Quo Vadis Youth

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JMJ
July 2008 Issue 1.6
Quo Vadis Newsletter
The Saints

Do Catholics Worship Saints?
Why Pray to the Saint?
Catechism Quote of the Month
Book of the Month
Novena of the Month
Did You Know? Relics.
Did You Know? Statues

Do Catholics Worship Saints?
By Mary Clare Piecynski
            Seeing a person kneeling before a statue with hand folded in prayer can make you do a double take. What is that person doing? Worshipping a statue? That certainly seems to hearken back to idolatry you think.   What about people saying that they’ve prayed to Saint Anthony to help them find an article? This certainly seems to bespeak putting the creature before God. After all, are Christians supposed not to be “anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.(Philippians 4:6) Also, in the Our Father, Jesus tells us to pray to the Father, not to fellow men, so why do Catholics appear to put saint before God, or at least on the same level?
            Let’s start off by setting the record straight, Catholics do not worship saints, we honor them. In fact, Catholics have come up with terms distinguishing the way we give honor to God, Mary and the saints. Latria means the worship given to God alone, while dulia (a Greek term) refers to the honor given to the saints with hyperdulia reserved for honor given to the Virgin Mary, not the latria given to God but more than the honor given saints. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05188b.htm)
            Secondly, when people kneel or bow before statues they are not actually worshipping the statue itself. The statue is there to help remind us about the person, just as a picture in your wallet makes you think of your loved ones. Also, people kneel before important persons, such as the queen of England; this shows respect to the queen, not adoration. When Catholics honor saints we are honoring them because through their lives they imitated God, something we are all called to.
            Honoring people is entirely biblical. For instance, Saint Paul tells us to give "respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due" (Rom. 13:7).   Scripture also tells Christians to honor religious individuals. 1 Timothy tells us "Let the presbyters [priests] who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching" (1 Tim. 5:17).   Christ Himself told us to honor the righteous man when he said "He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man [saint] because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward" (Matt. 10:41). Saints in heaven are therefore worthy of honor since they have led a righteous life in order to attain eternal glory. Also, the saints are perfectly righteous since those in heaven have no sin (Rev 21:27).
            In essence, saints are honored by Catholics, not worshipped. Though one might kneel or bow before an image of a saint this in no way means that we are worshipping them. Rather, we show them to be worthy of respect in the same way a public figure is. Finally, the Bible commands us to honor righteous people, which saints most definitely are.

Why Pray to the Saints?

By Mary Clare Piecynski
            You slip into the back of a Catholic Church, noticed by no one, and see a person kneeling in prayer before a statue of Saint Michael. This seems wrong you think, praying to a saint when you could be going directly to God. Doesn’t the Bible itself condemn this practice when we’re told that there is one mediator between God and man? On the way out of the church you run into the priest and share with him your concerns.
            “I understand you question” the priest responds “but let’s try and understand the Catholic position a little bit more.” First off, the priest explains that Jesus is the mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5) but that doesn’t preclude Christians from praying to God for others. In fact, it is commanded in the Bible. In Romans 15:30 for instance Paul urges fellow believers to “join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Also, Paul himself prays for others as seen in his words “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers” (Philemon 1:4). Further, Scripture also teaches us that “the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effect.” (James 5:16) So, if the Bible teaches us to pray for one another then it would not interfere with Jesus being the one mediator. Since Christians on earth often seek the prayers of fellow Christians so it follows that we should ask those in heaven and thus closer to God to also pray for us. Therefore, the prayers of the saints, who are in heaven and perfectly righteous would be efficacious.
            But, one might object, can the saint hear our prayers? Yes, those in heaven can hear our prayers. For instance, Revelation 8:4 tells us that an angel offers our prayers to God, hence, the angel would have to know what our prayers are. Also, Rev 6:9-10 shows the saints praying. Additionally, in 2 Maccabees 15:13-14 Jeremiah prays for the Israelite people after his death. Furthermore, Matt 22:30, Luke 15:10, 1 Cor 15:29 and Hebrews 12:1 all show that those in heaven are aware of what goes on in earth. Further, in Jeremiah 15:1-2 God speaks of the possibility of Moses and Samuel interceding for the people. Another great passage that illustrates the intercession of the saint is Rev 5:8 that tells of the twenty-four elders who held bowls of incense that are the prayers of the people on earth. In essence, yes, saints in heaven are aware of our needs and pray for us.
            Saints, therefore, are powerful intercessors for us to God. The Bible portrays them offering our prayers to God and since they are so close to God we know their prayers to be efficacious. In summary, the saints are willing and able to pray for our needs, we merely need to ask them to intercede for us before the throne of God.

Catechism quote of the Month
CCC 956 “Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness.”

Book of the Month
Any Friend of God’s is a Friend of Mine
By Patrick Madrid
Any Friend of God’s is a Friend of Mine examines the role of the Communion of Saint in the Catholic Church. Patrick Madrid creates a lucid, easy to grasp explanation of topics such as the role of the saints while Jesus is still the one mediator between God and man, purgatory, relics, statues and whether or not honoring the saint and Mary offends God. A terrific read!
Available from the Coming Home Network International for $9.95.

Novena of the month

Novena Prayer to Blessed Kateri. Her feast day is July 14th.

Kateri, favored child, Flower of the Algonquins and Lily of the Mohawks, We come to seek your intercession in our present need: (mention it here).
We admire the virtures which adorned your soul: love of God and neighbor, humility, obedience, patience, purity and the spirit of sacrifice. Help us to imitate your example in our life. Through the goodness and mercy of God, Who has blessed you with so many graces which led you to the true faith and to a high degree of holiness, pray to God for us and help us.
Obtain for us a very fervent devotion to the Holy Eucharist so that we may love Holy Mass as you did and receive Holy Communion as often as we can. Teach us also to be devoted to our crucified Savior as you were, that we may cheerfully bear our daily crosses for love of Him Who suffered so much for love of us. Most of all we beg you to pray that we may avoid sin, lead a holy life and save our souls. Amen.
In thanksgiving to God for the graces bestowed upon Kateri: one Our Father, Hail Mary and three Glory Be's. Kateri, Flower of the Algonquins and Lily of the Mohawks, pray for us.

Did you know?
Relics
Relics are a Biblical concept. People were healed, even brought to life after touching a person’s handkerchief or their bones.
2 Kings 13:21 “Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.”
Acts 19:11-12 “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

Did you know?
Statues
God tells us in Exodus not to make idols, that we are not to bow down or worship them. Does this preclude the Catholic use of statues? No, in fact, in the Bible God commands the use of images.
Exodus 18-22. “And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”
2 Chronicles 4:4 “The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center.”

1 Kings 6:23 “In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.”

Numbers 21:8 “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’”