Saints

1. So, why do Catholics ordain saints when the Bible already calls ALL who follow Christ saints?

First, a clarification on words. Catholics canonize saints, while Priests and Deacons are ordained. Ordination is a sacrament of the Church, passing on the teaching authority Christ gave the apostles onto the next generation.

The canonization of saints is not what makes someone a saint. Canonization simply declares that the Church has found the canonized to have lived a holy life and that they are sure to be in heaven and we should look to them as examples of holiness.

To explain this deeper, I will look at Catholic feast days. Most canonized saints have their own feast day (such as June 29, the feast day of Peter and Paul). November 1st, however, is known as All Saints Day, and is a feast for all those in heaven who the Church has not canonized. We, as man, cannot know if someone is in heaven (beyond the few who the Church has canonized, only around 10,000) so we cannot declare all who professed belief in Christ to be in heaven, just as we cannot say all who did not declare belief (particularly those who never heard the name of Christ) to be in hell.

So it is not that the saints are the only ones in heaven, but that all who are in heaven are saints. The Church Triumphant is much larger than we will know until we ourselves are among them. All those who have died in the love of Christ are saints, whether we know it or not.