Saint Tifying Grace

John Paul II is on a fast track for becoming a saint. This last week papers were submitted to the proper department in the Vatican, giving medical proof that a certain nun was healed of an incurable disease after praying to him. As soon as the Vatican approves a second confirmed miracle, they will file the right documents, and shortly afterwards John Paul II will officially be declared blessed, on route to becoming a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

There is certainly nothing wrong with the Christian body placing in front of us the example of lives lived in submission and service to the Lord. Hebrews presents a list of people from the Old Testament whose faith without seeing affected the way they lived and acted, demonstrating their trust in God and His promises. The book of Acts talks about people like Stephen, who served God in the power of the Spirit, and was the first martyr of the body of Christ. 

As a youngster I read about the lives of various Catholic saints, and lately I've enjoyed books giving accounts of great missionaries, or men and women used by the Spirit during outbreaks of revival. However, the true witness of each story is not in the greatness of the individual, or the magnitude of their accomplishments, but rather that they had a part in advancing the kingdom of God on earth. 

It is good to have their examples placed before us, but ultimately all the praise and glory rightly belongs to God, who moves through people by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we miss this, we miss everything. God is our designer and creator. He desires not just our obedience, but also our worship. He loves us, and wants us to spend time with Him. He is jealous toward anyone or anything that becomes a priority before Him.

During the 40 years that the Jewish people were in the wilderness, God gave them the law and the tabernacle, showing the direction He desired for them. His first commandment declared that He is the Lord, their God, and they were not to have false gods before Him. When God sent them into the promised land His instructions were to wipe out the inhabitants, possess the land, and worship God as He had taught them.

God did not want the Jewish people to be compromised by the pagan idols, holy places and practices existing there. He forbade displaying images of man, animal or insect, less they become objects of worship. The ancient enemy rebelled from God, desiring the worship due to God alone. And pagan temples, high places, sacred trees and sacred objects are dwelling places of evil spirits who serve the enemy. Unfortunately the Jewish people did not fully possess the land, did not wipe out the inhabitants, and they did not have a land free from pagan worship.

In Leviticus 19:31 God says; "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God". Saul was the first Jewish king. In 1 Samuel 28 is an account where Saul is surrounded by his enemy and becomes very frightened. "When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by Urim or by prophets. Then Saul said . . . 'Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go and inquire of her'". In defiance of God Saul consulted with the witch of Endor, a medium, wanting to talk with the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Mediums do not have the power to bring forward the spirits of the dead. 

The illusion that this happens is brought about by deceiving evil spirits, who may know information about a particular person. But in this instance, to the surprise of the witch, God intervenes, bringing the spirit of Samuel to Saul to give him a devastating prophecy about Saul's kingdom and royal line. In the Old Testament God forbids contacting the dead. The practice invites the involvement of evil spirits into a person's life. And no approval is given or examples found for this in the New Testament.

So how did the practice of praying to the souls of the dead gain acceptance in the organized Church? The beginning Chruch was composed primarily of people from a Jewish background, who brought with them a foundation of scripture, traditions, and a mindset that acknowledged Almighty God. But eventually Gentiles became the majority. They were ex-pagans living in a pagan dominated society. And they brought into the Church some compromising ideas that conflicted with scripture. 

The idea of praying to Mary or to the souls of the departed martyrs is a good example of this. In the ancient world the most powerful and appealing deities were those associated with the mother w/child goddess. Eventually the qualities ascribed to Mary went beyond that of her yielding to the desire of God and the move of the Holy Spirit to become the vessel God used so that the Word would be made flesh. She was given non-scriptural qualities such as being born sinless, remaining sinless, staying a virgin, ascending to heaven, being a primary intercessor or mediator between man and God, and reigning as queen of heaven. She became god-like in her qualities, which made it OK to direct towards her prayer and veneration.

Along with this was the fact that the first three hundred years of Christian history saw intense periods of persecution, resulting in many martyrs. The examples of those martyrs were naturally used to encourage the faith and hope of others who might one day face the same trial. And as Mary was elevated and it became OK to pray to her, it was easy to allow prayer to the souls of the martyrs as well. 

These are traditions and theology that gained acceptance early on, both in Rome and in the other centers of Christianity. And they put up barriers to a direct relationship with God, and to experiencing a free and powerful moving of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. Religion replaces relationship, obedience to religious law replaces discernment, and praying to Mary and the saints replaces a direct conversation with the creator of the Universe, robbing both us and God. 

When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple that separated man from access to the Holy of Holies was torn in two. No longer was there a need to present offerings to a priest, who would in turn present them to God. No longer was there a need for a high priest to enter the Most Holy Place to sprinkle blood for the sins of the nation. The blood of Jesus, our High Priest, did this for us. His Spirit now can unite with our spirit, so that we will become temples of the Holy Spirit. God does not need, nor does He desire, an intermediary between Himself and man.

The theology of Thomas Aquinas added another dimension to this. He taught that grace was a quantity of something, produced by the actions of Christ or man, that was stored in heaven, and which could be transferred to people on earth. Thus Jesus, by living a sinless life, and by His suffering and death, produced a limitless quantity of grace. But Mary also, by her holy life and her agony over the crucifixion of her Son, and the martyrs and other saints by their lives and sufferings, added grace to the heavenly storehouse as well.

The Holy Spirit would transfer this grace to men in two ways. One would be through participation in the sacraments of the organized church. And the other would be through prayer to God or to Mary or the saints. So salvation in a Catholic sense comes because the sacramental act of baptism transfers grace, earned by Christ on the cross, to the person being baptized, canceling out original sin.

Sin that occurs during a person's life must also be canceled out by grace, either acquired by that person through their acts and suffering, or through participation in the sacraments of the church. If what is produced in a lifetime in not sufficient, then more must be produced through suffering in a non-scriptural location called Purgatory, or through a transference of grace from the living.

If follows then that if John Paul II produced grace through his extraordinary life and holiness, and if that grace was sufficient to pay what would be due to either avoid or have a short stay in Purgatory, and if he had grace to deposit into the heavenly storehouse, then some of that grace could be transferred to whomever prays to John Paul II, thus affecting a healing. The healing would then be proof that John Paul II is in heaven, and can be declared a saint.

I do not dispute that people pray to Mary and the saints with sincere hearts, and that sometimes their prayers are answered by a loving God. But there is a better way.