We are ALL Saints
In early September, the Roman Catholic Church declared that
Agnes Bojaxhiu – more commonly known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta – was a
Saint, with a capital “S”. The process
that the Roman Catholic Church uses to declare someone a “Saint” is called “canonization,”
in which the person is vetted by a group of people to ensure that the person
led a Godly life and (at least the lore goes) has two miracles attributed to
his or her ministry. While this is a
noble task, it is one that I have severe theological issues with and would like
to clarify our Anglican tradition on the subject.
With all do respect to St. Teresa of Calcutta (not to be
confused with St. Teresa of Avila!), we all are saints! The tradition of declaring that certain
people are somehow better than others is indeed just that, a tradition that was
started centuries after Jesus walked on Earth.
The problem of selecting a few “special” people and raising them up is
that it gives the rest of us leave to believe that they are in, some way, better
than we are or can ever be. That is NOT
true.
The problem with canonization is the pedestal that comes
with it. [To a certain extent, that pedestal comes with ordination as well, but
I digress.] We put “Saints” on those pedestals not only to lift them up, but to
also put them out of reach, to demonstrate how lofty their actions and lives
were. They were so good that they were “closer
to God” and “above it all,” untouched by the hardships of the day and able, through
their profound faith, to succeed.
I am eternally grateful that Mother Teresa’s personal
journals were found that have page after page of confessions describing just how hard
life was for her. In the face of such
crushing poverty, she had doubts and fears and failures – just like everyone
else. She was no better and no worse
than you or me. But she did dedicate
her life to helping people in the worst conditions. We should celebrate that and try to emulate
that rather than stick her on a pedestal and believe we could never be the
same. We are more alike than we are
different in our hopes and fears. The
biggest difference is that she choose to live with the marginalized, just like
Jesus.
In our Anglican tradition, while we use title of “Saint” to
refer to some individuals, like the apostles and other notables (St. Barnabas,
for one!), it is mostly a title of respect handed down with the tradition
we inherited from our Roman Catholic roots. We don’t canonize any one today, although we
do make saints all the time – we simply call it baptism. That is the full initiation rite into the
family of God and with that comes the designation of being a saint. Perhaps the
title is a bit of a burden, but it is one we have a lifetime to live into
being. And it is not intended to make us
“holier than thou,” but remind us of who we are and whose we are, and to act
accordingly.
There is a bit of irony in all of this as I write on
November 2nd, what our Anglican calendar refers to as “The
Commemoration of All Faithfully Departed.”
In the Roman Catholic tradition, it is called “All Soul’s Day”, since
All Saints’ Day was for Saints with the capital “S”, they needed a day for
everyone else. Since we are ALL saints,
there isn’t a need for another day, but no one likes messing with tradition, so
a new, less theologically-founded holy day was born.
It is not a bad thing to remember the Church Triumphant –
those gathered around the heavenly banquet table – or connecting them with the Church
Militant – those still fighting the good fight.
It is helpful to see beyond the veil of death to life eternal, and how
the examples of those who have gone before can help us here and now. We gather strength in their testimony, even
their confessions of doubt, to do the work we still have to do. We don’t accept that anyone was better – or worse
– than we are because God is not into sibling rivalry, but it communal support
and love.
We are all saints. If
we all accepted that title with some grace, the world would be a better place.
In Christ,
Rev.
Valerie+
Comments
Post a Comment