Engaging Faith

Here’s a refresher on the role of saints in the Church, in lieu of the coming of All Saints’ Day on November 1. Saints are those who cooperate with Christ and allow him to work through him. Saints are not themselves mediators, but they share in the mediation of Jesus. Without Jesus they can do nothing, but because of their relationship with Jesus, they are able to help make God’s presence visible to others. Because death no longer has the power to completely remove someone from the Christian community, saints are able to continue sharing in the mediating work of Jesus after they died. Through the power of prayer they continue to touch other members of the church and thus encourage the work of God. The Church is the eschatological community—the community of the end times. Even now it has a share in the divine glory. This divine glory is most clearly seen in the actions of the saints while they were on earth and continues through their intercession in heaven. We ask the saints to intercede for us just as we ask for the prayers of those we live with today. We believe that the prayers of the faithful do make a difference and that the faithful are most frequently used by God as channels of divine grace. It is through the saints that God “manifests his holiness and the work of salvation” (CCC, 688). Our relationship with the saints in heaven is a testimony to our belief in the power of the resurrection and in the powerlessness of death. It is also a testimony to our belief that the Church is the Body of Christ. All of the members of the Church together make up the Body of Christ; therefore, when we are in communion with the other members of the Church, we are in communion with Christ. Our communion with Christ would be incomplete if our communion with the Church did not include both the Church on earth and the Church in heaven. We need both to experience the fullness of Christ’s love. Assignment Think about someone you know who has died. Spend some time praying for this person. Consider one or more of the following ways: Lighting a votive candle for the person. Wiring a journal entry with memories about the person. Remembering the person while at Mass. Doing something the person enjoyed while on earth. Thinking about the person while sitting before the Blessed Sacrament. While praying for this person, ask him or her to pray for you and your intentions as well.

With the World Series near, football in full swing, and basketball and hockey seasons just kicking off, sports certainly is in the forefront. Use the reference of sports to remind your students to “get in the game” of life, to always do their best, and of the lesson that hard work pays off in whatever life course they chose for themselves. As a warm-up share the Ousidedabox produced short (1:51) video Get in the Game. It reminds us of this important teaching from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that, “Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator” (CCC, 302). Instead, the universe, including each person, is created by God “in a state of journeying” toward an ultimate perfection that hasn’t yet been reached. The ways that God guides his creation toward perfection is known as divine providence. It is comforting to know that God loves and cares for us so much that he has a special plan for our lives and guides us to it. As the book of Proverbs teaches: Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the decision of the Lord that endures. (Prv 19:21) The Fathers of the Church, in particular Gregory of Nicaea, spoke of the soul’s journey toward Christ and heavenly perfection as something in which we must consistently engage. They referred to this process as epektasis—an unending “straining forward,” as St. Paul calls it in the Letter to the Philippians: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:13) Epektasis is going forward, exercising spiritual muscles, reaching out to God and others, and straining with hope. Epektasis begins in this life and extends to the next, for eternity. Thus, even eternal life is part of—not the end of—our journey. Coach Lou Holtz offered a simple reminder to those who want to “get in the game.” He shares an acronym W.I.N.—What’s Important Now. It goes like this: It’s great to have big dreams. But the way to make your dreams come true is through a series of smaller daily choices. This is where the W.I.N. formula—”What’s Important Now”—can help. You sure you want to be an All American? Then ask yourself twenty-five times a day “what’s important now.” You wake up in the morning—”what’s important now?” Get out of bed. You’re out of bed—”what’s important now?” Eat breakfast. You need your strength. What’s important now? Go to class. What’s important now? Sit in the front row. Be prepared. When you’re in the weight room—”what’s important now?” It’s to get stronger. Not because somebody’s looking. But because you know you’ve got to get stronger. When you’re out Saturday night and there’s alcohol, and sex, and drugs—”what’s important now?” If your dream is to be an All American in whatever field you’ve chosen, then “what’s important now” is to avoid those situations. You take any dream you want to reach and ask yourself twenty-five times a day “what’s important now?” and you’ll know exactly what you have to do to achieve it. (A Teen’s Game Plan for Life) Assignment Write tens answers to the question “What’s important now?” related to your daily life for the coming semester. For example: “What’s important now?” (To make the basketball team.) “What’s important now?” (To earn enough money to buy car insurance.) When completed, go back over your list and make notes about kinds of things you will need to do to achieve what you deem to be important. Call on volunteers to share sample responses from their list.

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