So I have this boyfriend

[Harmony1911]

and he is not Catholic. He keeps asking me questions about Mary and the Saints, and I don’t know how to answer him. I’ll list them below, and see if y’all can come up with anything.

“Why do you pray to dead people?”

“Why do you think Mary was special?”

“Do you believe Mary had more children other than Jesus, or was she a virgin her whole life?”

“Do you think that dead people can hear you?”

Any readings you could point me towards would be appreciated, or any books that you could suggest would be wonderful.

 

[HailMary]

These should help if you invest a couple hours.

Praying to the Saints:
catholic.com/library/Praying_to_the_Saints.asp

Saint Worship?
catholic.com/library/Saint_Worship.asp

Do Catholics worship statues?
catholic.com/library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp

Children of Mary?
catholic.com/library/Brethren_of_the_Lord.asp

Why are you dating outside your religion?

 

[eponymic]

Why are you dating outside your religion?

Really?

Last time I checked, there isn’t an 11th commandment that states “Thou shalt not associate with anybody who doesn’t think and act exactly like you at all times.”

 

[deb1]

and he is not Catholic. He keeps asking me questions about Mary and the Saints, and I don’t know how to answer him. I’ll list them below, and see if y’all can come up with anything.

“Why do you pray to dead people?”

“Why do you think Mary was special?”

“Do you believe Mary had more children other than Jesus, or was she a virgin her whole life?”

“Do you think that dead people can hear you?”

Any readings you could point me towards would be appreciated, or any books that you could suggest would be wonderful.

I’ll take the first question. Why do we pray to dead people.

Catholics believe that those who have passed on are in the presence of Christ and are more alive with Jesus then we could possibly comprehend here on earth.

Catholics understand that all Christians are part of the same body. Ours is a*** community*** based faith. We pray for each other.

Those who have past on are still capable of praying for us.

The word prayer simply means to ask. It does not mean to worship.

Just as you can ask your best friend to pray for you, why can’t you ask your deceased relative, who loves you and is in the presence of God, to pray for you?

 

[deb1]

Really?

Last time I checked, there isn’t an 11th commandment that states “Thou shalt not associate with anybody who doesn’t think and act exactly like you at all times.”

I’m about to take my son to work so I can’t look up where this particular verse is but the bible does give a warning against marrying outside your faith. It says to not be ‘unequally yoked’ with an unbeliever. This is not a commandment but more a strong warning.

 

[deb1]

“Why do you think Mary was special?”

.

The Church’s stance on Mary is solid. First we do not worship her, we hold her in high regard. She is the mother of our Lord, doesn’t she deserve respect? Ask your boyfriend if he thinks she is a mere incubator having no effect on Jesus beyond giving birth?

We call her the mother of God because Catholics truely understand that Jesus was the Incarnate. He was God combined with Man, not one or the other. He wasn’t two seperate beings, part one whole. Therefore Mary is the mother of God.

She always points us to a greater love of her son. As my love for Mary has grown so has my adoration of her son, Jesus.

We respect her and hold her in high esteem because she is the mother of our Lord.

 

[deb1]

“Do you believe Mary had more children other than Jesus, or was she a virgin her whole life?”

".

No. We believe that she was a virgin her entire life.

Bear with me on this…the ark in the Old Testament carried the presence of God. It had to be specially made and only certain people could touch it. Did God change in the time of Jesus? Mary carried Jesus-who was God- in her womb. She was his living ark. So, she had to be special.

In Aramic and Hebrew there is no word for brother, sister or nephew. We can see this in the KJV bible. It still calls Lot Abraham’s brother in chapter 14:12. Lot was Abraham’s nephew.

All those brothers of Christ that are mentioned are in fact, his cousins.

Hopefully, I am wrong but it sounds like your boyfriend is trying to convert you from your faith.

 

[deb1]

“Do you think that dead people can hear you?”

Any readings you could point me towards would be appreciated, or any books that you could suggest would be wonderful.

No, I don’t think that dead people can hear me. I don’t think that Christians who go to heaven are dead. They are with Christ and are more alive then we can imagine.

 

[NotWorthy]

No, I don’t think that dead people can hear me. I don’t think that Christians who go to heaven are dead. They are with Christ and are more alive then we can imagine.

He is the God of the Living, isn’t He? Why, of course He is, don’t be ridiculous!!!

In Revelation, we see the saints in Heaven offering up our prayers as incense before the Lord, don’t we? Where do you think they got those prayers from?

 

[deb1]

He is the God of the Living, isn’t He? Why, of course He is, don’t be ridiculous!!!

In Revelation, we see the saints in Heaven offering up our prayers as incense before the Lord, don’t we? Where do you think they got those prayers from?

:extrahappy:

Sorry for the enthusiam. I just like being Catholic and knowing that my loved ones in heaven are praying for me!

 

[runandsew]

and he is not Catholic. He keeps asking me questions about Mary and the Saints, and I don’t know how to answer him. I’ll list them below, and see if y’all can come up with anything.

“Why do you pray to dead people?”
Why did Jesus talk to dead people?
Luke 9:28-36

“Why do you think Mary was special?”
Why did Mary say “From now on all generations will call me blessed”
Luke 1:46-56

“Do you believe Mary had more children other than Jesus, or was she a virgin her whole life?”
Well, in the year 383 AD, St. Jerome thought she was a virgin her whole life.
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary

“Do you think that dead people can hear you?”
I am not sure if they hear us but they present our prayers to God in “Bowls”, and since Heaven is a spiritual place and not a physical place, they wouldn’t have actual “bowls”, so they have to present these prayers in some form.
Revelation 5:8

Any readings you could point me towards would be appreciated, or any books that you could suggest would be wonderful.

 

[MH84]

Invest in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It covers a whole range of topics.

 

[Harmony1911]

Thank you all so much for your help! I actually knew a lot of this already, but I’m trying to find a way to present it to him without turning it into an “I’m right and you’re wrong” sort of thing. It’s a very important and yet delicate topic when you try to convert non-Catholics to the faith. It’s hard to keep their minds open to what you have to say when all you do is attack. So I’m trying to compile a collection of scripture to plot where it says all of these things that we believe, because that’s how protestants follow Christ, and currently he doesn’t accept the Church to be as credible of a source as the bible.

 Why am I dating outside of my religion?

I am dating outside of my religion because I think the Lord has called me to. I realize my boyfriend is trying to “help me see the light” by asking me all of these questions he doesn’t think I can answer, but so far all of his questions have just driven me deeper in my Catholic faith and have raised some questions in his own mind about what he believes, such as: “Why do protestants not follow the Apocraphya? What gave Martin Luther the authority to determine what is true scripture and what is not? Did you know he originally wanted to remove the book of James and the book of Revelations? Even though Revelations warns specifically not to mess with the book?” So that’s something he’s trying to figure out right now.

  I know the bible says not to shackle yourself to un-believers. I have two responses to this. One, I am not married to the guy, and I will not be if he doesn't agree to raise our children to be Catholic (and he won't preach anything to anyone that he doesn't fully believe to be truth, so it would mean converting him too), and two,  He is not an un-believer. He is Baptist. He is just misguided about the scripture, and what authority the bible has. He has never been taught about the Catholic Church before, his parents are not religious, so he just picked a "fun" protestant church that "fit his worshisp style" and I think God has called me to show him what he's missing. Right now he isn't very receptive because I kind of blew it, by quoting scriptures to him without having a very firm base, he tells me that I'm misreading entire books of the bible. So, I must do some more research to find a way to connect all of the scriptures I've been telling him about and relate them to each other.

 All of the websites you all have been providing are extremely useful, thank you for all of your support! I called my priest at my church to ask him some of these questions, and he tried to help me. But answering things like this takes time, and he's a priest of a massive church, so he didn't have much to spare.

 

[eponymic]

I’m about to take my son to work so I can’t look up where this particular verse is but the bible does give a warning against marrying outside your faith. It says to not be ‘unequally yoked’ with an unbeliever. This is not a commandment but more a strong warning.

Not to threadjack, but I’m familiar with the passage. However, I take that to mean cases when there is a strong disparity in faith, like a Catholic marrying a Pagan (e.g., one of the invading Visigoths), with no consideration for this disparity before the marriage. It’s one of those things that communication before getting married can help alleviate. This doesn’t mean that you should base your dating habits on where people go to church above all else.

I can understand the warning that things might be difficult, but some people seem to take to the extreme that they should never leave their protective bubble.

 

[MH84]

Why are you dating outside your religion?

Fair enough question. However, my mother married a non-practicing Protestant and he is now a Catholic. I am grateful for this.

 

[Ilroy]

and he is not Catholic. He keeps asking me questions about Mary and the Saints, and I don’t know how to answer him. I’ll list them below, and see if y’all can come up with anything.

“Do you believe Mary had more children other than Jesus, or was she a virgin her whole life?”

Any readings you could point me towards would be appreciated, or any books that you could suggest would be wonderful.

For this question, in addition to the other good answers from above, you might ask him just why are protestants so obsessed with the private sex life of Mary…or more truthfully, the lack of sex life.

A book you could get is Pat Madrid’s “Where is that in thee Bible” and you might find a good book on typology. That would help tie together all the scripture verses for you.

 

[Sabda]

Fair enough question. However, my mother married a non-practicing Protestant and he is now a Catholic. I am grateful for this.

That is definitely one way for a person to end up converting to the faith.

St Monica pray for us.

Don’t forget her husband was a pagan.

 

[Pariah]

I didn’t read much of the thread, I just wanted to nip at the “Talking to dead,” thing.

To first explain that, you’d have to make him understand that someone who’s dead, in the spiritual context, does not reside in Heaven. Talking to someone who’s truly dead (see also: Ouija boards) is an abomination and seriously dangerous. Furthermore, a semantic correction would point out that Catholics don’t “pray to” dead people. We ask the saints (and angels) to pray with us.

It’s a pet peeve of mine when I hear these kind of casual mistakes and I am, quite frankly, tired of being stereotyped by such misconceptions.

Plus, I gotta agree that it’s not very wise to make romantic commitments to someone outside of your Catholic belief and philosophy.

 

[James_Carson]

I didn’t read much of the thread, I just wanted to nip at the “Talking to dead,” thing.

To first explain that, you’d have to make him understand that someone who’s dead, in the spiritual context, does not reside in Heaven. Talking to someone who’s truly dead (see also: Ouija boards) is an abomination and seriously dangerous. Furthermore, a semantic correction would point out that Catholics don’t “pray to” dead people. We ask the saints (and angels) to pray with us.

Actually I think we do pray to the saints, the word pray simply means to ask. (or talk to or something I forget )

also that’s correct the saints are not dead they are very much alive.

In the bible it says that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, the saints by definition are righteous so obviously if they pray for us (which they have plenty of time to do) the prayers normally accomplish much (miraculous healings, finding lost items, raising money, even finding parking spaces )

 

[Cari]

Actually I think we do pray to the saints, the word pray simply means to ask. (or talk to or something I forget )

You’re right- one of the more archaic uses of the word “pray” means, simply, to ask. As in, “Pray be careful driving home among all that black ice” or “I pray you tell me the meaning of this undercooked pudding!”
Of course, since it’s almost impossible to say something like that without affecting a British accent ( ), most people skip the etymology and just say that we ask the saints to pray FOR us.