~J.M.J.~
There was a question that always bugged me: how does God find the time to hear so many prayers? Well, that He is omnipotent satisfies me quite well, but then I think of the saints who are not. We, the pilgrim people on earth, constantly seek their intercessions. But where do they find so much time to pray for us? We say 53 Hail Mary's in a Rosary, and often say, "All ye holy angels and saints, pray for us." If we apply our earthly understanding, it seems quite impossible that they pray for us every single time.
So, I consulted Fr Sam at an RCIA class on what quality the angels and saints have that frees them from the constraints of time. He threw the question back at the class. Some proposed from worldly experience that over 2000 years of refinement, some sort of list was created for each prayer intention. So the saints compile the names of person asking for their prayers and then pray the intention. This drew a few chuckles; the class was full of working adults. Finally, Father gave us this answer.
Death frees the saints from the constraints of time, for time does not apply to the spiritual world. And when the saint passes from this world, constrained by time, to the next, he is freed from that constraint.
God is not constrained by time. We see that time does not apply to God as St Thomas Aquinas describes Him as the "First Mover", who is put in motion by no other. Therefore, He exists eternally before eternity, but really the word "before" doesn't really make any sense. We also profess in our Creed that the Son was "begotten of the Father before all ages".
If God is not constrained by time, neither should His Kingdom. Therefore, a saint can be attending every Mass at every Sanctus in every church and chapel in the world, be praying with us at home, and participating in the endless Divine Liturgy in heaven all at the same time.
A few classes later, Fr Sam was elaborating on how the human soul was created to be in unity with the human body, in dismissal of the heresy of Cartesian Dualism, which proposes that the body is an extension of the mind. Then I asked him, "If the soul was created to be in unity with the body, then why aren't saints worse off than us since their souls is separated from their bodies?"
He answered that because upon death, a soul is not constrained by time. Therefore, it can be immediately at the Final Judgement and receive its unity with its transfigured body. I gave him a rather surprised, "Ah?" because it was simply too mind-blowing. But after taking some time to digest it, I accepted that answer.
However, a question still lingers. Does that mean that a soul will be in Purgatory and Heaven at the simultaneously since time does not apply? Haha, me and my questions...
If God is not constrained by time, neither should His Kingdom. Therefore, a saint can be attending every Mass at every Sanctus in every church and chapel in the world, be praying with us at home, and participating in the endless Divine Liturgy in heaven all at the same time.
A few classes later, Fr Sam was elaborating on how the human soul was created to be in unity with the human body, in dismissal of the heresy of Cartesian Dualism, which proposes that the body is an extension of the mind. Then I asked him, "If the soul was created to be in unity with the body, then why aren't saints worse off than us since their souls is separated from their bodies?"
He answered that because upon death, a soul is not constrained by time. Therefore, it can be immediately at the Final Judgement and receive its unity with its transfigured body. I gave him a rather surprised, "Ah?" because it was simply too mind-blowing. But after taking some time to digest it, I accepted that answer.
However, a question still lingers. Does that mean that a soul will be in Purgatory and Heaven at the simultaneously since time does not apply? Haha, me and my questions...
