Thursday, November 11, 2010
There is a very simple response to this once we agree on a few basics. First of all, Catholics do recognize and have always recognized that Christ is the one mediator between God and man. Second, prayer to the saints does not bypass Christ but is actually a request to the saints to intercede for us before the throne of Christ in Heaven.
It is very much like you asking a friend of yours to pray for you. If you truly believe that there is only one mediator between God and man then why would you ask someone else to pray for you?!
It appears that this issue is now reduced to the question of can the saints hear our requests and can they pray for us? Scripture teaches us that the angels and saints place the prayers of the holy on earth before the throne of God (Tobit 12:12, Revelation 5:8 and Revelation 8:3-4). So if we believe scripture, we can agree that the saints are interceding for us before God. So Catholics are simply asking Mary and the saints, as well as their friends on earth, to pray for them.
One last question to consider in this regard is this; are the prayers of sinners on earth more or less effective than the prayers of the saints in Heaven who are already in the presence of the Beatific Vision? Who would you rather have praying for you?
