Regarding Saints!

  • Thread starter Thread starter eNomine
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

eNomine

Guest
Hey guys, I’m a “Prodigal” Catholic! I’m 4 years back to the Lord this year and as well as 7 years sober! (Proud of me. :p) I’m still learning to discern this website, I’m used to phpBB and myBB forums but this one seems to need more tact than just posting, so I apologize if I’m in the wrong section or if my question has been answered!

So; My question is pretty simple:
Why do we talk to saints if the bible says not to seek the dead?

Or the same goes for people? Francis Chan Says in one of his uh, “speeches” that we can’t pray to anyone but Jesus. This confuses me because we have Saints. I could go on but I think that about covers the nature of my question. Thank you all, much love guys. God Bless.
 
The condemnation on seeking out the dead is a condemnation of necromancy, or calling up the spirits of the dead to speak with them particularly to tell the future. When we pray to the saints, we are asking them to pray for us. We are not trying to have a face to face conversation to them. Welcome back!
 
Because were not trying to “make” the saints talk to us or do control things for us.
We simply ask them to pray for us.
Or we admire their virtues or the way they handled their situations, and give praise and thanks to God that we have our older brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
I think some of the confusion is understanding what prayer is! Prayer is talking! Prayer is not worship. Worship is reserved for God alone! We can pray to anyone.
 
PatK63 said:
I think some of the confusion is understanding what prayer is! Prayer is talking! Prayer is not worship. Worship is reserved for God alone! We can pray to anyone.
Click to expand...
This is not the source of confusion in this thread.
 
eNomine said:
Francis Chan Says in one of his uh, “speeches” that we can’t pray to anyone but Jesus.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but if you’re a Catholic, seeking out the opinions of some random protestant preacher is probably not going to be very helpful in understanding your faith. Every single protestant can literally come up with their own interpretation of the Bible that completely contradict’s every other protestant’s interpretation.

Stick with the teachings of the Saints, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and especially with The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
[956] The intercession of the saints . “Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus . . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.”

“Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life” (St Dominic on his death bed).

“I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth” (St Therese of Lisieux).
Click to expand...
Here’s a link to the alphabetical index of the Catechism. I find it very useful to check what the Church has to say on topics that concern or confuse me.

Catechism Index
 
Last edited:
You may have succumbed, in an earlier life, to the poison of the reformation. Consider, if you must, the following scriptures. There is a world more.
Matthew 22:32-33
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Mark 12:26-28
26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”

Luke 20:37-39
37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him.” 39 And some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”

Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Click to expand...
 
We can help those in purgatory. They will help us for the rest of our lives when they reach heaven. Communion of the saints.
 
I would think that if Jesus can talk to the dead, we should also be able.

(Mar 9:2 DRB) (9:1) And after six days, Jesus taketh with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves, and was transfigured before them.

(Mar 9:3 DRB) (9:2) And his garments became shining and exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller upon earth can make white.

(Mar 9:4 DRB) (9:3) And there appeared to them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

(Mar 9:5 DRB) (9:4) And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
 
Thank you all for your answers; It was nice to see them after a long day. God Bless!
 
We ask the Saints to pray for us. They are alive in Heaven.
 
I am a revert too. Part of what made me revert was discovering how very right the Catholic Church was on many very big issues. But the central issue quickly became church authority. After acknowledging that the Catholic Church does have God-given authority, I have found that while I deeply resonate with some of the church’s stances, I have to respectfully go along with others. One defense of “asking saints to pray for us“ that I have read, is the belief that the body of Christ is one and indivisible, even indivisible by death. That perspective has helped me somewhat. As a former protestant still surrounded by many deeply faithful protestants, I am constantly clarifying that we do not pray to saints in the same way we pray to God, but rather, we ask them to pray for us as we might ask a friend to pray for us. As another poster said, we define pray and worship differently, but our protestant friends do not, which greatly increases the misunderstandings.
 
The Saints helped people while alive, so now that they are in Heaven they can still help us. God allows it. And in this miserable life, we need all the help we can get from above.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top