Happy All Saints Day!
 
This day never fails to renew Ever’s gratitude for her mom. That’s because hardly a day of Ever’s childhood went by without her mom bringing up the saints. Whether it was a little story about Padre Pio, a quick request to St. Anthony, an expression of love for our Blessed Mother, or a reference to the witness of St. Thomas More, whose portrait hung in their living room, she infused the home with a living awareness of our communion with the saints in heaven.
 
Sadly, though, the saints—their gifts, stories, and struggles—are absent from too many homes. Rather than being household names, they appear only in stained glass windows at church. But no matter where our families are on the subject of familiarity with the saints, as we turn our focus to Level 1, Faith Life, we can all at least help our kids grasp the basics.

Questions about saints abound, and unlike some theological subjects, the answers are easy enough for even a child to grasp. Following are three key questions we’ve heard over and over, as well as some quick answers:
 
1 | Why do Catholics worship saints?
 
We don’t worship the saints. Worship is due to God alone. We honor the saints with our love and respect. We also pray to the saints, but prayer and worship are very different things. “Pray,” author Jason Everts reminds us, “is an Old English word that means simply ‘to ask.’” Praying to a saint means asking him or her for something.

We may ask a saint for his guidance or help. We may ask a saint for her prayers, that she would intercede for us with God. “None of our prayers,” Everts notes, “terminate in the saints, as if they had the power in and of themselves to answer prayers.” Instead, they, in turn, ask the Lord on our behalf, just as a friend or family member would.

2 | The saints are dead, so how can they help you?
 
The saints are more alive than anyone who is still living in the world, even the holiest of Christians. They are alive in Christ. They have become all God created them to be. If we commonly ask for a friend’s help, why wouldn’t we ask a saint—who is alive and transformed in Christ? Wouldn’t their help be more efficacious than the help of someone who hasn’t yet been fully transformed in Christ?

“Those in heaven are part of the mystical body of Christ,” Everts notes, “and have not been separated from us by death. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. So, if we are connected to him, we are inseparably bound together with them as well. Thus, the angels and saints stand before the throne of God, offer our prayers to him, and cheer us on as we run the good race.”

3 | Why don’t you go straight to God with your prayers?
 
Of course we can and do go straight to God with many of our prayers. But by also turning to each other and the saints, our extended friends and family in Christ, we more fully participate in God’s plan. Jesus Christ died and rose again in order that we could be transformed into His image, giving ourselves to help one another. When we ask for each other’s help, we create the conditions for people to image God to us, just as He intended. What a joy it must be for God to see His children acting, by grace, in His image, to help one another!

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Ever’s mom is a beautiful example of someone whose friendships with and love of the communion of saints gave her children a special gift. As today we celebrate the lives and witness of all saints, let’s be sure to hand on this treasure to our children as well.

The stained glass images of the saints at church ought to be reflected in our own homes, our “domestic churches.” As our children run the race that is set before them, let’s remind them that they do not run in an empty stadium. The entire communion of saints is cheering them on.