Praying to Mary and Saints................ (woman, church, believe, prayers)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I will make an attempt to clear this up for my protestant brothers and sisters.
Why do you see it as such a problem that Catholics pray to Mary and the saints? Have you ever had a close relative pass away? After his/her death, do you ever find yourself talking to them? Asking them for guidance? Wishing they were with you? Telling them you miss them? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING.
We aren't praying to Mary and the saints as if they were dieties. We are simply asking them to intercede on our behalf. Yes, we know we can pray directly to God (and we do.) But consider this example. Let's say you are interviewing for a job. And you know the bosses secretary very closely. Wouldn't you ask her to put in a good word for you? You still have to go directly to the boss and impress him. But would'nt it help to have a little inside assistance? Mary is closer to God than anybody else we know. And we feel very close to Mary. So we ask her to pray for us.
Have you ever had a member of your church community sick? Did the pastor get up and ask you all to pray for him/her? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING. You are asking for others to intercede on behalf of another person. That's all we are doing when we pray to Mary or the saints. We are asking for their help and prayers. We still have to pray to God. Praying only to Mary will not get us what we need.
I will make an attempt to clear this up for my protestant brothers and sisters.
Why do you see it as such a problem that Catholics pray to Mary and the saints? Have you ever had a close relative pass away? After his/her death, do you ever find yourself talking to them? Asking them for guidance? Wishing they were with you? Telling them you miss them? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING.
We aren't praying to Mary and the saints as if they were dieties. We are simply asking them to intercede on our behalf. Yes, we know we can pray directly to God (and we do.) But consider this example. Let's say you are interviewing for a job. And you know the bosses secretary very closely. Wouldn't you ask her to put in a good word for you? You still have to go directly to the boss and impress him. But would'nt it help to have a little inside assistance? Mary is closer to God than anybody else we know. And we feel very close to Mary. So we ask her to pray for us.
Have you ever had a member of your church community sick? Did the pastor get up and ask you all to pray for him/her? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING. You are asking for others to intercede on behalf of another person. That's all we are doing when we pray to Mary or the saints. We are asking for their help and prayers. We still have to pray to God. Praying only to Mary will not get us what we need.
Questions?
No questions.
No we are not.
"a member of your church community sick? Did the pastor get up and ask you all to pray for him/her? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING."
You're trying to use word games to make what we do to look like what RCC does.
When prayers are offered by us for somebody else, they are addressed to the Father in the name of Jesus. People living on earth can do things to help us, but only God can answer prayer. The first commandment forbids us to worship and pray to anyone except God. To pray to any person as we pray to God is idolatry.
The dead in heaven cannot hear us. They are removed from the earth, so it does no good to pray to them.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
No you are not.... "That's all we are doing when we pray to Mary or the saints. We are asking for their help and prayers."
All your "yea but examples" are nothing but attempts to rationalize away the fact RCC practices the unscriptural diversion of direct access to God which is idolatry.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
The dead in heaven cannot hear us. They are removed from the earth, so it does no good to pray to them. Also, there is no need to pray to them. We can pray directly to God as Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The other difference is that prayer is worship whereas most RC's do not believe it to be as such.
All one needs to do is to actually read the prayers made to Mary in the RCC. They ask her to play the role of being an assistant in obtaining salvation for people. Calling this by a different name does not change its nature. It is worship which is idolatrous.
No we are not.
"a member of your church community sick? Did the pastor get up and ask you all to pray for him/her? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING."
You're trying to use word games to make what we do to look like what RCC does.
When prayers are offered by us for somebody else, they are addressed to the Father in the name of Jesus. People living on earth can do things to help us, but only God can answer prayer. The first commandment forbids us to worship and pray to anyone except God. To pray to any person as we pray to God is idolatry.
The dead in heaven cannot hear us. They are removed from the earth, so it does no good to pray to them.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
No you are not.... "That's all we are doing when we pray to Mary or the saints. We are asking for their help and prayers."
All your "yea but examples" are nothing but attempts to rationalize away the fact RCC practices the unscriptural diversion of direct access to God which is idolatry.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
The dead in heaven cannot hear us. They are removed from the earth, so it does no good to pray to them. Also, there is no need to pray to them. We can pray directly to God as Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The other difference is that prayer is worship whereas most RC's do not believe it to be as such.
All one needs to do is to actually read the prayers made to Mary in the RCC. They ask her to play the role of being an assistant in obtaining salvation for people. Calling this by a different name does not change its nature. It is worship which is idolatrous.
So you've never prayed to a dead mother/father/grand?
I will make an attempt to clear this up for my protestant brothers and sisters.
Why do you see it as such a problem that Catholics pray to Mary and the saints? Have you ever had a close relative pass away? After his/her death, do you ever find yourself talking to them? Asking them for guidance? Wishing they were with you? Telling them you miss them? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING.
We aren't praying to Mary and the saints as if they were dieties. We are simply asking them to intercede on our behalf. Yes, we know we can pray directly to God (and we do.) But consider this example. Let's say you are interviewing for a job. And you know the bosses secretary very closely. Wouldn't you ask her to put in a good word for you? You still have to go directly to the boss and impress him. But would'nt it help to have a little inside assistance? Mary is closer to God than anybody else we know. And we feel very close to Mary. So we ask her to pray for us.
Have you ever had a member of your church community sick? Did the pastor get up and ask you all to pray for him/her? YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING. You are asking for others to intercede on behalf of another person. That's all we are doing when we pray to Mary or the saints. We are asking for their help and prayers. We still have to pray to God. Praying only to Mary will not get us what we need.
Questions?
Why would I talk to my parents who have passed away? They are dead. They can't hear. They are in the grave. They are in the grave awaiting the resurrection. Only then will they meet the Lord.
Mary is dead. The saints are dead who died. They too must await their resurrection in order to meet the Lord. There is no "in-between" state. "The dead know nothing."
There is a difference between a minister asking the congregation to pray for someone, a congregation of living people, and dead saints who have passed on. We pray to God through Jesus Christ. "Christ alone has immortality" and "No one has ascended into Heaven except He who came down out of heaven, Jesus Christ."
Pretty sad to think that those who love us aren't watching over us from heaven. Yes, their bodies are dead. But the soul lives on. And they can hear us. I'm sorry you can't speak to your loved ones. Because I can. Just like I speak to Christ.
Pretty sad to think that those who love us aren't watching over us from heaven. Yes, their bodies are dead. But the soul lives on. And they can hear us. I'm sorry you can't speak to your loved ones. Because I can. Just like I speak to Christ.
I've read some extremely rude anti-Catholic sentiments on this board which reflect the anti-Catholic sentiments of most fundamental Christians. They have a built-in, preached-at dislike of the Catholic church. You can't explain the faith to them. They have NO desire to listen and learn.
But you get points just for being brave enough to try.
Years ago, while sitting in a doctor's waiting room, I read an article written by a Catholic who said that when she was overwhelmed and praying she prayed to God but she also said, "Please Mary, talk to your son." That touched me. She approached Mary as a mother. As the woman who raised Jesus and knew him well. I always liked the Catholic view of Mary as a very maternal, loving mother.
Last edited by DewDropInn; 02-19-2014 at 08:41 AM..
Pretty sad to think that those who love us aren't watching over us from heaven. Yes, their bodies are dead. But the soul lives on. And they can hear us. I'm sorry you can't speak to your loved ones. Because I can. Just like I speak to Christ.
It is sad, but it is what it is.
Let it go, in due time we will all understand everything and have no more division between us
A+ for effort (but don't waste your energy or peace of mind arguing with anyone about this stuff).
Hey man, I am saved by Jesus Christ, but also pray to his mother - The Blessed Mother! Nothing wrong with that. She can intercede, She is Jesus' Mom!!!
I take some heat as a non-denominational Christian now, but that's ok.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
