these.
Thanks for your time!

Don’t ever quit trying April! It’s really not that difficult to understand Catholicism when you get down to brass tacks. So, here are the “brass tacks” answers to your questions.

Who decides who becomes a saint? God. The Church recognizes God’s saints and declares them worthy of honor by the universal Church.

What makes that person worthy of becoming a saint? The grace of God… which is demonstrated by living an exemplary Catholic life.

'Ya see how those go hand in hand?

Does the Bible mention that all who are His disciples become saints? I believe so, but cannot cite that information from memory. Perhaps someone else can, but I will endeavor to get the information for you soon if someone does not beat me to it!

Peace,

George

 

[bengal_fan]

a Saint (in the canonized, catholic sense) is anyone whose soul we know for sure is in heaven (meaning they are no longer in purgatory). there are a number of things the catholic church uses to show that the soul is now in heaven and no longer being “cleansed” in purgatory. this saint can now intercede on our behalf to God the Father, Son, and Spirit. that is what a catholic means by Saint.
yes, the new testament calls all believers “saints”. this is to mean that those who, because of their faith and that faith being lived out through works, have received God’s grace and are being saved are saints. we can now boldly approach the throne of God on our own behalf or on the behalf of others (intercession). those are the two meanings of saint (in my understanding).

 

[Agricola]

As to the requirements for determining who is declared a saint by the Church (which, as George Waters mentioned, is only a recongition on earth of the state of what God has determined, mainly the union of that soul with God in heaven), they are as follows:

1. the person must have lived heroic virtues
2. the person must have one miracle attributed to them

Martyrs do not require a miracle and the Pope can waive this requirement in other cases as well.

Not all saints are proclaimed saints. There are probably many worthy sould who are not recognized by the Church as such, not because they are not holy, but because they are not known. The title of “saint” is not so much for the saints themselves, you see, but for the faithful who are looking for models of sanctity.

Hope this helps.

God bless,

Agricola

 

[JMJ_Theresa]

I’ve noticed that Protestants often have their own saintly models–usually missionaries. While my kids are reading about St. Therese, and Pope St. Pius X, their counterparts are reading about Nate Saint and others. I think God in his wisdom sees that we need older brothers and sisters to show the way.

 

[Guar_Fan]

april_hosen:

Oh and somewhere ion the Bible (excuse my refrences) doesnt it mention that all who are His disciples will become saints?

That is basically the Catholic belief. The list of Catholic saints does not say that these are the only saints. The list of Church recognized saints simply names individuals who have lived exemplary lives and are certainly in Heaven (as evidenced by miracles) and not in Purgatory.

On the holy day of All Saints we deliberately recognize all of God’s saints, whether formally recognized by the Church or not.

 

[BlestOne]

On All Saints our priest talked about St Mary Malinowski, his mother. It was an awesome homily about the saints that we don’t recognize. It reminded me of when I was young and we were taught that the goal in life was to live a Godly life on earth so after we die we can all be saints. This always stayed with me and when I questioned something I had done, it was somehow easier to ask, “Would a saint have made this decision?”
Above all our purpose on earth is to serve God. If we all did this to the best of our ability, we would no doubt all be saints after we die.

 

[Fidelis]

To answer the second question first (because it’s easier and I’m strapped for time right now), St. Paul, especially, does refer to living Christians as saints:

Ro 16:15 -
Greet Philol’ogus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olym’pas, and all the saints who are with them.

2Co 1:1 -
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Acha’ia:

Eph 1:1 -
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus

The word saints means “holy ones.” Catholics understand the term in two senses, one anticipatory and the other established. You might say there are “saints” with a small t, and “Saints” with a large T.

When Paul refers to living believers as saints, he is doing so with the thought that they are “Saints in the making.” This is clearer in other places where he says:

Ro 1:7 -
To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 1:2 -
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours

It is something like a coach calling his young, developing team “champions.” If you consider yourself a champion, you will play like one. We all called to be saints here and now, because that is what we hope to be for eternity.

There is also the acknowledgement of those who have died as being saints, especially those in heaven:

Mt 27:52 -
the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,

1Co 6:2 -
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

Finally, it makes just as little sense to restrict the designation of “saint” to those who are alive on earth as it does to restrict it to only those in heaven. As with many concepts in Catholicism, it is not a matter of either/or, but of both. The correct Scriptural understanding is that of a Communion of Saints–both those here on earth, in Purgatory, and in heaven. Those who are in Christ Jesus —either on their way or at the journey’s end–are ALL part of the household of God:

Eph 2:19 -
So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God

 

[april_hosen]

Holy cow!
Thank you so much guys! All my other questions kinda just vanished with that final post. That makes so much sense! Thanks again for your time and posting!

 

[Quaere_Verum]

Hey April My Sister in Christ,

Check out the book “Any Friend of God’s is a Friend of Mine” by Patrick Madrid. It has so much packed into its $3 covers.

 

[Shibboleth]

I come from a Protestant background so I might be able to make this a little easier.

The Catholic Church does not make a person a Saint.

According to the Catholic Church they can make infallible proclamations… they have the ability to state something that is undeniably True.

There are many, many Saints in Heaven – much more than what the Catholic Church has recognized.

Everyone is Heaven is a Saint. The word Saint simply means Holy One.

Through Sanctification we are made Holy – in Heaven we are fully sanctified and therefore Holy Ones or Saints.

What the Catholic Church does is asks the question, “Do we know if this person is in heaven?” According to Catholicism through the powers of the Chair of Peter the Pope can state without error that a person is in Heaven.

The tests that preempt a canonization are just a means of making sure that someone is most likely in Heaven so that the Pope is not inundated with requests. Also it exists because the intent to recognize an individual as Saved here on Earth is an Honor by the Chruch even though every single person in Heaven is greater than anyone in the Church Militant (Christians Here on Earth.)

 

[Plato]

april_hosen:

You’d think by now I would have learned my lesson to just give up and stop trying to understand Catholicsm. But, unfortunately, I just cant stop asking questions. So, here’s my most recent. Who decides who becomes a Saint? What makes that person worthy of becoming a saint? Oh and somewhere ion the Bible (excuse my refrences) doesnt it mention that all who are His disciples will become saints? I’ve got a ton more questions but I figured I should just start with these.
Thanks for your time!

Hello April,

All good people who have kept Jesus’ two great commandments (a summary of the ten commandments under Moses) are saints. The Saints (note the capital “S”) were publicly recognized by the Church. But I’m sure there are many more saints in Heaven we don’t know about.

Plato

 

[bhlincoln]

This page on my site explains the answer to your question in depth. It reviews what a Saint is and the process the Catholic Church has followed for centuries in determining who a Saint is.

protestanterrors.com/saints.htm

BHLincoln
www.protestanterrors.com

 

[Zooey]

JMJ Theresa:

I’ve noticed that Protestants often have their own saintly models–usually missionaries. While my kids are reading about St. Therese, and Pope St. Pius X, their counterparts are reading about Nate Saint and others. I think God in his wisdom sees that we need older brothers and sisters to show the way.

I think this is true…
For those who don’t know about him:
Nate Saint is a wonderful example of a Protestant saint, by the way…He was one of a group of missionaries to a tribe of South American Indians. This was in the 1950s…No one had ever taken the Gospel to them because they were so very violent & dangerous…headhunters, I believe.
The men were murdered by these Indians…But today, this same tribe is Christian. Nate Saint’s sister Rachel, & the wife (Elizabeth) of another of the missionaries, Jim Elliott, went to them as missionaries also. One of the actual killers is now a Protestant Christian pastor, who works with the children of some of the men who were killed…
I grew up on these stories; for me, I think this is one reason that Catholic saints seem so natural & familiar to me…I can still remember the shock that went through my family when the word came of these killings. Martyrdoms, actually…They were always called that by people I knew.

 

[Fidelis]

Zooey:

Nate Saint’s sister Rachel, & the wife (Elizabeth) of another of the missionaries, Jim Elliott, went to them as missionaries also. One of the actual killers is now a Protestant Christian pastor, who works with the children of some of the men who were killed…

Interesting sidenote: The brother of Elizabeth Elliot is Tom Howard, who is a famous speaker and convert to Catholicism who has written a couple of very popular books:

amazon.com/gp/product/0898702216/qid=1136052206/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8690409-9097513?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

amazon.com/gp/product/0898706084/ref=pd_bxgy_img_b/104-8690409-9097513?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Ironically, Elizabeth has been marginalized by many fundamentalists because, contrary to their demands, she won’t disavow her brother as a fellow Christian since he became Catholic. She has been heckled in public for this, as well as having her radio show taken of some “Christian” radio stations.