When was the last time you stopped to think that as a Catholic you are a member of a family that not only extends across our world but into the next? Even though we come together at Mass every week, most Catholics never stop to consider the parish as a family, let alone the whole Church as a family, and even fewer Catholics extend that family beyond the church militant, the saints in heaven, to the church suffering, the souls on purgatory, and the church triumphant, those of us still on earth.
While many Catholics have never heard of the communion of saints, all the saints in heaven, it seems important that we pray to the communion of saints for intercession on our pilgrimage to join them. The Second Vatican Council in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium discussing the communion of saints teaches that the communion of saints never ceases to pray on our behalf to the Father. "For after they have been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord, through Him and with Him and in Him they do not cease to intercede with the Father for us."[1] The intercession of the saints is powerful because they are united to the Lord. Thinking of it in simple terms the intercession of the saints and the Blessed Virgin is powerful because they are human like us and know of our need for prayers, yet at the same time as saints live in union with God. We must pray for the intercession of the saints because"by their brotherly interest our weakness is greatly strengthened."[2]
We should not only pray to the communion of saints but we should also study their lives and try to imitate the holy lives of the saints because "When we look at the lives of those who have faithfully followed Christ, we are inspired with a new reason for seeking the City that is to come and at the same time we are shown a most safe path."[3] Lumen Gentium highly encourages this saying, "Let them therefore teach the faithful that the authentic cult of the saints consists not so much in the multiplying of external acts, but rather in the greater intensity of our love, whereby, for our own greater good and that of the whole Church we seek from the saints "example in their way of life."[4] People of all ages will benefit from reading and imitating the lives of the saints.
As members of the Body of Christ we cannot neglect to prayer for the church suffering. Just as those in heaven pray for us we also have an obligation to pray for those in purgatory. It is truly "a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins."[5]
As Catholics we are blessed to live in a family, the Body of Christ. "For all of us, who are sons of God and constitute one family Christ."[6] We must always remember that we do not practice our faith alone. We are a part of a larger family. We must frequently interact with that family through prayer and never cease to teach the beautiful reality of this family to others. It just seems that if this family "attitude" were encouraged amongst the faithful we would have a holier Church.
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