Dear St. Rita Families,
One of the wonderful characteristics of Catholic spirituality is devotion to the saints. Our Protestant brethren often balk at this aspect of Catholic life, at best seeing it as unnecessary or confusing, and at worst seeing it as blasphemous. Rather than argue with them, however, I think it is better to consider the various benefits that derive from this solid, orthodox, and laudable practice.
St. James tell us in his letter that “the fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful indeed” (5:16). Naturally, then, it makes sense for us to petition such men (and women) to pray for us. When we do so, we recognize two things: first, that my own prayers are insufficient; second, that God has done good things in another person, such that their prayers may be more effective than mine. The first is an act of humility, and the second is an act of hope. In other words, the presence of the saints – holy men and women either on this earth or in heaven – is a means by which God leads us to humility and hope.
It is no secret that God uses others to mediate His love to us in this life. This is one of the reasons for the second greatest commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” which is further expounded upon by Our Lord’s words at the Last Supper, “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). When another person prays for me, then, especially the saints, they are living out that commandment and are becoming conduits of God’s love for me. This in no way diminishes God’s love, or action, or role in our lives, but rather should be considered a means by which God shows His love to us. It makes the panoply of God’s love more full, like so many stars adorning the sky when in theory the moon should do just fine. And the moon would be just fine, except that God Himself ordained it otherwise.
This is an amazing way in which God shows forth His marvelous power! He Himself makes the saints into saints, and so what if He desires to use them to show me His love and His power? He is not jealous when I am grateful to a saint for answering a petition of mine, because it was He Himself who answered the petition through the saint! Recall the words of Moses to Joshua when the Spirit of Prophecy came down upon the elders of Israel. Two of them, Eldad and Medad, were not at the meeting tent when the Spirit came down, but they still received the Spirit and began to prophesy in the camp. Joshua wanted Moses to stop them, but Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of Israel were prophets! Would that the Lord bestow His Spirit on all of them!” (Num 11:29). Since Pentecost, the Lord has indeed bestowed His Spirit on the entire Church, and you and I receive that Spirit first in Baptism and then in a Pentecostal way in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Lord wants all men to be so united to Himself that through each of them His glory is shown forth! “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Heavenly Father” (Mt 5:16).
Consider, then, when you are grateful to a saint for his/her intercession for you. Not only does it draw you into friendship with one who is totally united to the Godhead in Heaven (which can never be a bad thing), but you marvel at the way God has worked in your life. You are grateful to Him for what He has done in the saints. You are spurred on to deepen your relationship with God and to trust Him more and more, to surrender your life to Him, to turn away from sin in an ever fuller fashion, to love God with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself. And if ever you were to focus more on the saint than you should, letting him eclipse your love of God, you know that both God and the saint would work to nudge you back to the proper order of things. The saints are nothing without God, as are you and I. The saints know they are nothing without God, and they are not ashamed of that fact. All the saints want to do is glorify God and help you and I get to Heaven, and God wants to be glorified through them, and through you!
Therefore, make friends with the saints in Heaven! Ask them, not just for temporal goods, but that you might be led unfailingly to Heaven. If God can do great things in the saints, bringing them from the brink of death and Hell to the heights of holiness, what can He not do in you? Ask them, then, with great confidence, since they have “fought the good fight…finished the race…kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7). They cheer you on as you run this marathon of life, whether you are just beginning, or are somewhere in the middle, or are nearing the end. They run with you, encourage you, hand on to you God’s gifts to strengthen you as you go. You are a member of the Communion of Saints, and “you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect” (Heb 12:22-23). What a great cloud of witnesses! And when you enter the Gates of Heaven, of eternal Paradise, they will be there cheering. For God, of course. And for you.
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen