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Post by troubledgoodangel on Oct 14, 2007 3:09:45 GMT -7
All Saints impress me, including the anonymous Saints of today. They are all different, but they all have one thing in common: they love God with steadfast faithfulness (the Hebrew word is 'emunah), with all their souls, hearts and strengths! A human soul is composed of two elements, the body (beten), and the living spirit (nepes hayah). Loving Christ with their bodies is the greatest challenge, but also the greatest reward for the human soul. God purifies them for a period of time, before He makes His dwelling with them. Only a Saint can love God in this manner, and we seldom become Saints overnight. It means loving oneself by offering oneself to Christ, totally. Then the soul "magnifies the Lord, and the spirit [consequently], rejoices" (Lk 1:47), and the love of neighbor is the logical consequence. The Saints are all great lovers of mankind. The Divine Heart of Jesus beats in them, and their mind is embued with the thoughts of God. It is God Himself Who is loving and acting through them, and there can't be a greater Love than His. The Saints sleep with God, and raise with God. They are His hands and eyes and heart. They are His human 'emet (truth), the reflections of Himself on earth. They are also His hesed (merciful loving kindness), and His mishpat (vindication of goodness and righteousness). They also are His rahaymim (the motherly tenderness). It does not matter if they are ugly or sick: like the Beloved Disciple, they rest on God's bosom, and they go straight to Heaven when their time is up! If people only knew, how great is the joy and reward in being the friends of God, they would all strive to be Saints!
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george
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Post by george on Oct 14, 2007 10:55:04 GMT -7
I'm not sure if we are destined to saints or not. I think the Churche's basic challenge is for its flock to live the best life we can. Anotherwords, be good to one another. Try to live your life the way Christ would. Many of the saints were religious fanatics. I don't think Christ would want that. If anything, i think God would not reveal itself without a doubt. If he did, it would spawn a great deal of fanatics which this world does not need. Having a bit of secpticism is healthy i think. Can you imagine a world full of potential saints? God, how boring would that be? Variety is the spice of life.
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Pawian
European
Have you seen my frog?
Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Oct 14, 2007 11:52:21 GMT -7
The sainthood presented by Troubledgoodangel sounds beautiful in theory, yet in practice it often turns into what George has noted - religious fanatism.
For me sainthood doesn`t depend on zealous love of God. True sainthood is when men reject their earthly riches and pleasures, take a cross upon their shoulders and follow the way of God by helping other people. Standing by their side in bad times, against all odds, like Jesus did.
I admire priests who reject their chance for a comfortable life in Poland. Here, a cleverly greedy priest can become well-off in a few years` time in affluent parishes.
Saintly priests go to missions in South America or Africa where they offer real help to local people and like the latter, live in extreme poverty. They are real saints to me. They love not only God. They love people even more.
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Pawian
European
Have you seen my frog?
Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Oct 14, 2007 11:55:57 GMT -7
All Saints impress me, including the anonymous Saints of today. The title suggests a lot. May I ask you, what have you done to become like saint one day? I realise you love God with all your might and say a lot of prayers. But what else have you been striving to do? |
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Post by rdywenur on Oct 14, 2007 13:26:38 GMT -7
You know you have to be dead to become a saint. I prefer to be a good person and live as best I can on this earth.
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Post by hollister on Oct 14, 2007 15:42:15 GMT -7
Chris,
There is a blog that I like to read that has the tag line..."she thinks she could be a saint if they kill her real quick" always maks me chuckle.
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Post by Jaga on Oct 17, 2007 9:52:51 GMT -7
I believe many saints are among us. I knew people who I would call saints, yet, they will never be officially lifted to the sainthood since they did not have a high enough position to become known more broadly.
There are different types of saints, these who died and sacrificed their lives, but also these who lived more or less normal life.
I am also worried about the fanatism, people who feel that God speaks through them may have super-ego complex and they may feel that they are always rightous. These people are not saints at all, just the fanatics.
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Pawian
European
Have you seen my frog?
Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Oct 17, 2007 10:21:18 GMT -7
I am also worried about the fanatism, people who feel that God speaks through them may have super-ego complex and they may feel that they are always rightous. These people are not saints at all, just the fanatics. The Twins?  |
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Post by Jaga on Oct 17, 2007 11:45:55 GMT -7
The Twins? Yes Pawian, I just was told by God that both Kaczynski's brothers will go soon to hell (together with Cheney, just like on the Little Cheney satire in Comedy channel)  |
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Oct 17, 2007 17:36:34 GMT -7
Being a saint simply means that you have made it to Heaven; anyone can aspire to do this. The people who have been declared "Saints" by the Church are those who have demonstrated their faith in some extraordinary way, and therefore are set up as examples by the Church for others to imitate. Often times they did exhibit what George might refer to as "fanaticism" and that is why they attracted the attention of the world and the Church. There are many others, known only to God, who have attained sainthood, and these we acknowledge and honor on All Saints' Day. They are the everyday, ordinary people who followed the tenets of their faith, perhaps quietly, but living out the true meaning of charity to others.
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