The Communion of Saints

A Production of the Ultimate Christian Podcast Network.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us.” Hebrews 12:1

What is the communion of saints?

It is made up of all the people who are part of the Church, whether in heaven, waiting to enter heaven or on earth. It is a communion of people, meant to remind us that:

-God wants us to share in his divine life,

-we are called to pursue a common goal, holiness,

-mutual love is the bond; we are made one through the gift of Jesus’ life,

-our unity gives us strength, helps us grow in our faith, hope and love,

-we cannot obtain heaven isolated from each other,

-if one suffers, we all suffer; if one gains, we all benefit,

-The Holy Spirit leads us to share spiritual goods and material goods to a sacrificial degree.

The communion of saints is God’s holy human family. Death does not break this bond of love and sharing. The communion of saints connects us all as one body. The Church of this world is joined to the Church of the next in one Body of Christ.  We are never alone; we are united with each other in the mystical body of Christ. One way to act on that unity is to pray for we, the living, to pray for the dead, especially those who are in purgatory. We can also ask for prayer from those in heaven. This includes not only named or canonized saints, but our family and friends who are no longer with us. These souls are much closer to God, they are with him in heaven. Ask for them to intercede for you.

It is no different than asking a friend to pray for you.

Who are Saints?

In the broadest way, a saint is someone who is in a state of grace and united to God. There are also those who have led lives of exemplary example who have been declared saints by the Church. Those are canonized saints. These men and women show us that God can use each of us to point to His glory.

All have us have the potential to one day be saints. That is the goal of the Christian life, to be in heaven with God, at the eternal banquet, united with all those who love him.

the not lukewarm challenge

 

Find a saint to intercede for you. It can be someone you know and love who has died or a canonized saint. Look for a saint you can relate to You can use this site to find a saint based your name, a special date, a special interest or need, even your profession! Leave a comment and tell us who you found.

 

Jesus, the Son of God

A Production of the Ultimate Christian Podcast Network.

Do you ever wonder where we would be without Jesus? I know I would not be a tenth of the person I am today without him and my faith in him So who is Jesus, well, he is the second person of the Trinity, God the Son. He is incarnate, which means he took on human flesh, became a person like us in all things but sin and came to this world to save us.

The incarnation is JJesus, Second person of the Trinityesus taking on our humanity. But the Incarnation also gives us a share in his divinity. Jesus’ birth and death gives us a renewed hope and belief that we too, will one day be in heaven. The Incarnation is a foundational belief.  It is the basis for believing and understanding Jesus’ mission, which is to save us, the purpose of his church and his eventual second coming.

For thousands of years, God called his people to himself, but they often turned away. So, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption” (Gal 4:4-5).

Jesus is our redeemer.  He took on our sins, all the consequences of them and paid our debt to the Father. His Passion and Death, his ultimate sacrifice – saved us from our sins, reconciled us to the Father and opened the gates of heaven

One way in which Jesus was different than us is that He lived a life of total and complete obedience to his Father. In the Garden of Gethsemane when he knew his death was imminent, he prayed for God’s will to be done, not his. His suffering on the cross was real and true and painful. He suffered in his humanity; that suffering was possible because of his divinity.

Jesus rose from the dead and bodily ascended into heaven. He promised his Father would send the Holy Spirit to us to help us, guide us, and empower us. The Spirit forms us in the likeness of Jesus. We live in continual conversion toward God and away from sin.

Jesus reveals the Father to us, for he is visible. His desire is for us to enter into a relationship with him based on our free love for him. Just as God the Father does not force us to love him, neither does Jesus.

Jesus intends for us to become holy and partake of his divine nature. The more we go to Him in prayer and ask for what we need, the more we will receive. We can look at his life as an example, he shows us the way to holiness.

the not lukewarm challenge This our challenge is to pray the Jesus prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

For more information about the Jesus prayer, take a look here.