Zephaniah 3:20
"At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you together;
yea, I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes," says the LORD.
One curious difficulty which troubles many Christians is the idea that the saints are to be honored, venerated, celebrated and made a fuss over. Catholics and Orthodox have a relationship with the saints which strikes many non-Catholics as somewhere between idolatrous and extraneous. Why not just honor God? Why all the extra to-do about saints? Today's verse give the basic reason: God makes a fuss about saints. To love him is to love those he loves. To praise them is to praise their God. It's not a zero sum game. Jesus Christ came to make ugly people beautiful. When an artist works that hard, it's hardly polite to ignore his masterpiece.
