What color is Jesus’s skin?

My child asked me if Jesus has brown skin. I didn’t know how to answer the question, since the only pictures or statues we have of Jesus show him as Caucasian.

Answer

Jesus was a Palestinian Jew, which means he probably looked similar to modern-day Israelis. However, because Jesus’ mission was to the whole world, different peoples are free to create images of him that show him to be one of their own people. That is why you will sometimes see statues or icons of a “Caucasian Jesus” or an “African Jesus” or a “Native American Jesus” or an “Oriental Jesus.” Such images demonstrate the universality of the Incarnation.

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How does the Catholic Church understand predestination?

Predestination is a term used to identify God’s plan of salvation, in which according to His own decree, He “accomplishes all things according to his will” (Eph. 1:11). God gives us the gift of salvation through grace and faith. In turn, we must use our free will to persevere in good works “prepared beforehand” by God Himself (Eph. 2:8-10; cf. Phil. 2:12, 13).

Discussion: There are two opposite and equally erroneous positions about predestination that have always been rejected in authentic Catholic teaching. The first is that of the Pelagians.[1] Pelagius taught that a person, by the exercise his free will, could obtain salvation unaided by grace. The obvious error here is that God has nothing to do with salvation.

Calvinists and Jansenists teach the second error.[2] They teach that Christ died only for the elect; those predestined to salvation. The rest He predestined to eternal damnation by His own decree. Furthermore, they taught that if God predestined someone to eternal life, it is impossible that he should fall away. Likewise, one chosen for damnation has no choice in the matter, but will surely perish in hell. In short, the individual has nothing to do with his own salvation.

There are various schools of thought among Catholic theologians and philosophers through the ages. Most notably we should mention St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. There are also theories by Molina, St. Robert Bellarmine and the Franciscan Duns Scotus. It is outside the scope of this Faith Fact to look at these in great detail. However, to understand how the Catholic Church views predestination, we must first understand some fundamental concepts. First, the Catholic Church unequivocally teaches that the source of all things is God. This includes grace, the act of faith and even our good works (Eph. 2:8-10; Jas. 1:17, 18). God alone initiates salvation. He always turns toward man first and seeks him, as when God walked in the Garden (Gen. 3:8). Man does not seek God or turn to him without God first calling man to Himself (Jn. 6:37, 44; 1 Jn. 4:10,19). Second, God’s initiative does not exclude man’s free response, but demands it (Catechism of the Catholic Church [Catechism], nos. 154, 155, 2002; Phil. 2:12, 13). In other words, God wills that man be free to choose His grace or reject it. Third, salvation is extended to each and every human person, not limited to just some, and one can fall away from grace (Heb. 2:1-4; 6:4; 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Jn. 5:16, 17). Furthermore, it is imperative that once one is touched by grace, he perseveres in charity lest he forfeit the free gift of salvation (Lumen Gentium [LG], no. 14). Within the confines of these principles, Catholics have sought to understand the mystery of predestination. Though opinions and formulations have varied among Catholic theologians, with these principles left intact, there is room for legitimate speculation.

The only proper framework to understand predestination must be rooted in the notion of a communion of persons in love. Why? The nature of God as Trinity is this very kind of communion and God created man to share in that “blessed life” (cf. Catechism, no. 1). This communion of love demands freedom of will. For love is not something thrust upon a person, but offered as a gift. This communion of love in the Trinity is also the basis for evangelization in the Church (cf. Catechism, no. 850). As this is the very essence of the relationship between God and man, everything in one way or another must refer back to it and be measured by it. As this was God’s purpose in creating man, it is also intimately tied to our redemption and our ultimate destiny. God is love (1 Jn. 4:8).

Salvation is the gift of God alone: Grace

God alone is uncreated. All that is, including man, owes its existence to God. He created man freely and out of “sheer goodness” (Catechism, no. 1). Man has nothing that he did not receive from God. Anyone who would charge the Catholic Church of teaching salvation by works alone or that salvation originates in any way in man, does so in contradiction to the whole history of authentic Catholic teaching.[3] No one can come to Christ, except that the Father draw him (Jn. 6:37, 44). We love Him, because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4:10, 19). The fount and source of these things is the grace that comes from God alone.

Grace is God’s favor. It means “gift.” In other words, it is not something received in return for anything, but is free and unmerited. It is a participation in the life of God, which comes to us by the Holy Spirit (Catechism, nos. 1997, 1999). God is the “high and lofty One who inhabits eternity” (Is. 57:15). He must reveal Himself to us if we are to participate in His divine life unto eternal salvation. It is not possible to know Him, except He reveals Himself (Catechism, no. 1998). Thus, this initiative which is freely made by God alone in revealing Himself is a gift we call grace. Because it is a gift, it can be rejected.

There are many effects and purposes of grace. We even have different terms to express the varying functions of grace (sanctifying, habitual, etc.). Grace enables us to respond to God’s call that we may become His adopted sons (Catechism, no. 1996). Grace sustains us and helps us grow in holiness towards Christian perfection. The Holy Spirit gives all the graces that we receive. He employs several means, such as the Sacraments, direct intervention, Mary, prayer, etc., through which He communicates grace to us.

Faith

The proper disposition to receive grace is faith, which is itself “a work of grace” (Catechism, no. 2001). The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum [DV]) reminds us: “Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God.”[4]

It is equally true that we need grace to sustain us in faith. Faith is not a once for all event. Rather, “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). It must be preserved, nourished and be made to grow, as Holy Scripture reminds us often (cf. 1 Cor. 16:13; 2 Cor. 10:15; Col. 1:23 2 Thess. 1:3).

Work…for God is working in you

Good works are a fruit of God’s grace. Jesus emphasizes this with the imagery of the vine. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5).

What is clear is that grace must be antecedent to any act on our part, whether of the act of believing or any good work. The question that this often raises is that of the nature of our response to grace. Is it free? And if it is, how does grace work with freedom of will?

St. Paul reminds us that we are to work out our own salvation “with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). God provides grace and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, works within us in order that we might persevere on the way to salvation. Salvation is not just a one-time event, but a continual process of growth. The freedom of our will is necessary for this growth. Exactly how our will cooperates with this grace is a mystery.

This mystery of how grace works with human nature is reflected in the Catechism. “Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is not less true that believing is an authentically human act” (Catechism, no. 154).

Working from the premise that God created us to share in a loving communion with Him, the necessity of free will becomes apparent. Some narrowly understand the cooperation of the will with God as “helping God out” as if He is somehow limited. Some find it objectionable that man has any free part to play in His eternal destiny. If that eternal destiny is a communion of love, how else could it be but truly free (cf. Catechism, nos. 2001, 2002)? Further, there is no logic in the notion that an absence of free will necessarily follows God’s sovereignty, or that from free will it necessarily follows that God needs our help. God wills our free will in love. That is His design.

For whom did Christ die?

God created man for heaven, not hell. Hell is the ultimate isolation and a free choice by an individual. As stated above, man was created for love, to love God, to love others and to be loved. This “civilization of love” or “communion of persons” is central to man’s being. Each and every person was created both to be his own end (“willed for his own sake”) and to make a gift of that self to others. The Decree on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), especially paragraphs 12 and 24, is particularly helpful reading to see this “dyadic” structure of the human person.

As is clear in Matthew 25:41-46, there will be those who find themselves in Hell. Some would explain this by asserting that Christ did not die for everyone, but only the “elect.” Scripture, to the contrary, confirms that God does wish for all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Christ did die for the sins of the whole world, but it is necessary, enabled by grace, that one respond to the free gift and persevere until the end. We can have confidence that Christ can see us through to the end. He is called the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). St. Paul encourages us that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

In his second epistle, St. Peter reminds us that God has granted us all things that “pertain to life and godliness” (1:3) and that through His promises we may escape corruption to become “partakers of the divine nature” (1:4). Because of this, he exhorts us:

For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed form his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:5-11).

Let us freely accept the gift of God’s grace and rejoice in Jesus Christ who upholds “the universe by his word of power” (Heb. 1:3). And with St. Paul, let us say:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:3-6).

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What does the Catholic Church mean by the phrase, “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (extra ecclesiam nulla salus)?

All salvation comes through Jesus Christ, the one Savior of the world (cf. Acts 4:12). His Holy Spirit dispenses those graces through His body, the Church. “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk. 10:16).

Quoting from various documents of Vatican II and Pope Paul VI, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 776) explains:

As sacrament, the Church is Christ’s instrument. She is taken up by Him also as the instrument for the salvation of all, the universal sacrament of salvation, by which Christ is at once manifesting and actualizing the mystery of God’s love for men. The Church is the visible plan of God’s love for humanity, because God desires that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Discussion: There are two principal errors when it comes to the Church’s teaching onextra ecclesiam nulla salus. Some reject this teaching as both incorrect and arrogant. Others interpret this statement to condemn all those who are not visibly united to the Roman Catholic Church. To properly understand this teaching, we must examine it within the context of divine Revelation and Church history. This examination will reveal that the phrase was not formulated to express who would go to heaven and who would go to hell, for only God will judge that. Rather, the phrase expresses an understanding of the Church in relation to her role in the salvation of the world.

Translation or Interpretation?
Many people translate the Latin phrase extra ecclesiam nulla salus as “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” This translation does not seem entirely faithful to the Latin meaning, and contributes to the misunderstanding of the phrase.

The Latin word “extra” is both an adverb and preposition. Depending on its use in a sentence, the word has different meanings. When used to describe spatial relations between objects, the word is translated as “beyond” or “outside of”(e.g., Beyond the creek is a tree; or, James is outside of the room). When used to describe abstract relations between concepts or intangible things, the word is commonly translated “without” (e.g., Without a method, it is difficult to teach). Within the phrase in question,extra is a preposition describing the abstract relationship of the Church to salvation. Considering the Latin nuances of the word, a proper translation would be, “Without the Church there is no salvation.” This translation more accurately reflects the doctrinal meaning of the phrase.

Scriptural Foundations
In the Gospel of Mark, after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and gave them the commission, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16).

In order to accept or reject the Gospel, each person must have it preached to him. If acceptance or rejection of the truth were based on private revelations given to each man, woman, and child, there would be no need for Christ to commission the Apostles to preach the Gospel. Jesus desired to reveal Himself through His body, the Church. While this passage condemns those who reject the truth, it does not condemn those who have not had the truth offered to them as Christ intends.

The New Testament clearly teaches that salvation is a gift offered by God in various ways to all men. Adam, Abel, and Enoch lived between the first sin and the covenant of Noah. They were bound by original sin. All are considered to be in heaven. Enoch did not even die, but was taken to God before death (Heb. 11:4-5). These men were neither baptized nor circumcised, but nonetheless saved.

When the gentile centurion came to Jesus in Capernaum and asked for the healing of his servant, Our Lord agreed to go to his home, but the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Mt. 8:8). Jesus replied:

Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from East and West and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth (Mt. 8:10-13).

Jesus makes a clear distinction between those who are sons of the kingdom (that is, those who have knowledge of and accepted the faith) and those who are not. He includes in the kingdom of heaven many of those who are not. Jesus graces us with His incarnation, and His presence is known through His body, the Church. The Church carries on the work of Christ here on earth. Those to whom the Church has not preached the Good News will be judged by God in a manner known to God and tempered with His mercy. As St. Paul explains:

When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my Gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus (Rom. 2:14-16).

Sacred Tradition
Many people who claim that God restricts salvation to baptized Catholics cite the Fathers of the Church to prove their assertions. While space does not allow an exhaustive analysis of the Fathers, there are several necessary points to keep in mind. First, the Fathers must be understood in the context of their writings, not in the context of the one quoting them. The majority of the Fathers who wrote on this topic were concerned about those who had once believed or had heard the truth, but now rejected it. Many of them believed the entire world had heard the Gospel. Their words were not directed at those who, by no fault of their own, did not know the Gospel of Christ.

The Fathers do affirm the inherent danger in deliberately rejecting the Church. For example, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote at the turn of the second century, “Be not deceived, my brethren; if anyone follows a maker of schism, he does not inherit the kingdom of God” (Letter to the Philadelphians 3:3). In the third century, St. Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress [a schismatic church] is separated from the promises of the Church, nor will he that forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is an alien, a worldling, and an enemy” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 6, 1). In the fourth century, St. Jerome wrote, “Heretics bring sentence upon themselves since they by their own choice withdraw from the Church, a withdrawal which, since they are aware of it, constitutes damnation” (Commentary on Titus 3:10-11).

On the other hand, many of the Fathers did write about those who were invincibly ignorant of the Gospel. Of these, the Fathers accepted that salvation was open to them, even if in a mysterious way. The Fathers recognized that the natural law of justice and virtue is written on the hearts of all men. Those who respect this law respect the Lawgiver, though they do not know Him. As St. Justin Martyr wrote in the second century:

We have been taught that Christ is the first-begotten of God, and we have declared Him to be the Logos of which all mankind partakes (Jn. 1:9). Those, therefore, who lived according to reason [logos] were really Christians, even though they were thought to be atheists, such as, among the Greeks, Socrates, Heraclitus, and others like them . . . those who lived before Christ but did not live according to reason were wicked men, and enemies of Christ, and murderers of those who did live according to reason, whereas those who lived then or who live now according to reason are Christians. Such as these can be confident and unafraid (First Apology 46).

In the third century, St. Clement of Alexandria wrote: “Before the coming of the Lord, philosophy was necessary for justification to the Greeks; now it is useful for piety . . . for it brought the Greeks to Christ as the Law did the Hebrews” (Miscellanies 1:5). Origen wrote, “[T]here was never a time when God did not want men to be just; He was always concerned about that. Indeed, He always provided beings endowed with reason with occasions for practicing virtue and doing what is right. In every generation the Wisdom of God descended into those souls which He found holy and made them to be prophets and friends of God” (Against Celsus 4:7). In the fifth century, St. Augustine wrote: “When we speak of within and without in relation to the Church, it is the position of the heart that we must consider, not that of the body . . . All who are within the heart are saved in the unity of the ark” (Baptism 5:28:39).

Magisterial Pronouncements
Throughout the history of the Church, the Magisterium has accepted and synthesized these teachings. Recognizing that God will judge our hearts according to the gifts we have received, invincible ignorance—that is, ignorance which cannot be overcome by ordinary means—tempers divine justice. Those who have knowledge of the truth are expected to accept it. Those who have not been given this gift will be judged according to the law written on their hearts. Two noteworthy examples of this position are found in Pope Boniface VIII’s bull Unam Sanctam and Pope Pius IX’s encyclical Quanto Conficiamur Moerore.

Boniface VIII wrote concerning the nature of the Church and the supremacy of the Pope. He did not write concerning the damnation of those who have never heard the Gospel. After expressing the truth that there is only one Lord, one faith, one Baptism and one Church, he explained that supreme authority of the Pope is both temporal and spiritual. He then ended by declaring: “We declare, say, define, and pronounce, that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” This is not a statement demanding that everyone know the Pope’s supremacy to be saved, but rather is a truthful claim that the Pope has authority from God as the legitimate successor of St. Peter, to whom Our Lord entrusted the keys of the kingdom.

Pius IX clearly expressed the full teaching a century ago. His writing distinguishes between those who are invincibly ignorant and those who have willfully separated themselves from the Catholic Church:

There are, of course, those who are struggling with invincible ignorance about our most holy religion. Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace. Because God knows, searches, and clearly understands the minds, hearts, thoughts, and nature of all, His supreme kindness and
clemency do not permit anyone at all who is not guilty of deliberate sin to suffer eternal punishments. Also well-known is the Catholic teaching that no one can be saved [without] the Catholic Church. Eternal salvation cannot be obtained by those who oppose the authority and statements of the same Church and are stubbornly separated from the unity of the Church and also from the successor of Peter, the Roman Pontiff, to whom the custody of the vineyard has been committed by the Savior.

Sacrament of Salvation
In an expression of the authentic Magisterium, the college of bishops further explained this doctrine in the context of Christocentric sacramental theology at Vatican II. Echoing the words of St. Paul, the Council described the Church as the Spouse and Body of Christ (Lumen Gentium, nos. 6-7). Jesus is one with His Spouse, the Church (cf. Eph. 5:32). The two form the one Body of Christ visible on earth. Christ is the Head, and He ministers through His body, which is the sacrament of salvation (Lumen Gentium, no. 9). To whom does He minister? Both His body and those apart from the body, that he might draw all men to Himself (ibid., no. 13). In this way, the Church dispenses to all men the graces of salvation won by Christ. Those who knowingly reject these graces are lost. Those who accept them are saved. Those who do not have the opportunity to accept the grace can be saved because of the presence of the Church in the world (cf. 1 Cor. 7:12-16). If they are saved, they are saved through the Church without their knowledge of that grace.

Vatican II declares:

[Many] of the most significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements. All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to Him, belong by right to the one Church of Christ. . . . It follows that these separated Churches and communities as such, though we believe they suffer from the defects already mentioned, have been by no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church” (Decree on Ecumenism, no. 3).

Come Aboard!
This teaching of Christ and His Church is not meant to allow indifferentism or exclusivism. Baptism and unity with the Catholic Church provide the only assurance of salvation, but not the only means. “God has bound salvation to the Sacrament of Baptism, but He Himself is not bound by His sacraments” (Catechism, no. 1257, original emphasis).

The will of God is for “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). To fulfill His will, Jesus commissioned the Apostles to preach the Gospel and baptize those who would embrace it (Mk. 16:16). He gave us the Sacrament of Baptism and unity with the Church as the ordinary means of salvation. By Baptism we are made sharers in the life of Christ. When we participate in the fullness of life within the Church, we remain obedient children of God with the Church as our Mother. To provide assurance for the salvation of all men, we must fulfill the command of Christ to evangelize the world and bring all into His body, the Church.

Because God is not bound by the sacraments, He makes the grace of salvation available to all in ways unknown to us. This is the basis for the Church’s teaching on “Baptism of desire” (cf. Catechism, nos. 1258-60, 1281). This occurs, for example, when one seeks Baptism but dies first, or when one dies without explicit knowledge of Christ, but would have embraced the truth had it been presented. Only God can judge their souls.

The Church is the ark through which men are saved. Noah and his family were the only men saved on the ark, but even animals who had no understanding of the matter were saved with them. As the ark saved all on it, even those who had no knowledge, so does the Church, as the universal sacrament of salvation, dispense the graces won by Christ and applies them to all men of every place and condition. In a way mysterious to us, this salvation is offered to all, and God, who judges the hearts of all, will determine their destiny.

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THE TWELVE ARTICLES OF FAITH OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Article 1: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. This affirms that God exists, that he's a Triune God (one God in three persons, known as the Holy Trinity), and that he created the known universe.

Article 2: And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. This attests that Jesus is the Son of God and that he's most certainly divine. The word Lord implies divinity, because the Greek Kyrios and the Hebrew Adonai both mean "lord" and are ascribed only to God. So the use of Lord with Jesus is meant to profess his divinity. The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew Jeshua, meaning "God saves." So We believe that Jesus is Savior.

Article 3: Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. This affirms the human nature of Christ, meaning he had a real, true human mother, and also affirms his divine nature, meaning he had no human father but by the power of the Holy Spirit was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He's therefore both God and man —fully divine and fully human.

Article 4: He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. The human nature of Christ could feel pain and actually die, and he did on Good Friday. The mention of Pontius Pilate by name wasn't meant so much to vilify him forever in history but to place the Crucifixion within human history.

Reference is made to an actual historical person, the Roman governor of Judea, appointed by Caesar, to put the life and death of Jesus within a chronological and historical context. It also reminds the faithful that one can't blame all Jews for the death of Jesus, as some have erroneously done over the ages. Certain Jewish leaders conspired against Jesus, but the actual death sentence was given by a Roman and carried out by Roman soldiers. So both Jew and Gentile alike shared in the spilling of innocent blood. Anti-Semitism based on the Crucifixion of Jesus is inaccurate, unjust, and erroneous.

Article 5: He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead. The hell Jesus descended into wasn't the hell of the damned, where Jews and Christians believe the devil and his demons reside. Hell was merely a word that Jews and early Christians used to describe the place of the dead. This passage affirms that on the third day he rose, meaning Jesus came back from the dead of his own divine power. He wasn't just clinically dead for a few minutes; he was dead dead — then he rose from the dead. More than a resuscitated corpse, Jesus possessed a glorified and risen body.

Article 6: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. The Ascension reminds the faithful that after the human and divine natures of Christ were united in the Incarnation, they could never be separated. In other words, after the saving death and Resurrection, Jesus didn't dump his human body as if he didn't need it anymore. Catholicism teaches that his human body will exist forever. Where Jesus went, body and soul, into heaven, the faithful hope one day to follow.

Article 7: He will come again to judge the living and the dead. This article affirms the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world to be its judge. Judgment Day, Day of Reckoning, Doomsday—they're all metaphors for the end of time when what's known as the General Judgment will occur. After the death of any human person, immediate private judgment occurs and the person goes directly to heaven, hell, or purgatory (an intermediate place in preparation for heaven).

Article 8: I believe in the Holy Spirit, This part reminds the believer that God exists in three persons — the Holy Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What's referred to as the Force in the movie Star Wars isn't the same as the Holy Spirit, who is a distinct person equal to the other two — God the Father and God the Son.

Article 9: the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the Church is more than a mere institution and certainly not a necessary evil. It's an essential dimension and aspect of spiritual life. Christ explicitly uses the word church (ekklesia in Greek) in Matthew 16 when he says, "I will build My Church."

Article 10: the forgiveness of sins, Christ came to save the world from sin. Belief in the forgiveness of sins is essential to Christianity. sins are forgiven in Baptism and in the Sacrament of Penance.

Article 11: the resurrection of the body, a human being is a union of body and soul, so death is just the momentary separation of body and soul until the end of the world, the Second Coming of Christ, the General Judgment, and the resurrection of the dead. The just go, body and soul, into heaven, and the damned go, body and soul, into hell.

Article 12: And in life everlasting. As Christ Our Savior died, so, too, must mere mortals. As he rose, so shall all human beings. Death is the only way to cross from this life into the next. At the very moment of death, private judgment occurs; Christ judges the soul:

* If it's particularly holy and virtuous, the soul goes directly to heaven.
* If it's evil and wicked and dies in mortal sin, it's damned for eternity in hell.
* If a person lived a life not bad enough to warrant hell but not holy enough to go right to heaven,

We believe the soul goes to purgatory, which is a middle ground between heaven and earth, a state where departed souls want to go to be cleansed of any attachments to sin before going through the pearly gates.

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What is the Holy Trinity?

The Holy Trinity is the union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as One God. As a fundamental truth of the Christian faith, no one embraces Christianity without believing in the Holy Trinity.

DISCUSSION: This central truth of our Christian faith is a mystery. Though Sacred Scripture contains many passages about the Trinity, nowhere in Sacred Scripture can we find a concise and thorough explanation of this mystery.[1] Though we cannot understand fully the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we can explain, in a limited way, the characteristics of God as Trinity.

He Is Known by His Works

One way we come to an understanding of God is in terms of His work in creation as made known to us through divine revelation.

According to God’s revelation of Himself, the First Person of the Trinity, God the Father, created all things visible and invisible through His Word, the Son (Jn. 1:3). The Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, became man in the person of Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:14; Col. 2:9). He died and rose to redeem mankind from sin and reconcile us to the Father (2 Cor. 5:14-21; Eph. 2:14-22; Col. 2:11-15). The third Person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, is sent by the Father and the Son to form the Church (cf. Acts 2). Through the Church, He offers us the graces of salvation and sanctification. Thus, we sometimes speak of the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier. The Father is revealed by His incarnate Son, Jesus, His perfect image. The Son reveals Himself by taking on our human nature. The Holy Spirit witnesses to the works of the Father and the Son, revealing Them both to man (cf. Catechism, nos. 238-246).

We thus speak of the Persons of the Trinity by how They relate to us as our Creator. We can also speak of Them by how They relate to each other.

From all eternity the First Person is Father, Who as He eternally knows Himself eternally generates the Son. The fundamental identity of the Second Person of the Trinity is as the Son, eternal generated by the Father, and as Son eternally loving Him in return. This Person has revealed Himself to man in the person of Jesus, Who is both God and man. Finally, the fundamental identity of the Third Person of the Trinity consists in His eternally being the Spirit of Love between the Father and the Son, a Love so real He is Himself a Person.

St. Bonaventure explains the relationship of the Three Divine Persons in terms of God’s absolute goodness. He states that to be the highest good, one must give himself (diffuse) in absolute fullness. This cannot occur unless the self-giving “is actual and intrinsic, substantial and hypostatic, natural and voluntary, free and necessary, lacking nothing and perfect.” [2] He continues:

Therefore, unless there were eternally in the highest good a production which is actual and consubstantial, and a hypostasis as noble as the producer, as in the case in a producing by way of generation and spiration, so that it is from an eternal principle eternally co-producing so that there would be a beloved and a co-beloved, the one generated and the other spirated, and this is the Father and Son and Holy Spirit—unless these were present, it would by no means be the highest good because it would not diffuse itself in the highest degree.[3]

In these relations between the Persons of the Trinity, we can begin to glimpse the meaning of the words “God is love” (1 Jn. 4: 8). The human family mirrors this love of God when the love between husband and wife becomes so real it is a third person, a child.

Three Persons or Three Gods?

St. Patrick used the analogy of a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity when converting the Celtic peoples. Just as in a shamrock there are three leaflets but one leaf, so in the Trinity there are Three Divine Persons but one God. When we ask the question, “What is God?” we are attempting to define His nature, which is God. When we ask “Who is God?” we are attempting to know the person and could get one of three answers: Father, Son or Holy Spirit. God is not God apart from the Three Divine Persons Who make up the Godhead, yet each of the divine persons completely possess the nature of God. They do not share the attributes of God in the sense of “taking turns”: one using perfect love, another using perfect mercy, etc. Nor are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simply ways in which God shows Himself. All three Persons of the Trinity are distinct, eternal, and fully God.

How, then, does this not add up to three gods? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three separate gods because “the only real distinction between them lies solely in the relationships which relate them to one another” (Catechism, no. 155). “‘While they are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance.’ ‘Indeed everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship’” (Catechism, no. 255, citing Councils of Toledo XI [675] and Florence [1442]). Thus in God there is one divine substance (essence, nature), equally possessed by three distinct, divine Persons, whose distinction as Persons lies in the relationship of each to the others.

We often have difficulty with the idea of the Trinity because, as rational thinkers, we like to see everything as an equation. Three persons cannot equal one God. The equation does not add up, but God is not an equation and the Three Persons do equal one God. We struggle with this truth because the concept of three persons in one nature is quite beyond our experience. As St. Augustine pointed out, trying to contain this infinite mystery within our finite minds is like trying to pour the ocean into a seashell. We could not have arrived at this truth by human reason alone; it had to be revealed to us supernaturally by God.

In the Fullness of Time

Because the Trinity is such a deep mystery, God did not reveal this inner secret of His nature to man until man was ready to receive it. God is eternal, and all truth and history is eternally present to Him. We are limited by time, and only in time can we come to understand. In the Old Testament, when most peoples believed in many gods, the most important truth for the Hebrew people to understand was that there was only one God. After many centuries, “in the fullness of time, God sent His Son, born of a woman” (Gal. 4:4) and “sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out ‘Abba, Father!’” (Gal. 4:6). Only after God’s people had the concept of one God firmly fixed in their minds were they ready to accept the truth of three persons in that one God, as Jesus Christ revealed it and the Holy Spirit taught it.

Even the early Church had to clarify the full truth of God’s revelation regarding His Triune nature. In the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), the Church affirmed Christ’s full divinity as the incarnate Son of God. The Council of Constantinople also affirmed the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Thus in the Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Creed we profess:

We believe in one God, Father omnipotent, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father by whom all things were made…. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father,[4] who together with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified.[5]

Most misunderstandings of the nature of the Trinity either stress God’s unity at the expense of the distinction between Persons, or stress the distinction between Persons to the point that it seems there are three gods. Heresies that fall into the first extreme include Modalism, the idea that the three Persons of the Trinity are not in fact distinct Persons, but merely represent different “modes” or functions that the one true God performs. Modalists believed that God the Father really just “put on a robe of flesh” and became the person we know as Jesus Christ. Another misguided effort to defend that there is only one God is the belief that Jesus Christ is not the Second Person of the Trinity become incarnate—for the one God admits of no distinctions between persons—but rather a superior creature or a lesser divine/spiritual being. Arianism, a heresy condemned by the early church, was an example of this belief. Modern-day Jehovah’s Witnesses hold this belief as well. Heresies falling into the second extreme (believing that the Trinity is three gods—tritheism) are more rare, and would really be a form of that polytheism practiced by most primitive peoples. Mormons fall into this category, as they believe that Jesus and the Holy Spirit is fully divine but they do not recognize the unity of the Trinity as one God.

Unity of Persons, Unity of Man

Though God’s works reveal who He is (Catechism, no. 236), He cannot be reduced to His works or functions. This is why it is inappropriate to habitually refer to God as “Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier” rather than “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

This unity of the Divine Persons provides the essential foundations of the Christian faith. Not only do we understand God within this unity of Persons, but we can better understand man, and God’s will for man. As noted above, the sacrament of Marriage is a natural expression of the unity of God. However, Jesus made very clear that Marriage, as we know it here on earth, does not exist in heaven (Mt. 22:29-30). Marriage on earth points to a greater union that God desires with us, a union with Him like His union with Himself. As said by Jesus, “The glory which Thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and Thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as Thou hast loved me” (Jn. 17:22-23).

In addition to the sacrament of Marriage, we share this unity with God imperfectly here on earth through the celebration and reception of the other sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist. In Baptism we receive the Holy Spirit and become conformed to Christ as adopted sons of the Father. In Confirmation the graces of Baptism are completed and we are more perfectly conformed to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the most august sacrament of the Eucharist, we receive the Son intimately into our bodies as food for our journey here on earth. In the sacraments of Penance and Anointing we receive God’s mercy and healing as He strengthens our bond of unity with Him. In the sacrament of Orders, a man is configured to the person of Christ and ministers in persona Christi to the faithful here on earth. Thus, in our life as man, through true worship of Him in the sacraments, and through our daily work offered as a prayer to Him, we are expressions of God’s unity with Himself and we contribute to our union with Him in heaven.

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VISIT TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

By this devotional practice, which is of comparatively modern development, the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist is regarded in the same light and honoured with the same ceremonial observance as would be paid to a sovereign who favoured any place in his dominions by taking up his abode there. The conception is that in the tabernacle Jesus Christ, as it were, holds His court, and is prepared to grant audience to all who draw near to Him, though other prefer to regard Him as a prisoner bound to this earth and to existence in a confined space, by the fetters of His love for mankind. In this latter case the visits paid to the Blessed Sacrament assumed the special character of a work of mercy intended to console the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the indifference and ingratitude shown Him by the majority of Christians, for whose sake He remains in the sacramental species. It must be plain that this devotional exercise of "visiting" the Blessed Sacrament is essentially dependent upon the practice of ceremonial reservation .

As has already been pointed out in this latter article, the attempts formerly made to demonstrate the existence of a custom in the early Church of showing special and external veneration to the Sacred Species when reserved for the sick break down upon closer investigation. To this day in the Greek Church no practice of genuflecting to the Blessed Sacrament is known and in fact it may be said that, though it is treated respectfully, as the Book of the Gospels or the sacred vessels would be treated respectfully, still no cultus is shown it outside of the Liturgy. During the first ten or twelve centuries after Christ the attitude of the Western Church seems to have been very similar. We may conjecture that the faithful concentrated their attention upon the two main purposes for which the Blessed Eucharist was instituted, viz. to be offered in sacrifice and to become the food of the soul in Holy Communion . It was only by degrees that men awoke to the lawfulness of honouring the abiding presence of Christ outside of the sacred mysteries, much as we may conceive that if a monarch chose to dress in mufti and to lay aside all marks of rank, people might doubt of showing him demonstrations of respect which he seemed purposely to exclude. In any case the fact is certain that we meet with no clear examples of a desire to honour the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament reserved upon the altar before the twelfth century.

Perhaps one of the earliest indications of a new feeling in this regard is revealed in a direction given to the anchoresses in the "Ancren Riwle" : "When ye are quite dressed...think upon God's Flesh and on His Blood which is over the high altar and fall on your knees towards it with this salutation "Hail thou author of or Creation, etc.". So again, in one of his letters St. Thomas of Canterbury writes: "If you do not harken to me who have been wont to pray for you in an abundance of tears and with groanings not a few before the Majesty of the Body of Christ" (Materials, Rolls Series, V, 27). This example, perhaps, is not quite certain but we know from instances in the Holy Grail romances, that the idea of praying before the Blessed Sacrament was growing familiar about this period, i.e. the end of the twelfth century. The English mystic Richard Rolle of Hampole, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, explicitly exhorts Christians to visit the church in preference to praying in their own houses, for he says "In the church is most devotion to pray, for there is God upon the altar to hear those that pray to Him and to grant them what they ask and what is best for them" ("Works", ed. Horstman, I, 145).

But in the course of the same century the practice of visiting the Blessed Sacrament became fairly common, as we see particularly in the case of Blessed Henry Suso and Blessed Mary de Malliaco (A.D. 1331-1414), who, we are told, "on solemn feasts kept vigil before the most holy Sacrament ". It was often at this period joined with an intense desire of looking upon the Blessed Sacrament exposed, a most striking example of which will be found in the "Septiliilium" of Blessed Dorothea, a holy recluse of Pomerania who died in 1394. But the practice of compiling volumes of devotions for visits to the Blessed Sacrament, one of the best known of which is the "Visits" of St. Alphonsus Ligouri , was of still later date.

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How does the Catholic understanding of justification differ from the Protestant understanding? Do Catholics believe in salvation by grace alone? Is the Catholic understanding biblical?

When Catholics and Protestants use the words “righteousness,” “justification” and “sanctification,” they have different, though similar, definitions for these words. These differences lead to a lot of unnecessary and divisive confusion between the two groups. However, if we learn the different ways Protestants and Catholics use these words, we can better understand our differences and points of agreement, providing a basis, with God’s grace, for our ultimate reconciliation.[1]

The Catholic Church teaches, and most Protestants[2] also believe, that people can be saved only by the grace of God, i.e., “free and undeserved help” from God,[3] which is mediated through Christ, the God-man (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 606-18). We can never “earn” salvation by our own good works; nothing we do is “repaid” by God in a strict tit-for-tat sense (Rom. 11:35, Catechism no. 2007). So on this crucial issue—justification (and ultimately salvation) by God’s grace through Christ (Rom. 3:24)—Catholics and most Protestants agree. The Church differs with Protestants, however, regarding the means of righteousness, justification, and ultimately salvation.[4] Protestants believe that people are “justified through faith alone,” while Catholics believe that people are “justified through faith and works.” The Catholic view of justification, properly understood, is not only very convincing and satisfying, it is also biblical and true (cf. Catechism nos. 1987-2029 for more information on grace, justification and merit).

DISCUSSION: To understand justification, we must first understand “righteousness.” Catholics and Protestants use the word “righteousness” differently. Protestants usually use “righteousness” to mean either legal righteousness, which they identify with the term “justification,” or behavioral righteousness, the acquisition of which they call “sanctification.” “Legal righteousness” is extrinsic, i.e, foreign or external to the individual, and acquired solely by God’s decree. “Behavioral righteousness” is a growing disposition or inclination to doing good, which occurs only after justification.[5] Catholics almost always use the word “righteousness” with a third and very different definition: They almost always mean “ontological righteousness.” Ontological righteousness is intrinsic (inherent to or part of the individual),[6] a transformation and growth brought about by God. Catholics use the words “justification” and “sanctification” interchangeably, but for two different phenomena: initial justification/sanctification (inner or intrinsic transformation) and progressive justification/sanctification (ongoing spiritual growth).[7] The use of different definitions in Protestant and Catholic theological camps is what confuses so many people. The following illustration will make the difference clear.

Justification Illustrated: Protestant and Catholic Views

In the dominant Protestant view, “justification” is like a court procedure. A guilty man stands before a judge who decides to decree him “innocent” on the basis of another man’s innocence. That is, we as sinners stand before God the Father who declares us innocent because of Jesus’ sinlessness and His saving actions. So Protestant justification is like covering a dirty man with a clean robe, declaring him to be clean when he is really not. Martin Luther frankly acknowledged this position, describing a justified man as a snow-covered pile of dung, clean on the outside but not on the inside. The robe is not a part of the dirty man, nor is the snow part of the dunghill; they only hide the filth while remaining exterior and separate. The sinner himself isn’t clean or just, but he appears (or is called) clean and just.

The Catholic view of initial justification is more like bathing or healing, such as a hospitable man washing a dirty man or a physician medicating a sick man to make him healthy. In other words, God doesn’t simply call a man clean and justified or make him look clean and just, He actually makes him clean with no dirt or sickness remaining. The Protestant claim is that God makes us appear just with no interior transformation, but the Catholic teaching is that God actually transforms us into just people.

Catholics do not deny that God “declares” people clean and innocent, as if by legal decree. They believe that He goes further, however, and actually makes people clean and innocent. God is not a liar (Num. 23:19); He would not call a man clean and just without making him clean and just, for “nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]” (Rev. 21:27). God’s Word is efficacious; i.e., He brings about, in reality, what He decrees. Creation itself is a powerful example of this truth. God said, “Let there be light,” and light was created (Gen. 1:3). If God declares that we are clean of sin, we become truly clean: “So shall My word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Is. 55:11).

Having illustrated both the Catholic and Protestant perspectives on justification, we turn now to a closer examination of which perspective the Bible really teaches. Does the Bible depict justification as merely a “covering” of legal righteousness, or does the Bible portray justification as both a covering and an interior transformation and cleansing? The Bible conveys that when God forgives our sin He does not simply “cover” our guilt, as Protestants assert, but actually removes it, as the Church teaches:

Have mercy on me, O God, . . . blot out my transgressions [legal terms[8]]. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin [intrinsic terms]! Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow [intrinsic terms]. . . . Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities [legal terms]. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me [intrinsic terms] (Ps. 51:1-2, 7, 9-10).

Psalm 51 clearly uses both legal and intrinsic terms, which supports the Catholic, rather than the Protestant view. There are places where the Bible speaks of “covering” sin or “imputing” righteousness (both legal terms), but they must be read in the larger context that includes sins being washed away, taken away, removed, purified, sent away and remitted (all intrinsic terms). Furthermore, the Bible supports the Catholic belief that God transforms the inner man when He justifies him: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

“Initial justification” happens at the beginning of the Christian life and is communicated to people by God through the Sacrament of Baptism (Catechism, nos. 1262-1284). At this time, God completely cleanses people of sin, grants them sanctifying grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and gives them new life by incorporation into Christ and adoption into the family of God, the Church. This initial justification cannot be earned or merited by any action prior to it, not by faith or any other work, because it is the free gift of God: “[W]e are therefore said to be justified gratuitously, because none of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification” (Council of Trent Decree on Justification, chapter 8).

Provided that he remains in God’s grace,[9] nothing will hinder the justified man from gaining heaven:[10]

For in those who are born again [initially justified] God hates nothing, because there is no condemnation to those who are truly buried together with Christ by baptism unto death, who walk not according to the flesh, but, putting off the old man and putting on the new one who is created according to God, are made innocent, immaculate, pure, guiltless and beloved of God, heirs indeed of God, joint heirs with Christ; so that there is nothing whatever to hinder their entrance into heaven (Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin, section 5).[11]

Progressive Justification

If “initial justification” makes us clean and pure and even fit for heaven (ultimate salvation), what’s the point of “progressive justification”? Protestants think of righteousness in one dimension, its quality, because they limit righteousness to “legal” or “behavioral”[12] meanings (see above). Catholics think of righteousness in two dimensions, quality and quantity, because they almost always mean intrinsic righteousness. Another illustration will help.

The quality of our initial justification is perfect. Think of a glass of 100% pure water with no additives or contamination. Initial justification makes us as clean, i.e., without sin, as Jesus is. But the quantity of our righteousness is finite, while Jesus’ righteousness is infinite. In other words, there’s a big difference between a glass of pure water and an ocean or spring of pure water. Progressive justification doesn’t make us any cleaner, but it gives us a greater capacity for righteousness and virtue. It’s like trading a four-ounce glass of pure water for a 12-ounce glass of pure water. We may never approach Jesus’ infinite quantity of righteousness, of course, but we can possess more righteousness than we currently have.[13]

We acquire more righteousness by doing good works within God’s grace and with the help of God’s grace (Phil. 2:12-13, 1 Cor. 3:9). This is how human works contribute to justification (Jas. 2:14-26). Good works are worthless for salvation without God’s grace, but within God’s grace they are precisely what God intends for us (Eph. 2:10). They are a way of showing faithful gratitude to God,[14] and they are made possible by God Himself (Jn. 15:5). If we do not express our faith through our loving works, our faith is dead (Jas. 2:26, 1 Cor. 13:2) and we have not persevered in grace.

There are certain actions or good works, like participation in the sacraments and living virtuously, which God has promised to reward when those within His grace perform them. God does not “have to” reward these actions because He is never actually indebted to us (Rom. 11:35, Catechism, no. 2007); but, because of His loving generosity, He has decided to reward us for doing these good works anyway. (This is what Catholics mean when they talk about “merit”—Catechism, no. 2008.) Furthermore, God gives us the grace that we need to actually perform good works, which is why St. Augustine said that God is, in effect, crowning or rewarding His own actions (see the Catechism, specifically the quote immediately preceding article no. 2006). God rewards good works by giving us a greater capacity for intrinsic righteousness. All just people, i.e., people who are within God’s grace, ultimately go to heaven and all enjoy it to the full extent of their capacity; but some have a greater capacity because they progressed further in “progressive justification.”

Neither initial nor progressive justification gives us any right to brag to others or be proud before God. Even our truly active participation in progressive justification is enabled and rewarded by a gift of God’s generosity, His grace, because He does not ever owe us anything (1 Cor. 4:7; Rom. 11:35). Our response should be humble gratitude, faithful obedience and open thanksgiving, rejoicing in the salvation that is from God.

To fully appreciate and understand this Faith Fact, Catholic Reponses recommends carefully reading the Faith Fact with all the Scripture and Catechism references.

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The Communion of Saints

Issue: What is the communion of saints?

Discussion: The communion of saints is the intimate union that exists among all the disciples of Christ. This communion is known as the Mystical Body of Christ: the Family of God consisting of the faithful on earth (the Church Militant or pilgrim Church), the holy souls in purgatory undergoing spiritual cleansing (the Church Suffering), and the saints in heaven (the Church Triumphant). This union of believers joins us in Christ, our source of grace and life, and calls us to love and pray for one another as members of His body. Therefore, we can ask for the prayers of the saints in heaven, and we can also pray for people on earth and those in purgatory (Catechism, nos. 946-62).

The doctrine of the communion of saints was taught by the apostles, both in the Scriptures and the Tradition they handed down in words and practice. It is explicitly contained in the Apostles’ Creed. The Church reaffirmed this teaching at the Second Council of Nicea (787) and further addressed it at the Councils of Florence (1438-45), Trent (1545-63), and Vatican II (1962-65).

This communion refers to the bond of unity among the followers of Christ. Such a bond is possible because, as believers in Christ, we become children of God (1 Jn. 3:1), members of His family (Rom. 8:14-17), with divine life bestowed on us through Baptism (Jn. 3:3-5). The apostles teach us that through Baptism we become “fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17) and “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Saint Paul states that this union of the faithful, brought about by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, is so complete that we are actually members of a single body, Christ’s own body (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12-27).

The communion of saints is based on four essential points:

• All Christians are members of Christ’s body and one another (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:27).
• Jesus has only one body (Eph. 4:4; Col. 3:15).
• Death cannot separate Christians from Christ or from one another (Rom. 8:35-39; cf. Lk. 20:37-38).
• Christians are bound in mutual love (Jn. 13:34-35; Rom. 12:10).

Family Ties

In John 15:1-5, Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches. As branches are connected to a vine, participating in a single life, we are connected to Jesus and to one another in His Mystical Body. Saint Paul speaks many times about the importance of this unity in one body (e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Romans 12:4-16). As members of the same family, we are able to pray for one another and to ask others—including the saints in heaven—to pray for us. Nothing, not even death, can break that union between Christ and His body and the members with one another (cf. Rom. 8:35-39). Everyone who is “in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17) participates in His life not only on earth, but even more fully in the glory of heaven.

In a human family, members love one another, are concerned for one another’s well being and growth, turn to one another in times of joy and sorrow, and intercede for one another in times of trial and distress. Therefore, it is fitting that in God’s supernatural family, Christians are called to love one another and be concerned for the good of one another, turning to one another for inspiration and intercession in times of need. Saint Paul himself asks for the intercession of others (e.g., Romans 15:30; Colossians 4:3). He further stresses the mutual need of all Christians for one another:

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”… If one member [of the body] suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Cor. 12:21, 26).

We cannot say, then, that one “does not need” the saints in heaven or the souls in purgatory, because they too are members of the Body of Christ.

The Bible speaks of the prayers of angels and other saints in heaven, including prayer offered from and for others, and also tells us of the martyrs’ praying for justice to come upon the earth (e.g., Revelation 6:9-11; Tobit 12:12). The angels and saints are concerned with earthly events (e.g., Psalm 91:11-12; Luke 15:7; Revelation 5:8). If they were not concerned, they would be guilty of a lack of charity for their brothers on earth, because charity means desiring and seeking to bring about the ultimate good of others. Such a gross violation of love is simply not possible in heaven (cf. 1 Jn. 3:10, 14-15; 4:7-11).

Alive in Christ

Some object that the Catholic position on intercessory prayer is the same as necromancy, that is, calling upon the spirits of the dead to find out the future or obtain other information. Necromancy is a grave sin that, far from fostering communion, shows a lack of faith and trust in God. Necromancy was punishable by death under the Mosaic law (Lev. 19:31, 20:6). Some of the early Israelites practiced necromancy, including Saul (1 Sam. 28:3, 8-14), and they were punished severely for doing so (1 Sam. 28:17-19). This practice offended God (2 Kings 21:6) and led to the destruction of Israel.

Catholics do not practice necromancy, which is explicitly forbidden by the Church (cf. Catechism, nos. 2115-17). Rather, they ask for the prayers of the saints to foster communion in the Family of God.

Seeking the intercession of the saints is not necromancy for two reasons. First, necromancers are usually trying to receive information that they do not have, such as what will happen in the future. Asking the saints to pray for us, however, is not a form of divination or fortune telling.

Second, necromancers are also trying to bring back and control the souls of dead people. Catholics, on the contrary, believe that those who have died in God’s grace are not dead but truly alive, and are able to help us by their prayers. As Jesus says, “[Moses] calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him” (Lk. 20:37-38).

According to Jesus, death cannot separate the faithful—such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—from God. And, if they are alive to God, they must be alive to us through Him as members of His one body. Otherwise, contrary to what Saint Paul says, Christ’s victory over death was incomplete, and His body is not truly one (cf. Jn.17:21; 1 Cor. 12: 12,13; 15:14 et al).

Idol Chatter

Some believe that asking the saints in heaven to pray for us is a form of idolatry. The Catholic Church does not worship any person other than God, who created everyone and everything. The Church may offer praise and honor to Mary and the other saints, who are great disciples of the Lord, but she worships God alone.

The saints are honored and blessed by God and therefore worthy of our respect, and they serve as role models for Christians to emulate (e.g., Philippians 3:17; 4:8-9). This is not idolatry as long as they are distinguished from God. For example, Abraham the patriarch bows down before angels of the Lord and Nathan the prophet bows down before David the king of Israel—in due reverence, not idolatry (cf. Gen. 18:2; 1 Kings 1:23). We ask saints to bring our needs before Our Heavenly Father, for “[t]he prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (Jas. 5:16).

Similarly, some claim that the phrase “praying to saints” indicates that Catholics are treating the saints as if they were gods, and thus committing idolatry. This reflects a common misunderstanding of the English language. “Pray” historically meant nothing more than “to ask” or “to make a humble request.” Until modern times, this word was never used exclusively as a request to God. Rather, it was often used in common speech between two people, as in the sentence: “I pray you, may words have more than one meaning?” It is in the older sense that Catholics “pray to the saints,” which merely means asking for their intercession on our behalf.

One Mediator

Another common objection is that asking the saints to pray for us violates the Bible’s teaching in 1 Timothy 2:5, which states there is one Mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ. When read in context, however, Saint Paul clearly states that this is the reason Christians should pray for others, rather than a reason against it: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men…. This is good and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior…” (1 Tim. 2:1, 3).

Jesus’ mediation between God and man is based on the Incarnation, the truth that He is both fully God and fully man. No one else can mediate in this way, which is why it is correct to say “there is one Mediator.” Christians can and do, however, participate in Jesus’ mediation in a lesser and dependent way, just as they share in His one eternal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5), because they are members of His body and “coworkers with God” (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9).

All Christians are called to unite their prayers, supplications, and intercessions to those of Jesus. Jesus’ mediation is what makes the mediation of other Christians possible, just as His priesthood makes the ordained priesthood and the priesthood of believers possible. Christians intercede on earth for one another without diminishing Christ’s unique mediation. The same holds true in heaven. All prayer, whether on earth or in heaven, comes to the Father through Christ. Just as the one Creator shares His creative role with couples in procreation, or delegates His authority to Peter and the apostles, Christ shares His mediation with the saints, who are members of His own body.

Another commonly held objection is that the saints cannot hear us. Yet, Christ our Mediator enables us to communicate with members of His body. The saints in heaven are intimately connected to us through Christ, like branches on a vine. Scripture passages such as Luke 15:7 demonstrate that the angels and saints in heaven clearly do know and care about what is happening on earth. After all, the saints surround us like “a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1).

A final common objection is that no human being in this life can simultaneously hear numerous prayers, so how can a human being, even if a glorified saint, do so elsewhere? The answer is that heaven escapes the limitations of time and space that we experience in this life on earth. The Bible teaches that those in heaven can intercede for many, and bring their prayers before the throne of God (cf. Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4).

God’s Love: A Consuming Fire

What about prayer for the souls in purgatory? Most objections here are based on a disbelief in purgatory. But these objections are answered by the Bible, which affirms the value of prayer for those who have died:

[Judas] took up a collection, man by man … and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering[1] [for soldiers who had died]. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought (2 Mac. 12:43-45).

Some Christians do not accept 2 Maccabees as part of the Bible, although it has always been part of the canon recognized by the Church. But those who do not accept this book as scriptural must still admit that it is a history of the Jewish people that reflects their religious beliefs two centuries before Christ. Jews prayed for those who had died then and they still do today, and ancient Christian liturgies and tomb inscriptions continued the practice. Likewise, Saint Paul prays that his friend Onesiphorus, who seems to have died, will obtain mercy on the last day (2 Tim. 1:16-18). It is certainly acceptable to pray for souls in purgatory, for they too are members of the Body of Christ (cf. Catechism, nos. 1030-32).

All the faithful who are alive in God’s grace, on earth, in purgatory, and in heaven, are children of God, brothers and sisters of one another, and members of the single Body of Christ. Because we are one communion and one body, we need each other. It is fitting for us to ask for prayers and offer prayers for one another to build up the Body of Christ and advance the kingdom of God.

Communion in Spiritual Goods

All those united to Christ are also united to one another. We participate in the treasury of riches with which Christ has endowed His Church.

Communion in the faith. What we believe is the faith of the Church, received from the apostles and their successors. Faith is a “pearl of great price” (cf. Mt. 13:45-46) that we are to share with others.

Communion of the sacraments. The merits of Christ’s saving work are communicated to members of His body through the sacraments, beginning with the waters of Baptism and culminating in the Eucharist, which signifies and brings about our unity in Christ.

Communion of charisms. The Holy Spirit distributes special graces to all the faithful for the building up of the Church.

Communion of worldly goods. Christians should be ready and eager to come to the aid to those in need, recognizing that the goods of the earth are intended for the entire human family.

Communion in charity. Since we are really united with our brothers and sisters in Christ, the least of our acts done in charity strengthen our communion, just as every sin harms this communion. “If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us” (1 Jn. 5:12).

—adapted from Catechism, nos. 949-53

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