Is My Pastor Wrong?

[ICTHUS]

I have a question for you all........

Okay, last night at RCIA (I'm preparing for Confirmation), Fr. Shawn, my pastor was saying that the Communion of Saints extends to those who, in his words, were 'working on their holiness'. He essentially, in the conversation that followed, said that non-baptised people (i.e. non-Christians) were part of the Communion of saints. I read the Catechism wherein it deals with the Communion of Saints, and nothing there seemed to support his conclusion. I argued with him for a good long time about this, and neither of us seemed to come to a consensus.

Romans 6:4 says that all who are baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Surely, a person cannot be a 'Saint' - one set apart by the grace of God - unless they are a Christian. Thus, non-Christians [b]cannot be part of the Communion of Saints[/b], no matter how you slice it.

Any thoughts on this matter?

Peace of Christ,
Ryan

Edited March 23, 2004 by ICTHUS

[Carson Weber]

[quote name='ICTHUS' date='Mar 23 2004, 12:27 PM'] Fr. Shawn, my pastor was saying that the Communion of Saints extends to those who, in his words, were 'working on their holiness'. [/quote]
Ryan,

While it is [i]possible[/i] that a non-baptized individual may be saved through an imperfect communion with the Catholic Church through the baptism of desire (whether that be implicit or explicit desire), I find it improper to refer to non-baptized individuals as members of the communion of saints because the Church knows of no other entrance into the Mystical Body of Christ than by baptism, and those who are not baptized, well, we cannot know of their salvation (although it is a [i]possibility[/i]). And, if we cannot know of their salvation and can only hope for it because it is vaguely possible, then it would be a long stretch to include them in the communion of saints.

To include non-baptized people in the communion of saints who are "working on their holiness" seems to me to be a form of Pelagianism - that is, those who are simply trying to be good and therefore, are saved. Holiness is something altogether "more" than mere positive morality. It's a whole new mode of being wherein we have been supernaturalilzed by the rebirth of the Holy Spirit. If you haven't been "born from above", then you cannot enter the Kingdom of God, so says Jesus in John 3.

No one is saved because he or she is just a good person. Grace builds upon nature, and so after our rebirth, we grow in holiness and this action of supernatural grace (the indwelling presence of the Trinity in the soul) builds upon natural virtue and we become holy, which is shown forth in what it is: our being made righteous.

But, initial justification is in no way merited. We can never do anything, even working our best to attain holiness, to attain justification: the forgiveness of Original Sin and the renewal of the interior man. That can only happen by a gift of God.