When we speak of “saints” in the Catholic Church, we are really speaking about the mystery of God’s grace at work in human lives. A saint is someone who has lived faithfully in friendship with God and now shares fully in His glory in heaven. They are not perfect people by nature, but men and women who allowed God’s love to perfect them. Every saint reminds us that holiness is possible — that ordinary people, with faith and perseverance, can reflect the light of Christ in the world.
The Church officially recognizes certain individuals as saints through a process called canonization. This means the Church, after careful study of their lives and often the confirmation of miracles through their intercession, declares that this person is in heaven and worthy of veneration. Saints like St. Peter, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, or St. Teresa of Calcutta show us that holiness takes many forms — from quiet prayer to tireless service.
But the communion of saints is larger than those who are canonized. It includes all the faithful who are in heaven, known and unknown. The Catechism teaches that every soul who dies in God’s grace and friendship is a saint. In that sense, the saints are our family in faith — our older brothers and sisters who now live fully in Christ and pray for us as we journey toward the same home.
To honor the saints is not to worship them, but to thank God for His work in them and to seek their prayers. Just as we ask friends on earth to pray for us, we ask the saints — who live closer to God’s heart — to intercede for us. Their lives give us courage to walk our own path of holiness, trusting that what God did in them, He can also do in us.
May the saints remind us that holiness is not beyond our reach. Each day, in small acts of faith and love, we too are being shaped for heaven.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
