Y ou h a v e h e a r d t h e ironical jibe that in the Roman Catholic Church “ saints are made, not bom.” Back in 1558, the Church of Rome set up a system for canon izing persons. Since then something over 200 individuals have been pronounced saints by the Church. And it may not surprise you to know that none of these is a ■Protestant! More than a thousand other names are on the long road that may lead to canonization, according to Vatican authorities. Making a saint is not a speedy process. It takes both time and effort. The life of the candidate must be carefully observed by a commission of the diocese; then the Congregation of Rites takes over for a further examination of the candidate, after which the latter may be called by the pope a “ venerable.” Comes then the challenge of the “ devil’s advocate” who peers into the candidate’s record for any tiny scan dal, and checks on the miracles he is professed to have wrought. If this test is passed, one more hurdle remains: two more miracles must be found to be genuine. After this the pope may declare the candidate a saint To date not more than a couple of Americans have been elevated to sainthood. It would appear by the record that Italians stand a better chance of canonization than any other nationalities; and, going by the statistics, priests and nuns have the edge over laymen. Some men and women who got started toward saint hood centuries ago haven’t as yet attained the goal. Others came to the high office in a comparatively brief time. We have heard that Don Juan, the self-confessed
seducer of a thousand women, because of good works ii his later life, has been put up for canonization; but w t also understand that up to now the mighty lover has not so much as reached the less exalted place of beatifica tion. We have dwelt on how saints are made in the Roman Catholic Church. However, that is not how they are made in Sacred Writ! It didn’t take long to make a saint in the days when the New Testament was being pro duced. Saints in those days were not made in any earthly office. They were creations of God, made so by the regenerating gift of His grace. A flawless past wasn’t required, or a number of miracles. Nobody voted on them, or put their names before church dignitaries. They got “ canonized” by accepting Christ as their Saviour and becoming a witness for Him. Nor did one have to die in those days to become a saint. They could achieve the status of sainthood in the flesh. It was possible to run into one most anywhere! According to Paul’s letters, saints were scattered about over Asia Minor and Europe. They were in Jerusalem, Ephesus, Colossae, Corinth, Rome, and many other places. The Apostle even discovered them among the imperial slaves in Caesar’s household (Col. 4:22). We could easily envision more saints living in Paul’s time than the Roman Catholic Church would have on her canonization list in several millenniums! Paul wrote to the Romans, “ It hath pleased them in Macedonia and Achaia to make certain contribution for (continued on next page)
THE KING 'S BUSINESS
3 4
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs