The Unity of Individual and Ecclesial Graces in the Roles of the Saints

Abstract

Adequate theological attention is not paid to the unity of charisms given to individuals for their sanctification and charisms given to individuals for the building up of the Church, Karl Rahner wrote. Ecclesiology grounded in theological anthropology remedies this, bringing the neglected saints into renewed and proper focus and showing that their roles of model, companion, and intercessor are intrinsically related and equally important in the life of the Church. Theological de-emphasis of any of these roles can result in anomalies that do not uphold a truly Catholic understanding of sacramentality as manifested in the communion of saints. The Church's essential charismatic dimension is found preeminently in the saints and in the veneration of them.