You may have heard that Mary MacKillop has been officially approved for canonisation as a Roman Catholic Saint.
In order to become recognised as a Roman Catholic Saint, one must have been proved to have fulfilled a number of requirements (See wikipedia page on Canonization). These include being known to be in heaven, and having a miracle (or two) attributed to your name amongst other things.
This process makes no sense to me.
In the Bible, throughout the new testament, the term “saint” is used to refer to any person who believes in Jesus. In Ephesians 1:1, Paul introduces himself and greets those who are believers of Jesus by using the term “saints”.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus”
I have never understood why certain people are elevated above other Christians because of acts that they have done. The only way that salvation can be attained is through faith in Jesus Christ.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
All those who believe in Jesus and have a faith in him are guaranteed salvation from Judgement and have the right to be called saints.
Are you a saint?
Related posts from calumhenderson.com:
This was the thing that annoyed me so much when I was in Rome. Everyone prays to saints and everyone goes to church to pray to Mary who is their focus and elevated even above Christ at times. Even the english mass we went to (American Priest and congregation), although it read from the Bible and spoke of the importance of Christ’s death and resurrection, still felt the need to make a “fresh sacrifice” rather than it being done and prayed to the altar and Mary. I pray that their faith is properly centred on Christ and the rest is mostly just tradition and ritual that they prefer rather than it being the focus and source of their faith.
Thanks for posting a blog on this topic! I think it’s something we like to skirt around for fear of causing conflict but it is something that needs to be raised!
Thanks for your input Kathleen!
I especially liked your prayer for Roman Caholics.
I too pray that this focus on rituals will not take away from the salvation that comes from Christ alone.
Great post, Saint Calum.
I pray for those who are getting swept up in the confusion, and may they find clarity in the power of the cross.
Thanks Renee
What confuses me is that in order for Mary Mackillop to be proven to be associated with the miracles (i.e. the healing of the little girl) people had to try and prove that they were praying to her and no one else (otherwise it could have been someone else who did the healing)… but, why were they praying to her if she wasn’t a “saint” yet?
And, why pray to her anyway? Why not ask Jesus to do it? It’s a lot less hassle that way.
So true Andy. Praying to Jesus and God makes a lot more sense biblically.