Why ask Saints to intercede for us if Jesus and the Spirit intercede for us?

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Triumphant_Of_Christ

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Hello! so as I read (or watch) and try to respond to Protestant arguments and objections against Catholic teachings. I’ve heard the argument that we don’t need to ask saints to intercede for us because the bible says in Romans 8:26 that the Spirit (I’d assume the Holy Spirit) Intercedes for us and Romans 8:34 says that Jesus himself intercedes for us. Therefore We don’t need the saints to intercede for us!
how can I respond to this Argument?
 
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Ask the Protestant if he or she has every prayed for a friend or asked for a friend to pray for him or her. Every Christian I have ever met or heard of intercedes for others and asks for intercessory prayers from others. Does this diminish Jesus’ role?
 
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If the people asking you these questions ask others to pray for them, like a prayer chain, then that is what intercessory prayer is…

The wedding party at Cana went to Christ’s mother and she went to her Son on their behalf, then told the servants to do whatever He said. Turning water into the finest wine was Christ’s first public miracle.
 
The saints are our family.
If you were going to bake cookies and your 4 yr old wanted to help, would you try to include them? How about when Christmas is coming, would you like to share that with them? That’s what love does. There is joy in that. When it comes to the saints and things of faith, we are the 4 year old. lol
 
If you are in court either defending yourself or asking for something in a civil suit, do you refuse to ask witnesses to testify on your behalf because you have a lawyer or two on your side?
 
We are one in the Lord…we are family with the saints!

Lots of great answers given above.
 
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Triumphant_Of_Christ said:
Hello! so as I read (or watch) and try to respond to Protestant arguments and objections against Catholic teachings. I’ve heard the argument that we don’t need to ask saints to intercede for us because the bible says in Romans 8:26 that the Spirit (I’d assume the Holy Spirit) Intercedes for us and Romans 8:34 says that Jesus himself intercedes for us. Therefore We don’t need the saints to intercede for us!
how can I respond to this Argument?
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It is pass/fail vs greater merit. Merit may be gained by prayer to saints and angels, and the Church also grants indulgences which increase that merit. With greater merit, those that attain heaven, have greater glory and degree of Beatific Vision. (Note however that merit and indulgences are not limited to prayer to saints and angels.)
 
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It isn’t an either-or; it’s a both-and.

It is not a question of asking EITHER “Jesus/the Trinity” OR asking “the Saints”. We ask both. We do it even if we don’t know we’re doing it, because saints in heaven are in such a perfect union with God that they experience “the beatific vision” everything that God does, ‘hears’, ‘says’ etc. Since we are human we can’t understand that God’s experience is beyond that of Time and ‘the senses’ such that He CAN and does share of Himself with all who join Him in heaven. So frankly, any saint in Heaven cannot possibly NOT be ‘hearing’ God and ‘hearing’ our prayers to God, and cannot possibly NOT be ‘feeling’ or ‘disposing’ the graces God gives to us.
 
The Bible also says that the prayers of the saints ascend to Heaven and therefore are pleasing to God. Check out the Book of Revelation.
 
Dan_Defender said:
The Bible also says that the prayers of the saints ascend to Heaven and therefore are pleasing to God. Check out the Book of Revelation.
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The refutation to this is “the saints are the people of God on Earth.”
 
Quick question, what happens to the people of God on earth when they die then? Do they continue to be saints in heaven, or do they cease being saints when they’re dead?

If they were saints while alive on earth, then logically they should still be saints in heaven. And in fact, such is the Catholic position. So arguing that there can’t be saints in heaven because ‘they’re the people of God on earth’ seems to ignore the ‘both-and’; that there can be saints both on earth and in heaven. Right?
 
Anesti33 said:
The refutation to this is “the saints are the people of God on Earth.”
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The Book of Revelation does not get into the detail of by whom to conclude this. Also, if the saints on earth are heard, the more so the saints in Heaven. I leave it at that.
 
So did you ask the questions posted here, about asking others to pray for you?
 
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