D
Dorothy
Guest
And now we have a wonderful Church family, the Body of Christ on this earth and in heaven.
How blessed we are!
How blessed we are!
- Status
E
ericc
Guest
It is not “necessary” as it can be seen in the example of the Good Thief. But it helps. If you believe in the communion of saints as we profess in the creed, these are our family members who can help us on our journey. Having a big ego in not requiring the help of family members unnecessarily makes the journey difficult and at variance to our communion of saints creed. And ego/pride/ignorance may lead to other mishaps along the way.
M
Mintaka
Guest
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He really really wanted His friends to stay awake and pray for Him. In fact, He rebuked them for not doing it.
So if the intercession of His buddies was good enough for Him – for GOD HIMSELF – why wouldn’t it be good enough for us?
So if the intercession of His buddies was good enough for Him – for GOD HIMSELF – why wouldn’t it be good enough for us?
S
steve_b
Guest
- Catholics don’t usually think about it that way. We do it because she is our mother too and the saints are our family. This only becomes an issue when protestants and other non Catholics get involved in the conversation. Protestants are the ones who have issues with us praying to OUR family, Mary and the saints in heaven. And why do they do that? Because they don’t see Mary and the saints as THEIR family. Afterall, our Family are Catholic. Besides protestants are heretics. The Great Heresies and what does Paul say about dealing with heretics?
- Titus 3:10
“As for a man who is factious ( αἱρετικὸν heretic ), after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned.” - for 500 years this dialogue has been going on with them. And the heresies only get stronger and stronger. It’s like they are on steroids
- Protestants left this family, and thus made themselves outside of it. So what do they do? They ask THEIR fellow friends and family to pray for them. So it’s not a matter of asking another person to pray for them, it’s where that person is that they ask to pray for them that counts. To which I ask, whose family prayers in that case do you think are more powerful? Those family members who are here on earth, or the ones who are in heaven? Especially considering here on earth, one’s family might be heretics and we know heretics won’t be in heaven
- Catholics take advantage of** all the means** of salvation given us by God. That is the faith passed onto us from Jesus and His apostles, and His One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church… That’s the HUGE advantage of being in His Church that He gave all His promises to.
- OTOH, the people who have deep issues with the One True Faith, are those outside Our Lord’s Church. Which as a condition, puts THEM in deep trouble by itself.
Does Jesus do unnecessary things? No
Ask us to do unnecessary things? No
So when I ask Our Blessed Mother to pray for me now and at the hour of my death, I know she will do that. And she has her Son’s ear.
So…Is it needed for salvation to do this? Let me put it this way. I would have to be a bonafide fool, a galactic idiot, to ignore that great grace given by Jesus.
S
steve_b
Guest
F
fred_conty
Guest
When I go to Mass and see others beside me there in church, it strikes me that we are really just all one body in Christ. They have the divine life within them which links us altogether, between us and them, in Christ Jesus.
As the Mass prayers continue I hear prayers for those in church and for those around the world, in whatever need they may be in. It is a real comfort to realize that we are world wide from east to west and north to south. We are all united in prayer world wide praying for one another in Christ, and that the same life throbbing inside of my soul is in theirs, and that we are all one.
The saints are one with us, for the life in them is the same one that throbs in all of us on earth as well. We are all one, praying and loving one another in the same Lord Jesus. How simple wonderful and conforting to know that one brotherhood exists with the saints.
Now the Lord’s condition he laid down to us was that we love one another. And the highest form of loving one another is to help each other towards our eternal happiness. So the saints see us as struggling in this world, and they would certainly see it as a privelege to help us with their prayers.
In the light of the above, the question begs the issue.
May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.
M
midori
Guest
Ignoring the phrasing of the question— worship is for God; I can petition anyone for their help—
Do you need to hold on to the banister to climb a staircase? No, but the banister makes it easier and safer. Do you need to travel on I-45 to get from Dallas to Houston? No, but it’s the fastest and most direct route. Do you need your Mom to get your Dad on board with your ideas for the evening? No, but your chances are better when she goes to bat for you.
The Church is the body of Christ. Are toes worth much if they wander off by themselves and separate themselves from the body? If the knees or the elbows wander off, do they benefit? Does the rest of the body suffer from their absence? Suppose you have someone who has passed away who you loved very much while they were on earth. Now that they’re in heaven enjoying the beatific vision-- are they suddenly cut off from the rest of the body still on earth? Do they stop being part of the Body of Christ, or do they continue their participation in a different way? If so for your grandmother or your great-grandmother, how much more so for someone who was a million times closer to God than you or I might ever be?
What did Jesus spend the majority of his public life preaching about? “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” Did he ever say, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a teenager who is happy to shut himself off in his room, oblivious to the rest of the world?” No, I don’t remember that one.
He did say, however, that there’s more rejoicing in Heaven over the repentance of one sinner… which is rather hard to do if Heaven and Earth both are full of isolated individuals carefully ignoring each other.
Do you need to hold on to the banister to climb a staircase? No, but the banister makes it easier and safer. Do you need to travel on I-45 to get from Dallas to Houston? No, but it’s the fastest and most direct route. Do you need your Mom to get your Dad on board with your ideas for the evening? No, but your chances are better when she goes to bat for you.
The Church is the body of Christ. Are toes worth much if they wander off by themselves and separate themselves from the body? If the knees or the elbows wander off, do they benefit? Does the rest of the body suffer from their absence? Suppose you have someone who has passed away who you loved very much while they were on earth. Now that they’re in heaven enjoying the beatific vision-- are they suddenly cut off from the rest of the body still on earth? Do they stop being part of the Body of Christ, or do they continue their participation in a different way? If so for your grandmother or your great-grandmother, how much more so for someone who was a million times closer to God than you or I might ever be?
What did Jesus spend the majority of his public life preaching about? “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” Did he ever say, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a teenager who is happy to shut himself off in his room, oblivious to the rest of the world?” No, I don’t remember that one.
He did say, however, that there’s more rejoicing in Heaven over the repentance of one sinner… which is rather hard to do if Heaven and Earth both are full of isolated individuals carefully ignoring each other.- Status