I have just started reading Meacham"s His Truth Is Marching On about John Lewis in which he calls him a saint. Do you believe in saints? And if so who would you names as saints?
I have just started reading Meacham"s His Truth Is Marching On about John Lewis in which he calls him a saint. Do you believe in saints? And if so who would you names as saints?
Define what you mean by a saint please. I see people who are working with challenging situations, others who hang in longterm under trying conditions.
As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
Random thoughts about saints:
One of the first books I was given by my grandmother when I was really young was Lives of the Saints.
I think the concept of sainthood falls into two categories
a) those who are beatified by the Church through a formal process and
b) people who exemplify saintly qualities--in your example, John Lewis.
Dorothy Day is not a saint yet as determined by the Catholic Church, and may never be because she had a child out of wedlock and was divorced before she became a Catholic. One time someone called her a saint and her response was "don't dismiss me so easily." She's one of my favorite "saints"
I don't know if I "believe in" saints, but I do believe there are people who are utterly selfless and committed to a higher purpose. I would call MLK a saint in that regard.
One of the priests I had in Catholic school said that there are many, many saints among us--and he included in that pool of extraordinary people some ordinary housewives he knew.
I enjoy reading the works of many saints.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
In the Bible all believers are saints, but it is a term used nowadays to denote people whose lives demonstrate extraordinary moral vision.
I think people who wear masks are saints. They place the safety of others over their own convenience and selfish desires.
That's not what I've been taught, but I did look that up and it seems that there are quotes in the Bible that refer to all people in the early Christian church who follow Christ as saints. I don't think that definition has held true throughout Christianity however, which is why it's a big deal to achieve sainthood in the Catholic Church.
But there are certainly a lot of definitions of "saint" around. Richard Rohr calls saints those who "have been wounded and come out whole--free of anger, cynicism, resentment, hatefulness." C.S. Lewis said "The saint may win ‘a mortal glimpse of death’s immortal rose,’ but it is a by-product. He took ship simply in humble and selfless love.”
And there are saints in almost all other religions as models of holiness.
Circling back, though, to the definition of all believers as saints, I guess you could say that a common interpretation is anyone who models Christ and his teachings--walks the walk so to speak.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
I believe there are real, historical people who have been proclaimed saints by the Catholic church. In my genealogical ramblings, I discovered a saint or two lurking in my family tree, supposedly. St. Olga, for one--who was pretty appalling in her bloodthirstiness.
I believe there are people who show an extraordinary goodness and devotion to the betterment of society. Like Jadav Payeng, who has single-handedly planted an entire island ecosystem, tree by tree. Perhaps he could be called a modern saint.
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