Mary; Omnipresent? Linguist?

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iamACE

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These questions were thrown at me by an Evangelical.

Can Mary hear me when I pray to her?
How can she hear millions of people praying to her?
How can she understand all of us speaking in different tongues?
Can she understand English? Filipino? German? French? et cetera

Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?

Do you think Mary knows what’s in your heart to be able to discern if your petition deserves an answer or not?
Does she know if you really believe into Jesus?
Does she know what’s right for you? Any proof?

Is she God for having these capabilities?

Anyone answer?
 
What Mary knows is governed by what God allows and provides. One way of understanding all of this is by appreciating what it means to behold the face of God. If God allows Mary to know things and to hear our prayers then she will be able to do so regardless of our difficulties to appreciate it.

I have no ability to comprehend how the NSA can monitor millions of electronic communications, but computers make a lot of things possible. This kind of thing is amazing but it is nothing compared to what a person in heaven can know and understand when looking into the eyes of Jesus.

We know from scripture that the angels in heaven are joyful everytime a sinner repents. How do they know about every individual that repents around the world? Likewise, the saints and Mary would know exactly what the angels know. We also know that the saints in heaven carry the prayers of the saints on earth to the altar in heaven. This is made clear in Revelation 5:8.

We may not understand the how, but there is no reason to believe that God leaves Mary and the saints ignorant of those in the body of Christ on earth.
 
iamACE said:
These questions were thrown at me by an Evangelical.

Can Mary hear me when I pray to her?
How can she hear millions of people praying to her?
How can she understand all of us speaking in different tongues?
Can she understand English? Filipino? German? French? et cetera

Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?

Do you think Mary knows what’s in your heart to be able to discern if your petition deserves an answer or not?
Does she know if you really believe into Jesus?
Does she know what’s right for you? Any proof?

Is she God for having these capabilities?

Anyone answer?
Click to expand...
Here are some good answers from this forum. See thread:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=92263

Also for an excellent biblical/linguistic argument for Catholic Marian doctrine read all off these articles by Fr. Mateo. Will give you new insight. Might even have them saying the Rosary!

catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9208fea.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9209fea2.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9210fea2.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9211fea3.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9212fea2.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1993/9301fea3.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1993/9302fea2.asp

I was impressed and see Mary as a gift (new Eve) to humanity (Rev 12:17). Catholic doctrine does not see her as a goddess but as the links point out the things Catholics claim for her are quite biblical (notes from thread link and articles). Even her bodily assumption…and Protestants might want to re read their Old Testament for other instances of bodily assumption of human beings claimed in scripture (hint OT prophet 😉
 
iamACE said:
These questions were thrown at me by an Evangelical.

Can Mary hear me when I pray to her?
How can she hear millions of people praying to her?
How can she understand all of us speaking in different tongues?
Can she understand English? Filipino? German? French? et cetera

Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?

Do you think Mary knows what’s in your heart to be able to discern if your petition deserves an answer or not?
Does she know if you really believe into Jesus?
Does she know what’s right for you? Any proof?

Is she God for having these capabilities?

Any answer?
Click to expand...
 
Yes…see all the links I gave you above. They will have a hard time refuting it from a biblical point of view.

Note that they may not bother. Often people only want to astound you (ie impress you) with their questions and not seriously look into the issue in a way that might bring their beliefs into question.

Personally, I am impressed by the basis for Catholic Marian doctrine based on biblical/historical/linguistic arguments.

PS I pray the Rosary 😉
 
Pax said:
What Mary knows is governed by what God allows and provides. One way of understanding all of this is by appreciating what it means to behold the face of God. If God allows Mary to know things and to hear our prayers then she will be able to do so regardless of our difficulties to appreciate it.

I have no ability to comprehend how the NSA can monitor millions of electronic communications, but computers make a lot of things possible. This kind of thing is amazing but it is nothing compared to what a person in heaven can know and understand when looking into the eyes of Jesus.

We know from scripture that the angels in heaven are joyful everytime a sinner repents. How do they know about every individual that repents around the world? Likewise, the saints and Mary would know exactly what the angels know. We also know that the saints in heaven carry the prayers of the saints on earth to the altar in heaven. This is made clear in Revelation 5:8.

We may not understand the how, but there is no reason to believe that God leaves Mary and the saints ignorant of those in the body of Christ on earth.
Click to expand...
Well Guardian Angels visit heaven daily ( see Job ) so it is likely an angel announces the salvation of the person they are assigned to.
 
iamACE said:
These questions were thrown at me by an Evangelical.

Can Mary hear me when I pray to her?
How can she hear millions of people praying to her?
How can she understand all of us speaking in different tongues?
Can she understand English? Filipino? German? French? et cetera

Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?

Do you think Mary knows what’s in your heart to be able to discern if your petition deserves an answer or not?
Does she know if you really believe into Jesus?
Does she know what’s right for you? Any proof?

Is she God for having these capabilities?

Anyone answer?
Click to expand...
Well, im stumped on most of these, not being an Apologist or even close to it, but i can answer the last few.

It doesn’t matter if she understands our suffering or knows what in our heart, etc, becuase she doesnt answer prayers, at least not directly, she intercedes on our behalf, so at that point Jesus can now decide(“Pray for us now, and at the hour of our death”) She is simply another, more respected voice, praying for our cause. 2 voices are louder than 1( and remember that Jesus told a parable about persistance in prayer,)
 
iamACE said:
These questions were thrown at me by an Evangelical.

Can Mary hear me when I pray to her?
How can she hear millions of people praying to her?
How can she understand all of us speaking in different tongues?
Can she understand English? Filipino? German? French? et cetera

Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?

Do you think Mary knows what’s in your heart to be able to discern if your petition deserves an answer or not?
Does she know if you really believe into Jesus?
Does she know what’s right for you? Any proof?

Is she God for having these capabilities?

Anyone answer?
Click to expand...
What a limited view this person has of the power of God!

Rev 5:13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!”

Not just a few. Not just millions. Not just human languages. But every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea!!!

I say again, what a limited view this person has of the power of God!
 
Daniel_Marsh said:
Well Guardian Angels visit heaven daily ( see Job ) so it is likely an angel announces the salvation of the person they are assigned to.
Click to expand...
That is certainly a possibility but scripture doesnt elaborate on this in any clear way. We do know that scripture tells us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses[see Heb 12:1]. This is a clear reference to everyone in heaven. It seems that they do know something about what is going on down on earth.

Likewise, the book of Revelation makes mention of the martyrs beneath the altar asking when the time will come for God to avenge their blood[Rev 6:9-10]. They are clearly aware of what has and has not taken place concerning those that “dwell upon the earth.”
 
VociMike said:
What a limited view this person has of the power of God!

Rev 5:13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!”

Not just a few. Not just millions. Not just human languages. But every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea!!!

I say again, what a limited view this person has of the power of God!
Click to expand...
That’s a great verse Mike.👍
 
iamACE said:
These questions were thrown at me by an Evangelical.

Can Mary hear me when I pray to her?
How can she hear millions of people praying to her?
How can she understand all of us speaking in different tongues?
Can she understand English? Filipino? German? French? et cetera

Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?

Do you think Mary knows what’s in your heart to be able to discern if your petition deserves an answer or not?
Does she know if you really believe into Jesus?
Does she know what’s right for you? Any proof?

Is she God for having these capabilities?

Anyone answer?
Click to expand...
Although they all focus on Mary, they relate more to the concept of the communion of saints than the solely Marian doctrines.

The short answer to nearly all of these questions is yes.

The exceptions would be to the questions:

“Is she omnipresent? Has she been tempted in all ways to understand all your sufferings?”

No, Mary is not God. These 2 questions seem to be aiming at getting an “admission” of such a claim…

Here are a few points that John Martignoni of the Bible Christian Socety points out in his talk on the communion of saints:
  • Every Christian (including Mary) is a member of the Body of Christ; Rom 12:4-5, 1 Cor 12:12-13
  • Physical death does not separate us from the Body of Christ; Rom 8:38-39
  • Saints in Heaven are alive; Mt 22:31-32
  • Saints in Heaven do not have the same limitations that we have on Earth: Rev 21:21;1 Cor 13:12; 1 Cor 15:49; 2 Ptr 1:4; 1 Cor 2:9
  • God reveals certain knowledge to angels and saints in Heaven; 1 Cor 2:10, Rev 6:9-10, 1 Sam 28:8-19, Lk 16:19-31
  • Angels and saints, to some extent, know what’s in a person’s heart and mind; Luke 15:7-10, Mt 22:29-30, Heb 12:1
Along with these points it is important to realize that Mary & the Saints have no power of their own. All prayer 1st goes through Christ; everything is through Him, with Him, and in Him.

You can download many of his talks from his website, biblechristiansociety.com/download.

God Bless,

Chris
 
LOL…I make sure by praying as much of my Rosary as I can in Latin. 😉
 
Is it not written ‘we (who get to heaven) shall be LIKE HIM (God) for we shall see Him as He really is’ - wouldn’t you expect EVERYONE who gets to heaven, based on that verse, to have at least some god-like qualities?

P’raps not actually divine, since even the angels have their limits, not to mention the saints. But surely if the angels can transcend the laws of physics, can hear and transmit prayers and understand (as they seem to) whoever they speak to with no problems, I don’t see why it would be impossible for Mary or any other inhabitant of heaven to do similar.
 
If you have not read Augustine’s On the Care of the Dead you should newadvent.org/fathers/1316.htm As for languages, there is a spiritual gift of interpretation, so, in theory God could give any believer that gift, thus interpretation is not really a problem. AS for hearing everyone at the same time, a spiritual being need only have one more dimension than us phyiscal beings to do so. Think of time as represented as a line, now at any point on that line draw a second line perpendicular to the first line. Thus everyone taking up a spot on the second line, can be experienced by those who have that dimension as part of their being. One Hugh Ross argues that God himself occupies around 20-30 dimensions.
 
An evangelical friend of mine made a nice word picture for those in time vs. those in eternity. His explanation stated that those in time are in a “bubble” within eternity. Outside of the bubble there is no time. That is why God sees all things at once, whether they be past, present, or future events for us.

The existence outside of the “bubble” that we refer to as eternity is enjoyed by the angels and saints. They can perceive that which is in the bubble as God allows.

I thought this was an interesting way to appreciate our existence in time vs. eternity.
 
Remind your “friends” about the tower of Babel… What did God do? He confused the people by confusing their language… thus scattering the people

Then remind your friend about Pentecost… didn’t the apostles speak and were heard in many languages??? Didn’t this bring these people together???

So Pentecost undid the tower of Babel… and if this can happen on earth, how much more can this be done and understood in heaven?
 
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