If you're a Christian, you may have heard that Mother Theresa was officially declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican. This caused many Catholics all over the world to flock to the Vatican to see Pope Francis officially canonize her as a saint, as becoming a saint is 1) a pretty big deal to, well, everyone, and 2) it's pretty rare to see in one's lifetime, similarly to the opening of the Holy Doors. Normally, I would see no problem with such a monumental event occurring within the Catholic Church; however, the canonization of a new saint brings about many things I like to call "fake blessings."

The main topic I call a "fake blessing" is chain emails created and forwarded by Christians, more specifically Catholics. A few hours after Mother Theresa was officially declared a saint, I received an email saying:

"A special grace will be opened in Heaven from 12 a.m. tonight untill tomorrow midnight. All prayers during these 24 hours prayed to Mother Teresa will be granted by Heaven, be it for a home, finance or great career whatever. Please forward to people at least receive unimaginable blessings."

Seriously? This is just one of the problems I have with Christianity. For one, Mother Theresa would NOT have approved of this, and I'm not just saying that to be stubborn. Rather, Mother Theresa, according to Pope Francis here, was "a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded." Although she believed in mercy for all, I doubt she would have supported Christians turning to Heaven, God and herself specifically in order to "pray" for "prayers ... granted by Heaven, be it for a home, finance or great career."

Secondly, prayer is not meant to. Although John 16:24 states "Ask and you shall receive," prayer is not intended for one's own material benefit. "Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature." Prayer is about developing a deep and personal relationship with the Lord, not just using him as our own personal slot machine. While technically speaking, there is no such thing as a "wrong" prayer, prayer is not to ask for finance or a great career. Rather, prayer gives us the opportunity to ask God for the ability to become financially stable, to ask for the drive and perseverance to work our way up to a great career.

Prayer especially does not have set hours. The whole matter of "12 am tonight untill tomorrow midnight" strikes me as something that is frankly insulting to Christians everywhere who pray every day. Many Christians pray morning, night or anytime throughout the day when they feel they need guidance or an extra dose of redemption. The fact that this thread conveyed that Heaven, Mother Theresa specifically, would be taking and granting prayers for 36 hours, is frankly a slap in the face of Christianity as a whole.

Sure, every religion has its issues and its quirks; however, it seems like Catholicism has had its fair share of issues recently, especially in the past few years. Threads like this need to be stopped, as it seems to be sacrilegious and an insult to faith. The fact that Mother Theresa was canonized as a saint recently is a milestone in the Catholic faith and is something that Catholics have been working for since her death in 1997, but her recent canonization is not an excuse to ask Heaven for favors, nor is any other religious milestones -- something Catholics and Christians everywhere need to realize.