What's in a Saint?

Welcome to the the July post of the Journey through 2013 blog along.  And once again, I am late in getting this posted. The purpose for this series is to explore an area of life in a purposeful manner. I'm so thankful that Mathnerd was willing to join in the fun!

The veneration of saint's is one aspect of Catholicism that I struggled with accepting. To my protestant perspective, it seemed like idol worship. Over the past year, I've come to appreciate the depth that saints bring to my faith. There are two kinds of saints - the first are "s"aints denoting all those in the faith and the second are "S"aints - those who are "certified" by the Catholic church as being in heaven per their earthly example and miracles attributed to them. There are many different Saints from many years ago to the present time.

July 26th is the Feast Day for Joachim and Anne who are attributed to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This information is part of the depth of oral history past through the ages instead of scriptural based.

According to the EWTN website her story is simple: St. Anne was advanced in years and her prayer for a child had not been answered. One day, an angel appeared to her and said her prayers had been answered and she would conceive a child. Her response was to dedicate the child as a gift back to God. From this home of faith, the Blessed Virgin Mary grew up in faith and all things domestic to care for her family.

Now, I see the veneration of Saints as a powerful tool of prayer. They are so much closer to Jesus than I am currently. Yes, I can pray directly to Jesus, but why not ask a couple of heavy hitter Saints to pray for your request as well? I have a hard time imagining that Jesus would turn down requests by his mother or grandmother? Now consider that Anne is the grandmother of Jesus! and not just any grandmother but a Jewish grandmother! I will continue to pray to Jesus and also add a few saints to the list to pester Christ with my prayer requests.

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Journey into Catholicism

Jan - Epiphany
Feb - Love
March - Lent
April - Easter
May -Pentecost
June - Birthday Bliss
July - Saint Day
August - Sunshine / Ordinary Time
September  - Anticipation of Waiting
October - Tears
November - Winter
December - Advent / Christmas