A commentator over at Jesus Creed, an Emerging Church blog, made a comment about having difficulty with the idea that "dead saints" can hear us in heaven, and pray for us. I made a reply, because I love this part of the Catholic teaching about the nature of the Communion of Saints, and then decided to put it here because readers of this blog might like it, too. Here it is:
A word about dead saints: The thing about them is they’re not dead, they’re alive and in heaven with Christ. Since we’re all one Body, we’re not separated from them or them from us.
We tend to think of history as being dead and gone. But actually history, the Body of Christ in history, is alive, and is being gathered up into eternity from time, and living on in eternity. The Body is all over the earth and extending into heaven as one continuum, not two separate places or things. We are all being held in Christ, in heaven and on earth; the entire universe is held in Christ. We cannot be separated from Christ, nor can we be separated from any part of His Body, no matter how long ago in time other members departed this earth.
In a sense, we ourselves are living in eternity now, in part, because Christ is living in us. Through Christ, we are also a part of the Body in eternity, in heaven.
There is evidence in the bible that those in heaven are very aware of what is happening on earth, such as the “cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12, or the souls crying out from under the altar in Revelation 6. The Catholic idea of “praying” to them is neither worship nor some form of divination or mumbo-jumbo; it’s a simple request for them pray for us, i.e. intercede for us, like how we intercede for each other in prayer while on earth. Since they’re so close to God in heaven, and free from sin, we consider that God hears them that much better, and they pray only in accordance with God’s will.
I think it’s a beautiful teaching. For me, it really enriches how I experience being a part of the Body, and how I think of the Body. I think all Christians, not only Catholics, can think about it this way, and be really enriched by it. May help overcome some of the divisions that keep us apart from each other on earth.
