And this is where I think you are limiting your perceptions and understanding of Catholic beliefs as to the state of our souls when we die. Yes, our physical body is dead, but as you stated in Heaven (spirit world) there is consciousness, understanding, and communication.
Our physical bodies have been shed and we are now alive in Christ, we are a part of Christ, and as you have pointed out to me in the past, we share in His Devine nature. Look at
John 15:4-7
- 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear
much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
6 Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it
will be done for you.* NAB
With this in mind, and as you have already said, things can be communicated to them. Therefore, there is an awareness of what is going on and what prayers are being offered up. Then why would a Saint who is a part of the vine not want to pray for us if we asked.
OK, so two Biblical references describing the Saints and Angels praying for us. Rev 5:7-8 & Rev. 8:3-4.
Excerpts from the Haydocks Catholic Bible Commentary.
Ver. 7-8. He…took the book,[3]…and when he had opened it, or was about to open it, (in the Greek is only, he took it: which was a sign that he would open it)…the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, to adore him, as appears by what follows, ver. 13. — Having every one of them harps to celebrate his praise, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints: which shews that the saints in heaven offer up before the throne of the Divine Majesty
the prayers of the faithful.
Ver. 3. Stood before the altar, having a golden censer. In the visions is an allusion to the tabernacle and its parts. The altar of perfumes was in the sanctum[the holy place], hard by the entrance into the sanctum sanctorum[the holy of holies], and here the golden altar is said to be before the throne of God. The incense from the censer is said to be the prayers of all the Saints, which the Angel offered up. The altar seems to signify our Saviour Christ, as the prayers of
all the faithful are always made through the merits of Christ, our only chief Mediator or Redeemer.
I personally will ask all that hear and know me to pray for me to the Lord our God, this is intercessory prays from those around me. I personally will pray to God, asking the Blessed Mother or Saints to pray for me also, this is intercessory prays from those Christians in heaven who are more righteous, since they have been made perfect to stand in God’s presence (Heb. 12:22-23), than anyone on earth, meaning their prayers would be even more efficacious.
I understand that this may be difficult for you to understand, that is OK. There are things I don’t understand, but I do accept on Faith. You do not have to believe as we do or accept the truths that the Catholic Church teaches, this is your right. However, the truths of the Catholic Church are based in Sacred Scriptures either through the sacred texts themselves, or through Sacred Traditions, which is Biblical, and faithfully guarded and taught by the Church’s teaching authority. Peace.
