Month: October 2022

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Who are the saints?

The Church recognizes as saints those souls who left this world and find themselves in the glory of the presence of God (CCC 954), the souls of those who, amid worldly suffering, were able to reach perfect union with Christ, according to the state and condition of each one. Those who, being men like us, were transformed more perfectly into the image of Christ (LG 50). They are the witnesses who have preceded us in the Kingdom, they participate in the living tradition of prayer, through the model of their life, through the transmission of their writings and for his current prayer. They contemplate God, praise him and do not stop caring for those who have stayed on earth. Entering “into the joy” of the Lord, they have been “charged with much more.” Their intercession is their highest service to God’s plan. we can and we must beg them to intercede for us and for the whole world (CCC 2683).

Due to the fact that they are already glorified, these souls are more intimately united with Christ, they consolidate more firmly to the whole Church 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. By their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped (CCC 956).

Jesus Christ made a call to holiness to all his disciples (Matthew 5:48), “Be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy.” That call is open to all of us, because God has placed us in the world to know him, serve him and love him, and thus go to heaven. Having a clean heart makes us participate in the divine nature and eternal life. With it, man enters into the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian life (CCC 1721).

The Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of Heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God (CCC 1724).

Let us then purify ourselves with the grace of the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments that Christ Jesus gave us, so that we can follow the map towards holiness that He Himself left us in the beatitudes and we can enjoy, like the saints, being in the presence of God at the end of times.

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What must I do to inherit eternal life?

This is the question we must always keep in mind to evaluate our actions, our Lord Jesus Christ himself tells us: we must comply with the commandments, and abandon ourselves to the Lord (Mark 10:17-22). He was also very clear when he spoke with his disciples telling them that: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life ” (John 6:35-58). Our Lord also teaches us how we can eat his flesh and drink his blood, through the consecrated bread and wine in the mass (Luke 22:19). Jesus Christ is the spotless lamb who frees us from the slavery of sin (Exodus 12:3,5), the lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). So, we already know what we must do to be able to get to heaven, we must be in communion with Jesus whenever we can and when are in the grace of the Lord.

But, what do I have to do to be in grace and thus be able to take communion? Jesus Christ also indicates which path we must follow, since He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6-7), we must follow the example of Christ, love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).

Jesus Christ knows that we want to be perfect, but that we have flaws and that many times we succumb to sin, that is why He left us a way to be able to purify ourselves in life from our sins and that is why he gave authority to the apostles (John 20:22-23) and their successors to be able to forgive our sins (CCC 1461), by means of the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Jesus left us these sacraments, so that as pilgrim people to the new Jerusalem where we have the abode that our Lord has prepared for us (John 14:2), we can battle against earthly temptations, and to be able to heal the wounds of our soul the times when sin takes its toll on us.

Let us be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, Therefore let’s put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, we may be able to stand our ground, with the belt of truth buckled around our waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, let’s take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  (Ephesians 6:10-18)

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Does Purgatory exist?

“That’s an invention, purgatory does not appear in the bible!”, these are arguments that we have heard from other Christians and that sometimes make us doubt. Is purgatory an invention or are there really biblical foundations for its existence? The Church since its
inception has promulgated the purification of souls through fire (1 Corinthians 3:11-15) since nothing tainted will enter the eternal city of heaven (Revelations 21:27).

Although the sacrament of reconciliation cleanses us from sins, this is a sacrament that consists of several parts: contrition, absolution and penance (CCC 1448), it is necessary to comply with penance in order to be completely free of the sins committed (CCC 1459). The Church teaches us that the souls of the purgatory,  are souls who departed from this world in full charity with God, but who have not yet completed the penance for the sins committed (Council of Lyon II – 1274).

We can find references in the old testament about the purification of the sins of those who have already died being pious and the works that the living can do for the final sanctification of their souls (2 Maccabees 12:44-45), the tortuous wait and subsequent salvation (Micah 7:8-9), the final judgment and purification by fire (Isaiah 4:4).

Jesus Christ himself through the parable of Lazarus and the rich man explains to us that the souls that go to hell, cannot cross into heaven (Luke 16:25-26). So what does He tell us about purgatory? He also made reference to the final judgment and forgiveness of sins, in the Gospel of Saint Matthew we find His words: “Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court with him. If you fail to do so, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge will put you in the custody of the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Believe the truth of what I tell you: you will not be given your freedom until you have paid your debt down to the last penny” (Matthew 5:25-26). What kind of prison could He be referring to from which you can get out by serving the penance if it is not the purgatory?

Let us receive the sacrament of reconciliation often, repent of all our sins, faithfully carrying out penance so that we may share the glory with our Lord. Let us offer masses and works of mercy for the blessed souls in purgatory for their complete sanctification.

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What are the states of the Church?

When we pray the apostles’ creed, we say: “I believe in the communion of saints…” What does this passage refers to? Let’s review what the successors of the apostles tell us: “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.” (Lumen Gentium 49, CCC 954-955). Since all followers of Christ are called to Holiness (Matthew 5:48) and share with Him the grace of the Holy Spirit by virtue of our Sacraments of Initiation (CCC 1285), the Church recognizes holiness in the living and in the dead. Some of them being in the process of purification and others enjoying the glory of the presence of God.

We understand then the states of the Church, as those states in which the souls of the disciples of Christ are found, some of them, already in the Triumphant Church or Glorified Church, the Church in Heaven, in the kingdom of the Holy Trinity, the angels and the saints who have reached complete salvation with Christ (Romans 8:28-30). We, in the Church Militant or Pilgrim Church, walk through the world towards the Church triumphant, and we are militants because we are in a constant battle facing earthly temptations (Ephesians 6:13-16). Some souls find themselves being purified in the Suffering Church, those are the souls that left this world in charity with God, with true repentance of their sins, without having satisfied their sins of what they did or failed to do with true fruits of penance, purifying themselves after death with the pains of purgatory. These penance can be mitigated through actions of living beings, namely: masses, prayers, alms and other works of piety according to the provisions of the Church (Council of Lyons II).

Let’s keep fighting against earthly temptations, let us request the help of those who preceded us in the presence of our Lord, and let’s keep praying for the purification of the holy souls in purgatory.

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Do angels really exist?

When we pray the penitential act at mass, we ask the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the angels and the saints, who are the angels and how do we know if they really exist? Let’s go to the explanation given by St. Augustine, bishop and doctor of the Church: “The name of an angel indicates his office, not his nature. If you ask about his nature, I will tell you that he is a spirit; if you ask about what he does, I will say that it is an angel” (CCC 329), then we understand that angels are spiritual beings created by God and we accept this as a truth of faith (CCC 328). We profess this truth of faith every time we recite the creed by saying: “…creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” The angels do the will of God (Psalms 103:20) since they are always in the presence of God and see his face (Matthew 18:10).

Being Catholics, we cannot deny the existence of angels, since they are mentioned multiple times in the Scriptures, starting in Genesis where God put an angel to guard the Garden of Eden after the expulsion of Adam and Eve after having fallen into sin (Genesis 3:24), all through the book of Revelations where angels are mentioned 73 times. Even the devil acknowledges their existence when tempting our Lord (Matthew 4:6), he takes Him to the
pinnacle of the temple and citing the Scripture tells Him to launch from there, since “the Angels will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Psalms 91:11-12).

The tradition of the Church even tells us that each of us has a guardian angel (CCC 336) placed by God himself to guide us on the right path and protect us, just like they did to Moses (Exodus 23:20), Elijah (1 Kings 19:5), Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego (Daniel 3:24-25) among many other prophets and faithful devoted to God.

Let us continue to join the heavenly choir of angels every time we participate in the mass by singing or reciting the Gloria, just as they did to announce the arrival of the Savior of the World and Redeemer of humanity (Luke 2:10-14)