COMMUNION OF & MARY

Catholicism 101 – Session 6 10.14.19 Church Realms Reminder

• Church Militant • Those on the pilgrim road here on earth • Church Suffering • Those being cleansed on their way to heaven • Purgatorial note • Nothing unclean shall enter heaven (Rev 21:27) • “Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, “It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drop with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy.”? Should we not reply, “With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I’d rather be cleaned first.” “It may hurt, you know” – “Even so, sir.” (CS Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, Letter 20)

• Church Triumphant • Those in heaven at the side of the Lord Physical death does not separate us from the Body of Christ •Romans 8:38 • For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ our Lord. Mediation of Graces – Sacramental Principle • Common objections to of Saints • Idol worship/ worship • Allowing creation to get in the way of worship God • Babe Ruth??? • Definition of a Sacrament (visible sign of invisible grace) • Touches both parts of our person: human/divine • To just address our mind/spirit/soul, would be remiss • God KNEW this, he catered the Church and its sacraments to best fit our needs • He USES creation as a medium of his grace ( means) Mediation through Things

• Things • Jesus using earth and spit to cure blind man (John 9:5-12) • Jesus’ robe curing woman of hemorrhages (Mark 5:25-34) • Paul’s cloth used to cure disease (Acts 19:11-12) • Peter’s shadow curing (Acts 5) • Others places?? • Play out in liturgy of the church (smells, bells, sights, sounds) Mediation through People

• People • Paul shocked/blinded… told to travel to Damascus to find Ananias (Acts 9) • Andrew to Peter • Story in parking lot of man telling older man that there is a heaven • MOST OBVIOUS OF ALL… the INCARNATION • God came down from heaven, but didn’t have to, he chose to become human Does this Challenge God’s Primacy?

• I Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

If Christ is the one mediator, does it exclude then the invocation and of saints? • James 5:16: • “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” • Romans 15:30 • “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” • Philippians 1:3-4 • “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my for all of you, I always pray with joy” Mediation is the way of things

• Think of all the times that God used Angels to mediate his grace to his people in the OT or NT • Angels know and care • “there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance” (Luke 15:10) • “And the angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem” (Zech 1:12-13) • Angel Raphael to Tobit: “When you prayed with tears, I offered your prayers to the Lord” (Tobit 12:12) • Angels offering the prayers (incense) of the saints before God in heaven (Rev 8:3-4) • God commanding Abimelech to pray for ’s intercession (Gen 20:7,17) or the telling of Job’s friends to have Job pray because he would be heard (Job 42:8) #Saints?

• 2 common understandings of the term • All of the baptized are “saints” as we see in the NT • Numerous Biblical examples to support this • Secondly, the Church uses the term “saint” to more specifically refer to those that are canonized • Great heroes of the faith • Reputation for holiness that aroused the devotion of the faithful • Touchstone of sanctity was always the imitation of Christ and the practice of heroic virtue • Practice of the earliest Christians with the veneration of their • Process of … (CCC 946-962)

• 946 After confessing "the holy ," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" The communion of saints is the Church.

• 947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others.... We therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head.... Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments." "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund.”

• 948 The term "communion of saints" therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and "among holy persons (sancti). In Summary

• Intercessory prayer never threatens God’s power or place • He even commands it! • Death does not separate us from Christ, so the prayers of a person closer to Christ are even more powerful! • Just as the Trinity is 3 persons but 1 substance, the Church has members in three stages but is one body where graces and spiritual goods continue to flow between them Church Fathers (scavi) • Origen, Christian writer (185-254 AD) • "But not the High-Priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep.” De oratione, xi • St. , ascetic and scholar (340-420 AD) • If the Apostles and Martyrs, while still in the body, can pray for others, at a time when they must still be anxious for themselves, how much more after their crowns, victories, and triumphs are won! One man, , obtains from God pardon for six hundred thousand men in arms; and Stephen, the imitator of the Lord, and the first in Christ, begs forgiveness for his persecutors; and shall their power be less after having begun to be with Christ? The Apostle Paul declares that two hundred three score and sixteen souls, sailing with him, were freely given him; and, after he is dissolved and has begun to be with Christ, shall he close his lips, and not be able to utter a word in behalf of those who throughout the whole world believed at his preaching of the ? And shall the living dog Vigilantius be better than that dead lion? -Contra Vigilant., n. 6 Communion of the Sacraments Who is Mary in the Communion of Saints?

• She is the most powerful intercessor as she is the closest to her Son • Think of the times in when she is invoked it is always in connection with asking God for something: • “and I ask blessed Mary, ever , and all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord, our God.” • “may their merits and prayers gain us your (God’s) constant help and protection” Church Fathers about Mary’s Intercession

• Klasmata (early 4th Century) • “In the shelter of your mercy we take refuge, Mother of God. Let those who pray to you not yield to temptation. But rescue us from danger, you who alone are pure, alone blessed” • St. Andrew of Crete (7th Century) • “Chaste Mother of God and Virgin, never cease to intercede for us, that we… may be saved from all misfortune” • Burden of proof is not on us, it is on those who present new ideas Nice closing

•"Is Christ only to be adored? Or is the holy Mother of God rather not to be honoured? This is the woman who crushed the Serpent's head. Hear us. For your Son denies you nothing." • Martin Luther • In his last sermon at Wittenburg in January 1546 Q&A