Lesson 28 - Communion of Saints

(Lesson 28)

Communion of Saints

“I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count” Rev 7:9

Discussion Guide:

The term communion of saints refers to the community and the fellowship that exists between all members of the Church. There are three levels that exist in this community. The Church Triumphant: consisting of the saints in heaven, The Church Militant: consisting of the believers on earth, and the Church Suffering: consisting of the souls in purgatory. Our faith teaches us that death does not cut the ties between members of the Church because our souls are immortal and it is only our physical bodies that die.

The word saint has two meanings. The Bible refers to all believers on earth as saints. In the Catholic faith, there is another usage of the word saint. It refers to a deceased person that the Church has declared, by examination of their life and their faith, is already in heaven with God as part of the Church Triumphant. The process of recognizing a saint is called canonization. The pope, as the visible head of the Church, has the authority to publicly recognize someone as a saint. This does not mean that those are the only people in heaven. There are probably countless saints in heaven that are not publicly recognized. The saints can intercede for us with God. Since they have already achieved eternal life and see God face to face, they can pray for us if we ask them to. Many documented miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the saints, especially Mary the Mother of God. Keep in mind that the saints have no special power of their own and are not Gods. The miracles they obtain for us come only from the power of God.

The Church suffering consists of the holy souls in purgatory. These people died in the state of grace and are definitely bound for heaven. They can use our prayers to more quickly bring them into the fullness of God’s presence. Purgatory is the mercy of God. These souls will remember us when they get to heaven if we faithfully pray for them and gain indulgences for them. The souls in Purgatory can also pray for us. Unlike hell, there is much hope in purgatory because it is only temporary.
The Church militant consists in the believers here on earth. We must be united in our faith and strong in our earthly community. We need to demonstrate our love for each other in such a way that we become witnesses of the love of God to others. We are united to the entire Church in a mystical way. We should pray for each other, for the intercession of the saints, and for the souls in purgatory. We should love one another as Christ has loved us!

Discussion Points:

· The communion of saints consists of those in heaven, earth, and purgatory

· Death does not separate us from the Church unless we die in mortal sin

· The saints can intercede for us with God and gain special favors for us

· Many miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the saints

· We must care for the people on this earth while working out our salvation

· We should strive to become saints by living our lives according to Jesus

LUMEN GENTIUM

Second Vatican Council

49. Until the Lord shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him and death being destroyed, all things are subject to Him, some of His disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are purified, and others are in glory beholding "clearly God Himself triune and one, as He is"; but all in various ways and degrees are in communion in the same charity of God and neighbor and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God. For all who are in Christ, having His Spirit, form one Church and cleave together in Him. Therefore the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who have gone to sleep in the peace of Christ is not in the least weakened or interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the perpetual faith of the Church, is strengthened by communication of spiritual goods. For by reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with Christ, they establish the whole Church more firmly in holiness, lend nobility to the worship which the Church offers to God here on earth and in many ways contribute to its greater edification. 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, showing forth the merits which they won on earth through the one Mediator between God and man, serving God in all things and filling up in their flesh those things which are lacking of the sufferings of Christ for His Body which is the Church. Thus by their brotherly interest our weakness is greatly strengthened.

50. Fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead, and "because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins", also offers suffrages for them. The Church has always believed that the apostles and Christ's martyrs who had given the supreme witness of faith and charity by the shedding of their blood, are closely joined with us in Christ, and she has always venerated them with special devotion, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy angels. The Church has piously implored the aid of their intercession. To these were soon added also those who had more closely imitated Christ's virginity and poverty, and finally others whom the outstanding practice of the Christian virtues and the divine charisms recommended to the pious devotion and imitation of the faithful.
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 by which among the vicissitudes of this world, in keeping with the state in life and condition proper to each of us, we will be able to arrive at perfect union with Christ, that is, perfect holiness. In the lives of those who, sharing in our humanity, are however more perfectly transformed into the image of Christ, God vividly manifests His presence and His face to men. He speaks to us in them, and gives us a sign of His Kingdom, to which we are strongly drawn, having so great a cloud of witnesses over us and such a witness to the truth of the Gospel.

Communion of Saints

“I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count” Rev 7:9

Opening Prayer:

The Memorare:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly to you, O virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

Theme:

The communion of saints refers to the community of the saints in heaven, people on earth, and souls in purgatory. Death does not separate us from the communion of saints. The saints in heaven can intercede for our needs.

Bible Readings:

Exodus 17:11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

Ephesians 4:4-8 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Matthew 17:1-3 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

Explanation of the Bible readings: These two readings from Exodus show us that Moses had a personal relationship with God. He frequently interceded for the people of Israel when they sinned. His prayers and his actions had an effect on the outcome of the battle against Amalek. God listens to intercessory prayer! St. Paul gives a good description of the earthly portion of the communion of saints. We have one faith that we share but we all have different gifts to offer the community. We all have one Father and need to treat each other like brothers and sisters. St. Matthew describes a scene where Moses and Elijah are actually speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses had been dead for centuries and Elijah had been mysteriously taken up by a whirlwind. This Biblical evidence demonstrates that the “communion of saints” extends to the saints in heaven. There are many other examples from scripture that illustrate this Catholic teaching.

James 5:16 The prayer of the righteous avails much
Hebrews 12:1 We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses
Luke 16:19-27 Lazarus and the rich man communicate

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The Communion of Saints

946 After confessing "the holy catholic Church," 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 must 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)."…

949 In the primitive community of Jerusalem, the disciples "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers."

Communion in the faith. The faith of the faithful is the faith of the Church, received from the apostles. Faith is a treasure of life which is enriched by being shared.

950 Communion of the sacraments. "The fruit of all the sacraments belongs to all the faithful. All the sacraments are sacred links uniting the faithful with one another and binding them to Jesus Christ, and above all Baptism, the gate by which we enter into the Church….

951 Communion of charisms. Within the communion of the Church, the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for the building up of the Church. Now, "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

952 "They had everything in common." "Everything the true Christian has is to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else. All Christians should be ready and eager to come to the help of the needy . . . and of their neighbors in want." A Christian is a steward of the Lord's goods.

953 Communion in charity. In the sanctorum communio, "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together….

THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

954 The three states of the Church. "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating 'in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is"'….

955 "So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods."

956 The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus . . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."…

957 Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself"

We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples!

958 Communion with the dead. "In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and 'because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins' she offers her suffrages for them."Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.

959 In the one family of God. "For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity - all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ - we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church."

What is an indulgence?

1471 …."An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."

"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin." The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.

1498 Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory.

1479 Since the faithful departed now being purified are also members of the same communion of saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal punishments due for their sins may be remitted.

Faith words:

Indulgence: a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven

Saint: a person who has died and has been declared a saint by canonization, or a living member of the Church

Reflection Questions:

Name a canonized saint that you are familiar with and discuss him or her.




What are some possible ways that we can be of help to the “communion of saints”?




Describe a person that you personally know who in your opinion is saint-like.