We Believe in the Communion of Saints: The Saints as Fund Managers

saints, discipleship, sainthood, St. Dymphna, diversity, All Saints Day

A recent opportunity to speak to a group of young people about the saints had me digging into a variety of sources as to what a saint is, and what the Communion of Saints means to us as Catholics. In doing so I found a couple of surprising ideas and surprising words that opened a new vista onto this facet of Catholic life, a facet so important that it is featured in our Creed.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

“Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others. . . . We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head. . . . Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments.” “As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund.” (CCC 947)

This use of the word “fund” is strange to my ears and recalls another strange word usage, that of “communism” by the late Thomas Merton:

It is true to say that for me sanctity consists in being myself and for you sanctity consists in being yourself and that, in the last analysis, your sanctity will never be mine and mine will never be yours, except in the communism of charity and grace.

For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self.

This truth explained by the Catechism, that all our spiritual goods are held in a “common fund,” combined with Merton’s interesting idea of the “communism of charity and grace,” means that each of us members of the Church Militant is entitled to use of the spiritual goods of all the saints who have gone before us!

I don’t claim to understand the workings of Thomas Merton’s incredible mind, but in my simple understanding I equate his use of the word communism as more akin to the word socialism. In this comparison the saints’ acquired spiritual goods are the “economic” capital placed at the disposal of all. As socialism refers only to an economic system, whereas communism refers to an entire political and governmental system as well, this simplified view of Merton’s idea is helpful for this comparison.

Not to mention that communism is a system with inherently disordered flaws which cannot be reconciled with Christian living. Perhaps Merton, living in a more naïve era, was imaging the supposed Eden-like communes that many young people were attempting to live in at that time. I don’t believe I would choose this same analogy, but it does harken back to what the Catechism teaches about the “common fund.”

Merton’s words about finding our own way of sanctity and becoming who God created us to be are important. Far from meaning “do your own thing,” Merton is teaching us that it is hard and sometimes isolating work discovering our own singular, unrepeatable, God-given Road to heaven, to becoming God’s saint. We cannot be St. Thérèse of Lisieux. She and God already did that. We may learn from her, model certain aspects of our life after her, ask her intercession and become her friend, but our purpose is to become who God created US to be, another unique daughter or son for Him to love for eternity.

Communal Spiritual Goods

All this being said, the idea of communal spiritual goods means that what I lack in the life of virtue, I have access to through the Communion of Saints. Whatever I need in my lifelong struggle against vice and toward becoming my true self, as God created me to be, is mine for the asking.

The saints spent their lives overcoming their weaknesses, with God’s grace, to become exactly the “self” God created them to be. They weren’t born saints. There was great, heroic virtue and sacrifice. But the spiritual goods that they earned have now been deposited into that “common fund” the Catechism describes.

St. Frances of Rome famously had anger problems, but over time, by struggle and grace, became meek and mild mannered. That struggle has yielded spiritual goods now held in the “common fund” we all have access to. If I struggle with anger I can ask the intercession of St. Frances, approach her as a “fund manager” of gentleness, and in the Communion of Saints, this “communism of charity and grace,” I can have assurance that I will receive the grace I need. I still must do my part in cooperating with the reception of the grace, but I can proceed with the assurance that the grace is mine to respond to.

St. Joan of Arc lived an incredible example of magnanimity, that “big-souled” virtue that lives beyond apparent abilities for God’s glory. This is a key virtue in opposing the vice of vanity (empty glory). If I struggle with vanity or being more concerned with what others think about my looks, my job, my anything, than I am concerned about what GOD thinks of me, then I am entitled to ask St. Joan, as a “fund manager” of magnanimity, for a “payment” out of the communal fund which she so heroically made deposits into.

In addition to magnanimity, St. Joan is more well known for the virtue of courage:

“I do not fear the soldiers, for my road is made open to me; and if the soldiers come, I have God, my Lord, who will know how to clear the route that leads to messire the Dauphin. It was for this that I was born!”

From her own words it is apparent that St. Joan thought about the things that might lie ahead for her. She almost certainly felt fearful, at least in passing, but she chose to do what she knew was the right thing to do for God’s glory, despite what her emotions were telling her. Courage is not the absence of fear, but choosing to do the right thing, even when we’re shaking in our boots doing it.

When I am in need of courage, I will ask St. Joan of Arc, a “fund manager” of courage, to transfer some of those spiritual goods into my account.

Perhaps this is not an appealing idea to anyone else. But there is some simple, fiscal-esque clarity in seeing this “common fund” we have access to in our lifelong challenge of “finding out who (we are) and of discovering (our) true self,” as Merton said, that appeals to this member of the Church Militant.

“Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you.” (Luke 19:20–21)

Fear keeps too many of us members of the Church Militant from becoming our “true selves.”

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire. (St. Catherine of Siena)

By overcoming our fears, and all our other vices, with the help of the Fund Managers of Heaven, we can give glory to God, become our “true selves,” and set this world on fire with His love, mercy, and grace.

All you holy “Fund Managers” in heaven, pray for us!

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

3 thoughts on “We Believe in the Communion of Saints: The Saints as Fund Managers”

  1. Pingback: TVESDAY EDITION – Big Pulpit

  2. I just wanted some more information on the topic in this article. And it gives me plenty of unnecessary staff. I wish I got the details on compacom.com as I used to do before. Experiments are not always good. Sometimes an old trustful resource is worth sticking to it.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.