Prayer

[Michael.Gentile]

Hello,
I am new to this forum. But i came here to find out answers to my friends questions about why we pray to the Saints. Because i recently put up my nickname on msn as a prayer to Saint Michael. And he said it was a sin to pray to the Saints and i contradicted with the stuff it says on the sight about praying to the saints. My friend is a baptist and we both go to the same youth group and this has been a hard issue between the both of us. So at youth group my friend is going to ask our leader about this question. And our leader is a Baptist Pastor. So you can tell the sticky ituation im in right now. I have told my friend many times that i respect his religion and he should respect mine and stop questioning it. So what i need from some of you are things to say when asked why we pray to the saints and also things to ask about the baptists because my friend wont stop asking questions about the Roman Catholics who have been around for alot longer than the Baptists.

P.S i need to know about why we pray to mary and i need quick answers

 

[Greenscapular]

Well, the Baptist Minister will call it wrong, he -is- Baptist.
We ask Saints to pray for us, just like your Baptist friend might ask someone to pray for him/her. The Saints are not dead, they are more alive than we are, and in heaven with God. They have closer contact with God than we do, so it is a very good thing to ask them to pray for you. We honor Mary because she is the Mother of God. She bore Jesus in her womb, being honored out of all the women of the earth to do so. Jesus on earth obeyed all of the Father’s laws, and continues to do so in heaven. One of these being: Honor your Father and your Mother. If Mary sends a special request to Jesus, he will sure to honor it because Mary is his Mother.

(You also -may- want to reconsider the Youth Group, if it has such Evangelical leanings, it can be damaging to you unless you know your Faith well)

 

[Veronica_Anne]

I agree totally with Greenscapular.

As a Catholic with Baptist friends, I can tell you that the first thing to do is to ask your Baptist friends what the word “prayer” means to them. If I, as a Catholic, defined the word “prayer” as in “worship” – like Baptists do – I sure wouldn’t be praying to anybody if they were not God. And saints are not God.

However, because the word “prayer” means to “talk,” I certainly do talk to saints because by God’s grace they are able to hear us even after they’ve died, they still live.

The Catholic Answers site has a couple of tracts (articles) that address this whole “praying to saints” thing that I’m pretty sure will be of great help to you. Especially because these tracts list where in the Bible it says that.

The tract on praying to the saints is here:

**
Praying to the Saints

catholic.com/library/Praying_to_the_Saints.asp**

The tract on asking saints to pray on our behalf is here:

The Intercession of the Saints

catholic.com/library/Intercession_of_the_Saints.asp

Pray, hope, and don't worry.
~~ St. Pio de Pietrelcina ("Padre Pio")
[www.ewtn.com/padrepio/index.htm](www.ewtn.com/padrepio/index.htm)

 

[Michael.Gentile]

thank you for your replys they helped the thing is that all of my friends go to this youth group but i dont listen to what the pastor teaches and i am very familiar with my faith because i go to a catholic school

 

[Joanna]

Michael.Gentile:

thank you for your replys they helped the thing is that all of my friends go to this youth group but i dont listen to what the pastor teaches and i am very familiar with my faith because i go to a catholic school

Maybe you’ll become a Catholic apologist.


Joanna

 

[bigdaddyfatback]

“But you are come to mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, And to the church of the firstborn who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel.”

(Heb 12:22-24 DRB)

We have drawn near to the heavenly Jerusalem with all its inhabitants, including the spirits of just men who have been made perfect.

Those who are one with Christ are praying for us just as Christ prays for us.

Peace
Chad

 

[faith_ful1953us]

There is a bond of unity among all believers, both living and dead, who are committed followers of Christ. In Christ, we are made part of God’s family, children of God, joint heirs with Christ, and partakers of the divine nature. This family communion of saints is known to Catholics as the Mystical Body of Christ. We are joined in a supernatural union as members of Christ’s own body, and thus as members of one another.
Remember the image of the Vine and the Branches. Because we as branches are connected to Christ the vine, we are also connected to each other. It is the life and grace of Jesus that gives us life and unites us in our common pilgrimage to heaven.
Death cannot separate Christians from Christ or from one another (Rom 8:35-39)
Christians are bound in mutual love (Rom 12:10; Thess 5:11; Gal 6:2)
We are members of Christ’s one body, united in His divine life even beyond the grave, and concerned with each other’s salvation and groth in God’s family. In that union, we call for help and support from our older brothers and sisters who have already won their crown of glory.
The saints are not dead. They are in heaven and alive with God: “He is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Mk 12:26-27). In Mark 9:4, Jesus is seen conversing with Elijah and Moses. Jesus tells the Good Thief: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43). Flooded with God’s love, they care more about us now than they did on earth.
We are not cut off from each other at death, rather we are brought closer through the communion we share in Christ.
Heb 12:1 tells us that we are surrounded by “a cloud of witnesses.” How could those watching be unconcerned about our welfare? Look at Rev 5:8 and Rev 8:3. The petitions offered as incense to God must be for those who still need help, the holy ones on earth. They are offered by those who can help the most, the holy ones in heaven.

 

[Stephen_H]

I like what everyone has said so far.

Michael, being a protestant currently in the process of joining the Catholic Church, my circles of friends largely consist of protestants. As you might expect, we engage in much heated discussion over matters of faith and theology. I’d like to second what Greenscapular and other posters have said. The scriptures say:
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16,NIV)
The Saints are Saints because they are righteous. The Bible is clear that Mary is blessed among women. Who better to intercede for us than Jesus’ mother and other distinguishably righteous persons?

Remember though, Michael, pride comes before a fall. When debating my friends, one of the most difficult things is to remain humble when i think i’m right and they’re wrong. But it’s the most important thing. As Christians, our chief purpose in debating is to glorify God of course, but particularly to show love to our friends, sharing with them the truth that God has revealed to us in His grace. If we find that we are arguing out of pride or anger, we need to either find another reason, or stop altogether. Also, an argument tends to be more effective if the opposition senses that they are more prideful, or less loving than you.