Children of God: Lessons on Sainthood from the Parenting Trenches, Part 1

The other night at bedtime, I vowed not to read any stories to anyone who did not clean up their toys.  When they saw that there was no possible appeal of this horrible sentence, my children climbed up in the rocking chair together and read each other a story.  Even though they were conspiring to get around a punishment, my heart couldn’t help but melt.

As I child I never understood why my parents insisted that I love my little brother, but now that I have two children I can understand how precious the love of siblings is to their parents.  When the tiny human beings you love most in the world show love for each other,  your love returns to you multiplied.  That shared love has given me a small insight into the heart of our Heavenly Father:

When God hears our prayers through the mouths of the saints, He hears the voices of two beloved children He created raised in unison, which must bring great joy to His heart.childrenofGod

Before I joined the Church, I didn’t understand why Catholics felt they had to pray to Saints when they could just pray to Jesus.   I began to understand, after speaking to Catholics, that they see themselves as part of “a communion of saints.”  The Christians that have gone before them did not cease taking an active part in the Church after their death.  They are more than just examples of holiness.

Catholics ask these holy men and women for prayers like I would ask my earthly friends, only the Saints have the advantage of being already in heaven, where they can pray constantly and perfectly.

As a parent, I feel that I understand the intercession of the Saints even more clearly, because I see how much I love when my children work together.  Christ tells us that God answers our prayers as a father answers requests from his children.   As a human parent I hardly begrudge my children coming to me together; rather, I am touched when they show love for each other and for me at the same time.  How much more must our Heavenly Father love to hear from His children on Earth through His children already with Him in Heaven?

Our love for the Saints grows out of our love for God and comes from Him.  He is a relational God and created us to live in relationships.  Those relationships, founded in the eternal and infinite love of  God, are not bound by time or place.  Just as that love gives us the Church Militant on Earth so that we may work together to serve God, it gives us heavenly helpers in the form of the Church Triumphant, the Saints.

All these theological terms merely seek to expound upon the fundamental point that the Church is a family, stretching across the ages and the globe. The Saints are not the demi-gods some might take them for, rather they are our brothers and sisters in heaven.  Their mission, besides glorifying God forever, is to help us to join them in our eternal home.  They pray for us, help us, and encourage us to draw near to our heavenly Father, because we, too, are meant to be saints.

Megan Twomey

Megan Twomey

Megan Twomey studied English and History at Hillsdale College. While she was there, she converted to Catholicism and also bumped into a friend's big brother, who just happened to be her perfect match. She now spends her time as a stay-at-home mama to a superhero preschooler and his toddler sidekick, with baby number three on the way.

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