The Saints and Ecumenism
Perhaps the most convincing form of ecumenism is the ecumenism of the saints and of the martyrs. The communio sanctorum [Lat., “communion of saints”] speaks louder than the things which divide us. On May 7, 2000, the pope held an ecumenical jubilee service in the Roman Colosseum. In preparation for the ceremony the Vatican had collected over twelve thousand names of twentieth-century martyrs, Catholics and other Christians alike. [Ecumenism is the movement to unite denominations, and even other religions. It can be viewed as ironic that in the attempt to unite differing groups, the very people these same groups had vilified, tortured and killed in the name of their ‘faith’ (or authoritarian inclinations), are evoked.]
The Healthiness of Saints
Saints are holy people – people who have, on balance, lived their lives in conformity with the gospel. The words “on balance” are crucial here . . .
The saint is hopeful rather than despairing, loving rather than mean-spirited, courageous rather than weak, and has a passion for justice. In years past, these characteristics were readily recognised and called virtues, that is “powers” by which a life of Christian discipleship, indeed a fully human life, is possible. There were, traditionally, the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love (1 Cor 13:13), and the cardinal, or moral, virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, rooted in the Nicomachean Ethics of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (d. 322 BC) and developed by such early Christian theologians as Gregory the Great and Augustine, and later by Thomas Aquinas. Today, however, there are other virtues as well, such as stewardship of the environment, truthfulness even at the risk of reprisals, mercy and compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, and humility (not the supine, doormat kind, but of an honest recognition of one’s relationship to God and to others).
By contrast, the life of the Spirit is not visibly present in the unholy, or the unhealthy. They tend instead to be self-righteous, judgmental, unforgiving, resentful, vindictive, grim, rigid and authoritarian, punitive, controlling, obsessive, gratified by the humiliation and misfortunes of those of whom they disapprove, burdened with guilt, ill at ease in the presence of others, especially those of the opposite gender, and wracked by fear of their own sexuality and of the human love and intimacy it expresses. In its extreme manifestations, unhealthiness generates cruelty and violence.
[It is obvious that there are those who appear more ‘goodly’ in our understanding than others. The issue of following this line of thought from the Greek heritage, and from the Egyptian, is that God will judge us accordingly by ‘the balance’. In other words, are you more good than bad? Yet our scriptures clearly convey that we must be 100% holy! We cannot achieve this (Romans 3:9-19). Only through the redeeming work of Christ is humanity worthy. Therefore, though we must judge right from wrong within ourselves and between each other, it is only God who judges us for eternity, which in Christ is always ‘beloved’.]
On occasion, men and women with one or more of these unhealthy traits have been raised up by the Church as models of Christian discipleship. The message conveyed in the beatification and canonization processes, therefore, has sometimes been misleading, and the “cloud of witnesses” has become instead an impenetrable fog. [!!!!] [So yet again it is imperative that we look at the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), rather than the weaker vessels.]
So, in conclusion, we can say that the recognition of ‘goodly’ people as possible role models is a worthy course, though it should always be tempered with the reality of their worldliness. We must not seek spiritual guidance or earthly gain by beseeching these souls. Our only true source of wisdom and wholeness is Christ our Lord who we can approach boldly without fear or need of intermediaries. This we can do as Christ has declared us all ‘saints’!
