Post by deadlock on Mar 10, 2006 15:40:04 GMT -5
I will try to shed some light from my perspective as a Catholic who converted in my twenties from Church of Christ and Southern Baptist roots. I am the only Catholic in my family, from the South, and truly did not meet a Catholic until high school ( and he wasn't practising!) So, I have seen both sides and been asked some of these same questions.
Jeepnut and IamCatholic have both done a very good job of explaining about the saints. Basically, they are intercessors for prayer requests. I have never heard of any Catholics who say that "We pray to saints because God is too busy". Whoever have said that, I apologize for their ignorance of their religion. That is simply preposterous. We ask the saints to pray for us just as we ask family and friends to pray for us. We also ask Jesus for the same things directly. So the argument about why not just talk straight to Jesus about a prayer request, the short answer is that we do. We simply ask the saints, who have gone to heaven in God's favor, to pray for us also. The more you have praying for you, the better!
As for prayers to Mary, like the saints, we ask Mary to pray for us. "Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." Of course Mary is not part of the Trinity, I'm not sure where that one came from. We do, though, consider her as the most powerful intercessor. After all, she was Jesus' mother. And, like you, if your mother came to you asking for help, you would do anything for her. And, Jesus, we believe, would do whatever he could to answer the prayers put to Him by His mother.
The Pope - We acknowledge Peter as the first Pope "Upon you I shall build my Church". There is a historical heirarchy of the successors of Peter. As for the infallibility of the Pope, this ONLY refers to matters of the core Spiritual tenets of the church. If the Pope came out and said "The sky is not blue, it is green", then we of course would disagree with him. However, when he speaks of core spiritual matters, we believe that the Holy Spirit has guided him in such matters, and since we wouldn't question the Holy Spirit, we don't question what the Holy Spirit has inspired in the Pope. We can disagree with him all we want in matters of human issues. The Pope is a man, but when he is voted in, we believe that he is blessed by the Holy Spirit, thus making him a living representative of an Apostle of Christ on earth.
The Mass is founded in rituals, but they are far from empty rituals. The Mass mirrors the last supper. We start with the reading of the Word of the Lord and end with the taking of the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, the eternal sacrifice. Yes, Jesus is the final, ultimate sacrifice. He does not live, however, in man's world, which is a world of Time. He lives in Eternity. therefore, His sacrifice is eternal and unending. Jesus did not sacrifice Himself for man once and done, he is our ETERNAL sacrifice. His is sacrificing Himself continually. Christ's body and blood that we take as our Sacrifice at Mass every Sunday is as real, current and valid today as it was at the last supper, and as real and valid as it will be until the end of our earthly time. Christ is the eternal, living, and unending sacrifice. He did not just sacrify Himself for our sins once, He IS STILL sacrificing himself, because He lives in eternity, and therefore does not live in a sense of time.
I hope this clears up some things, but most of all, I agree with Samhain. We're all on God's team, and that is what is most important. I believe God calls each of us to a spiritual life with Him, no matter whether it is with a certain religion or not. If you find yourself closer to God worshipping in a certain way, then that is right with you and God. Rock on!
Jeepnut and IamCatholic have both done a very good job of explaining about the saints. Basically, they are intercessors for prayer requests. I have never heard of any Catholics who say that "We pray to saints because God is too busy". Whoever have said that, I apologize for their ignorance of their religion. That is simply preposterous. We ask the saints to pray for us just as we ask family and friends to pray for us. We also ask Jesus for the same things directly. So the argument about why not just talk straight to Jesus about a prayer request, the short answer is that we do. We simply ask the saints, who have gone to heaven in God's favor, to pray for us also. The more you have praying for you, the better!
As for prayers to Mary, like the saints, we ask Mary to pray for us. "Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." Of course Mary is not part of the Trinity, I'm not sure where that one came from. We do, though, consider her as the most powerful intercessor. After all, she was Jesus' mother. And, like you, if your mother came to you asking for help, you would do anything for her. And, Jesus, we believe, would do whatever he could to answer the prayers put to Him by His mother.
The Pope - We acknowledge Peter as the first Pope "Upon you I shall build my Church". There is a historical heirarchy of the successors of Peter. As for the infallibility of the Pope, this ONLY refers to matters of the core Spiritual tenets of the church. If the Pope came out and said "The sky is not blue, it is green", then we of course would disagree with him. However, when he speaks of core spiritual matters, we believe that the Holy Spirit has guided him in such matters, and since we wouldn't question the Holy Spirit, we don't question what the Holy Spirit has inspired in the Pope. We can disagree with him all we want in matters of human issues. The Pope is a man, but when he is voted in, we believe that he is blessed by the Holy Spirit, thus making him a living representative of an Apostle of Christ on earth.
The Mass is founded in rituals, but they are far from empty rituals. The Mass mirrors the last supper. We start with the reading of the Word of the Lord and end with the taking of the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, the eternal sacrifice. Yes, Jesus is the final, ultimate sacrifice. He does not live, however, in man's world, which is a world of Time. He lives in Eternity. therefore, His sacrifice is eternal and unending. Jesus did not sacrifice Himself for man once and done, he is our ETERNAL sacrifice. His is sacrificing Himself continually. Christ's body and blood that we take as our Sacrifice at Mass every Sunday is as real, current and valid today as it was at the last supper, and as real and valid as it will be until the end of our earthly time. Christ is the eternal, living, and unending sacrifice. He did not just sacrify Himself for our sins once, He IS STILL sacrificing himself, because He lives in eternity, and therefore does not live in a sense of time.
I hope this clears up some things, but most of all, I agree with Samhain. We're all on God's team, and that is what is most important. I believe God calls each of us to a spiritual life with Him, no matter whether it is with a certain religion or not. If you find yourself closer to God worshipping in a certain way, then that is right with you and God. Rock on!