"It is a long time since I was a catholic. I would be genuinely interested in your thoughts about the rightness of praying to Mary mother of God, or saints etc, and whether there are any scriptures to support this?"
Hi Jaffa:
The Catholic Church believes in what is known as the communion of saints. As Catholics we are in communion with the saints in heaven and on earth. Death does not separate us from our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. That is why Jesus always told the Saduccees that they the Lord is the God of the living and not of the dead. Those Saints from the Old Testament are alive in heaven with the Lord.
In Hebrews the 11th Chapter, the author of Hebrews talks about the examples that the Old Testament Saints set for us in living faithful lives devoted to God. The image that this author draws for us in the beginning of Chapter 12 is interesting.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us."-Hebrews 12:1, 2
The Church interprets this verse as meaning that the Saints in heaven surround us with their prayers for us and cheer us on to heaven through their prayers for us. They are hoping and praying that we will make it to heaven just as they did. When a first century Christian would read this, they would think of how these individuals are in heaven with the Lord and are praying for our salvation.
Notice also that some of the Saints seem to be aware of our persecutions. (It is interesting that in the Catholic Church we refer to someone who has been canonized as a Saint to have been "raised to the altar". In fact it is not uncommon for Churches to have imbedded in altars relics that used to belong to Saints.)
When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. They cried out in a loud voice, "How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?" Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been.-Revelation 6:9-11
Another thing to remember is that in the Catholic perspective, when one worships at Mass, one is not merely mimicking the worship of God that occurs in heaven but one is actually taking part in the worship of God that occurs in heaven with all of the Saints and Angels present. Since we are in communion with the Saints in heaven and since we actually participate in the same worship that they participate in, then asking them to pray for us (which is what we are actually doing when we pray to the Saints in heaven )is the equivalent, in a sense, of asking any of our Christian brothers sitting in the pews next to us to pray for us. The difference of course (and it is a big difference) is that our brothers and sisters in heaven who are Saints are closer to God than we are and therefore their prayers are very powerful.
One of the great things about being Catholic is having access to the Saints that have gone before us. It also shows us how Jesus has really conquered death even now.
I hope that was helpful.
Jeff Schwehm
www.catholicxjw.com
