John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Posted on 03/18/2016 7:37:50 AM PDT by Gamecock
Yesterday we heard the unsurprising news that Pope Francis has approved Mother Teresa for sainthood. She will be officially declared a saint this September, 19 years after her death. For Protestants like myself, this raises a couple of important questions: According to the Roman Catholic Church, what is a saint? And how can a person become one anyway?
The Roman Catholic Church has a formal process they must follow before declaring a person a saint. This process is not meant to make a saint, but to recognize one. According to the Roman Catholic Church, a saint is a person of extraordinary, heroic Christian virtue, someone who exemplified holy living. Such holy living gives confidence that this person is not currently in hell or purgatory but in heaven, enjoying full communion with God. Because of this communion with God, Christians can now pray to that person and ask his or her intercession with the Father. This helps explain why Roman Catholics place such emphasis on sainthood—According to Catholic doctrine, dead saints benefit the living faithful by being available to them for intercession.
So how, then, does the church declare a person a saint? In most circumstances, there must first be a 5-year waiting period between the person’s death and the commencement of the canonization process. (To “canonize” is to officially declare a person a saint.) However, under some circumstances this requirement is waived, as it was with both John Paul II and Mother Teresa. Once begun, the process involves a number of steps, each of which involves bestowing a title upon the candidate for sainthood.
1.Servant of God. After the 5-year waiting period (or the waiver) individuals or organizations within the diocese where the person died or is buried can lobby the local bishop to begin an investigation into that person’s life and virtue. They need to prove that the candidate lived an exemplary life and held faithfully to doctrine consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. If sufficient evidence is gathered and produced, the bishop may then ask the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to consider the case. If and when the Congregation accepts the case, the candidate under consideration is granted the honorific title “Servant of God.”
2.Venerable. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints looks at all of the evidence given to them, pursues new lines of evidence, and determines if this person lived a life of “heroic virtue.” If it is found that the person did, indeed, display exemplary holiness, the candidate is officially declared “Venerable.” It is important to note that this does not yet establish that the person is in heaven, but simply that he or she lived a life of exceptional holiness. However, at this point the faithful are encouraged to begin praying to the candidate for miraculous intercession.
3.Blessed. The third step is beatification and for this to happen, the person must be credited with a verified posthumous miracle. This miracle must be the result of the candidate’s intercession in response to petitions offered after his or her death. These miracles are almost always medical, healings that must be instantaneous, complete, permanent, without scientific explanation, and not attributable to any other saint. The miracle is taken as proof that the person is in heaven, able to intercede between God and man. Upon verification of the miracle, the candidate is given the title “Blessed” and the pope establishes a feast day in his or her honor. This person may now be venerated and churches named after him or her, but only locally within a region, diocese, or religious order. (“Veneration” is a difficult term to define but is usually described as a lower form of worship than the worship given to God and Mary. It involves praying to or petitioning that person for their prayers and often creating statues or images of him or her as an aid to such acts.)
4.Saint. The final step is canonization where the person is formally declared a saint. For this to occur, the person must be credited with a second miracle. When this second miracle has been verified, the pope assigns a feast day that may be celebrated by any Roman Catholic in any place. Any person may now pray to that saint and churches or organizations around the world may be named after him or her. The person’s sainthood is formally declared during a special papal mass said in his or her honor.
In the case of Mother Teresa, she has long been considered an exemplar of Catholic virtue, and her life and writings have been declared free from heresy. She has been formally recognized by the Vatican as responsible for two posthumous miracles: the healing of an Indian woman’s abdominal tumors after a locket containing her picture was laid on the patient’s stomach and the healing of a Brazilian man’s brain infection and abscesses. All that now remains is for the pope to declare her Saint Teresa of Calcutta, a task he will complete in September.
How do we, as Protestants, think well about all of this? So much could be said and the more we say the deeper we would need to dig into the intricacies and errors of Roman Catholic doctrine and practice, especially as it relates to justification, sanctification, and glorification. But perhaps we can at least say this: We are saints who have no need of saints. All who have believed in the gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone have already been declared saints by God (see Romans 1:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-3, 2 Corinthians 1:1-2, and Ephesians 2:19-21). We are God’s holy people, called by him and to him. Jesus Christ is the full and final mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5) who invites us to confidently approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) believing that his Spirit is already interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:26-27). We are the saints of God who have no need for the intercession of saints who have gone before.
Selah
Is God in Heaven, is Jesus? Then we can communicate to her the same way we speak to Them because it is only by the power of God that Mary could be in Heaven.
How we know Mary can intercede for us is because she interceded at the wedding at Cana.
And then there’s this:
KJV
“ 41And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Mary’s Song of Praise
(1 Samuel 2:1-11)
46And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
51He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
56And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.”
To me these 2 verses say much of what we need to know about Mary.
“48For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.”
And these verses:
“and Elisabeth was filled with the HOLY GHOST (GOD)...”
“Blessed art though among women.”
And again
“ALL generations shall call me blessed....And HOLY is HIS NAME.”
“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,”
Mary always gives us Jesus, she bore Him, she loved Him, she worshipped Him and she interceded with Him. Her soul MAGNIFIES the LORD!
She was saved by her Son before her birth and was chosen by God from all women. She is our first example of an obedient Christian.
Well, the article said they had quite a backlog of applications. ;o)
All it takes is a smidgen more faith than no faith whatsoever for a saving faith.
Do you want the way how the book Rome assembled says;
or the CURRENT version that Rome ACTUALLY uses?
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
1 John 3:21-24
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Jesus; you just ain't good enough.
We MUST use your Mother as well!
Sound right to you? It shouldn't.
And Jesus told them how to do it at the Last Supper.
No; wait!
He told them from the cross...
YEah; That's the tick...
NO!!!
WAIT!!!!
He told them how to after his appearance where the doors were locked....
No; Mary must have 'appeared' and added how to do it for the assemblers of the bible somehow LEFT IT OUT OF THE BOOK!
“She was saved by her Son before her birth ...” Is reasoning so easily set aside when a great lie must be carried forward?
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Sorry, Mom...
You been on vacation?
The Catholics still have their causcus where they can high five each other all day long.
If they dare to venture out of it; they are FAIR GAME for anyone to take a potshot at the man-made doctrines they have produced over the centuries.
You may; if you wish; counter with your own words.
I hear there is a lot of Luther bashing that goes on at FR's RF.
Eat a wafer and chill; dude!
Your assurance is astounding; but the first part of your sentence is revealing.
Please see the links above.
But those 'links' are how MAN chooses a SAINT.
GOD made it a LOT simpler!
Do NOT touch them!
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