Why do Catholics have a devotion to saints?

Imagine you know one of the advisors for the President.  (ok, imagine the president is pro-life).  This advisor has studied the president, tried to live a life similar to the president, loves the president and truly wants to please the president. The advisor has even thrown himself in front of a bullet to protect the president. The advisor loves the president so much that he has committed his life to being an example of how the president lives his life.

Imagine that advisor is someone you could totally relate and look up to.  He is just an ordinary man like you or I but for some reason has gone beyond the call of duty to make great choices in life.

That is how Catholics look at saints.  They are people, like us, that have lived a life pleasing to God.  They have done amazing and brave things to truly live Catholic lives.  They have exceeded our worldly expectations and serve as an example to us of how to act so that we too can be pleasing to God.  They have kept themselves pure and devoted to the Lord. 

Catholics do not worship saints or hold them higher than God.  Catholics don't worship or pray to the statues.  We do pray that the saint who we know is in Heaven will pray on our behalf.  It's like knowing that God is super happy with that saint and will listen closely when the saint brings our intentions to Him.

Saints are only windows to God.  We look through them to see the beauty of the Father.  We know that by following their example we have seen a way to seek sanctity.  Saints pattern their lives off of Jesus Christ never to exceed the Son of God but ONLY to glorify Him. 

Some of my favorite saints:

St. Terese the Little Flower
St. Gerard
St. Clare
St. Francis
St. Philomena

Happy All Saints Day!

Liv wanted to be Immaculate Mary for All Saints Day. She was so cute. She told me that she needed to have a rosary in order to make the constume complete. Father had her lead a Hail Mary and she did great!

Halloween? A msg from Fr. Corapi

This was sent by a friend of my to read. We trick-or-treat but always attend an All Saints Day Party to celebrate the true holiday. What do you do to bring to light the the beauty of All Saints Day?

The Battle Between Good and Evil: an Update from Fr. Corapi

As Halloween approaches, we are surrounded by themes of the occult, ghosts, demons, curses, and hauntings. Demonic and occult themes permeate the media at this time of year. Most of this material is pure fiction, yet the part that is not fiction is an acknowledgment that angels and demons exist. One cannot understand reality if one brackets out a large portion of reality -the pretenders order (angels and demons). If you try to arrive at valid conclusions concerning reality, but have left out a good part of that reality you are engaged in an exercise in futility. So many things today can only be understood in the light of this spiritual reality. Have you ever wondered why so many apparently educated and intelligent people just don't get it, especially with respect to such life and death matters as abortion?There is a battle that goes on in the spiritual order between the forces of God and the forces of Satan, "the adversary." This battle between cosmic good and evil, between angels and demons, has man caught in the cross hairs. Man is an active player in his own salvation. We need the help of our allies the angels. To fail to enlist their help is reckless. To fail to realize the reality of the enemy forces, the demonic legions, can be ultimately and eternally fatal. We are at war and our battle is not against flesh and blood, as St. Paul warns us in Ephesians 6. The battle between good and evil, truth and lies, life and death involves these angelic legions - good and evil. We are soldiers in God's army, like it or not, believe it or not.We must be aware of these fundamental teachings, learn them, and live in accordance with them.