Dear St. Ann,
You were truly twice blessed
To have our blessed Mother
As your daughter
And Jesus our Savior
As your grandson.
I know that every period
Of our lives
Has its responsibilities
As well as its joys.
Today, it seems
That grandparents
Have either too little
Use or too much;
Either we are shunted aside
To do nothing,
Or we are called upon
To do everything.
**Help me to know **
Read the last line of the prayer. St. Ann
pray for us grandparents.
The prayers of the righteous availeth much. Through their prayers, one can be “keep” people in their loving care. And how are they being asked to show this loving care? Through prayer. And where is the prayers(loving care) going to keep them? With Christ so we can persevere until the end.
You seem to be starting with the premise that you believe we are asking saints as if they could answer the prayer with God-like powers. If instead, you accept our repeatedly stated assertion that we only worship God, that we know in these prayers from whom all answers come from, even if it is not stated baldly in the prayer, then it is obvious that we are simiply asking for the prayers of the righteous, through whom we know God chooses to heal people and answer prayers.
I think SyCarl has a point. Saints DO answer prayers. We understand that they can do nothing of themselves, but we also understand that the fervent effectual prayer of the righteous avails much. When Peter and John were going to the temple to pray, the beggar asked for alms. Peter gave what he had, which was the gift of healing. Now, we know that Peter could not have made the man walk without the HS working through him, but at the same time, if Peter had not told the man 'rise up and walk", would a miracle have occurred? God chooses to work through people. People have been healed by touching relics, or even the shadows of saints falling on them. Is it the power of the saint? No, but Christ in them, the hope of glory.
The puzzle is, why not ask the saint to do something for you? They lined up to be healed since Jesus started healing!
Very true.
And this is the difference between Catholic and most Protestants. We believe that not even death can separate the body of Christ.
And that once one has died, they CONTINUE to do the work that they did while on earth.
If they had the gift of healing, they will continue to heal. And that gift will only be magnified since they now kneel in the presence of Christ.
Nowhere in scripture does it even hint that the gifts given to us will be taken back upon death. But we do read that if one does not exercise the gifts given to us, they will be taken from us and given to others. (parable of man and coins). We have no indication from scripture that death changes the responsibilities of believers. We will continue to worship and pray to God for others, but we will be able to truly do so, without ceasing
