The Communion of Saints: The Unity of the Mystical Body of Christ
Not only a reference to the canonized Saints of the Church
One cannot understand the communion of saints without understanding the mystical body of Christ.
Paul was taught his first lesson by Christ himself about Christ’s mystical body: “why do you persecute me?”
Later Paul would write: “you are all one in Christ.” (Gal 3:28)
Last Supper disclosure: “I am the Vine, you are the branches.” (John 15:5)
The union of Christians with Christ is not merely of love and obedience. It is living, organic unity.
The mystical body of Christ are believers of Christ.
Branches are not a “society in which the vine takes an interest. The vine and branches live in each other.
So it is with Christ and the church… Christ lives in us and we live in him (really, not merely metaphorically).
Paul develops the theology of Christ’s body further, saying that we are all “members” of his body . “You are body, organs of it depending upon each other.” (1 Cor 12:27)
Mystical= Mysterious, i.e. it is not “natural”
A mystery in Theology is not something we do not know anything about, but something we cannot understand everything about.
Scripture Speaks of Christ’s body in 3 ways
His physical body
His mystical body
His sacramental (Eucharist) body
The mystical body and the Eucharist body are successors of the physical body
To call the church the body of Christ is not rhetoric either neither for the church nor Paul.
So the Church is not simply an organization, but an organism. It is both Christ’s body and his bride.
God made Christ the head to which the whole church is joined, so that the church is his body. (Ephesians 1:22)
So Christ has his natural body (glorified) in heaven, but also has his mystical body on earth. The second body is not a replica of the first because it is of a different order. Every cell of a body lives with he same life. So it is with Christ’s mystical body.
The physical body has natural life, but the mystical body has supernatural life… infused with sanctifying grace at baptism. It is through our baptism that we are incorporated into Christ’s mystical body.
See 1 Peter 3;21
In baptism we are infused with God’s supernatural life. So we have our own natural life, but also the life of Christ within us.
Our individual cells are alive with the natural life of the body, but once incorporated into the Christ’s body, our souls share in his life.
What are the implications of this?
This tells me that I am closer to someone in the spiritual realm by incorporation into Christ through baptism, than I am in the natural order to my own brothers through natural birth.
This understanding of the mystical body of Christ as a real living body is what makes the communion of Saints possible. (Infuses God’s supernatural power through humans).
What does this have it with the communion of saints?
Communion= To be in union with
To whom are we referring when we speak about the communion of saints? Only to those living?
Do those who have died no longer belong to Christ’s mystical body?
All who have been baptized into Christ are part of his mystical body, both living and those really alive!
“After confessing “the holy catholic …
Jesus makes it Clear that those who have died are truly alive.
Luke 9:29-31
Mark 12:26
Matthew 27:52
The mystical body of Christ is what makes it possible for us to ask the saints in heaven for intercession. Jesus said, “whatever you ask the father in my name he will give it to you.”
“whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)
Jesus not only told us to pray in his name but we are also commanded to pray for each other.
James 5:16
Phil 1:3
What do we make of Jesus as the “sole mediator” with the Father?
1 Timothy 2:5-6
Mediator: A person who serves as a go-between or intermediary between two parties.
Jesus is the one mediator between Gid and humanity yet in the four verses prior to these, Paul instructs Christians to pray on behalf of each other. Is he contradicting? Answer: No
There is primary mediation and secondary mediation. Our secondary mediation is entirely dependent upon the primary mediation of Christ.
If secondary mediation is not intended, how could we pray for each other without usurping Jesus primary mediation
What Orthodox/Catholics call prayer to saints is nothing more than asking our brothers and sisters to pray for us. This can be done because we are one in the body of Christ.
A common misunderstanding is that prayer to saint is a way of bumping Jesus out of his role. Not true.
They too act as secondary mediators. All prayers is done in and through Jesus or in Jesus name.
A misnomer: technically, we do not pray to saints. The word to can be misleading and imply that something stops there. More properly. prayer to saints is a request for them to pray with and for you.
Do Catholics worship saints?
No, worship is given to Gid
Venerate": 1, to hold in deep respect; revere. 2. to honor in recognition of qualities (excellence, wisdom, holiness, etc.)
Latin: Dulia - devotion or respect accorded to the saints
Dulia from the Greek doulos (slave/servant)
Hyperdoulia (Latin): The honor shown for Mary
Latria (Latin): Worship given to God alone
Luther on Mary’s perpetual virginity: “it is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a Virgin.”
Luther on the Immaculate Conception: Mary does not have original sin
John Calvin (Protestant Reformer)
Robert Zwingley (Protestant Reformer)
John W (Founder of the Methodist Church)