Serious question for Catholics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re asking saints to intercede - Why not just go right to the top?

Saints led holy lives and are examples for the church. They are human. They are more approachable.

This is a staggering statement. Christ is God made man. He came to Earth to identify with us and us with Him. Hebrews 4:15 says he is our great high priest who is able "to sympathize with our weaknesses." Christ is imminently approachable, and dead people are not approachable at all.

This Catholic insistence on praying to dead people, or however you want to term it, is extremely confounding. It seems that you have no real faith in Christ is you need dead saints -- who all had their own sins to deal with -- to "help you out."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re asking saints to intercede - Why not just go right to the top?

Saints led holy lives and are examples for the church. They are human. They are more approachable.

This is a staggering statement. Christ is God made man. He came to Earth to identify with us and us with Him. Hebrews 4:15 says he is our great high priest who is able "to sympathize with our weaknesses." Christ is imminently approachable, and dead people are not approachable at all.

This Catholic insistence on praying to dead people, or however you want to term it, is extremely confounding. It seems that you have no real faith in Christ is you need dead saints -- who all had their own sins to deal with -- to "help you out."

Saints are not ordinary dead people. They have been elevated by the Church

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think many people are well aware of how contradictory Catholicism is. It's especially obvious in Europe with the Vatican being so wealthy even with a refugee crisis going on. Now the Catholic Church is changing its party line on female priests but mainly for political reasons.

Catholicism comes across to me as a man made religion. Which is why there is so much emphasis on priests and the Pope as opposed to Jesus. It's why mass is so fancy. Previously it was a way to govern (I.e. Control people) and the church didn't even hold church services in the native tongue. It's sad because i don't believe that was at all the intent of Christianity. I'm sure there are great things about the Catholic Church but I have little desire to join a religion that's so heavily influenced by men living in an ivory tower in Rome.

All religions are man made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re asking saints to intercede - Why not just go right to the top?

Saints led holy lives and are examples for the church. They are human. They are more approachable.

This is a staggering statement. Christ is God made man. He came to Earth to identify with us and us with Him. Hebrews 4:15 says he is our great high priest who is able "to sympathize with our weaknesses." Christ is imminently approachable, and dead people are not approachable at all.

This Catholic insistence on praying to dead people, or however you want to term it, is extremely confounding. It seems that you have no real faith in Christ is you need dead saints -- who all had their own sins to deal with -- to "help you out."

Saints are not ordinary dead people. They have been elevated by the Church

But God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), and we are all saved through our faith in Christ, not by our works. The Catholic church may elevate them, but God raises people to eternal life only through Christ.

[Anonymous]

Asking a saint to pray for you or a particular request of yours is not any different from asking friends and family members to pray for you. Of course, we could all pray only for ourselves, but many people do pray for others and ask others to pray for them. Including those who are already in heaven in those requests for prayers is something some people like to do, but no one has to do this and the Catholic Church does not require the practice.

Prayer is a very personal thing. I know that my mother prayed for me regularly when she was alive, and I still ask her to pray for me now that she is gone. Anyone in heaven is a saint and I hope, and pray, that my mother is in heaven now and is praying for me.

OP, do you understand that asking those in heaven to pray for us is the same as asking friends to pray for us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think many people are well aware of how contradictory Catholicism is. It's especially obvious in Europe with the Vatican being so wealthy even with a refugee crisis going on. Now the Catholic Church is changing its party line on female priests but mainly for political reasons.

Catholicism comes across to me as a man made religion. Which is why there is so much emphasis on priests and the Pope as opposed to Jesus. It's why mass is so fancy. Previously it was a way to govern (I.e. Control people) and the church didn't even hold church services in the native tongue. It's sad because i don't believe that was at all the intent of Christianity. I'm sure there are great things about the Catholic Church but I have little desire to join a religion that's so heavily influenced by men living in an ivory tower in Rome.

This is classic baiting.

Don't feed the troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think many people are well aware of how contradictory Catholicism is. It's especially obvious in Europe with the Vatican being so wealthy even with a refugee crisis going on. Now the Catholic Church is changing its party line on female priests but mainly for political reasons.

Catholicism comes across to me as a man made religion. Which is why there is so much emphasis on priests and the Pope as opposed to Jesus. It's why mass is so fancy. Previously it was a way to govern (I.e. Control people) and the church didn't even hold church services in the native tongue. It's sad because i don't believe that was at all the intent of Christianity. I'm sure there are great things about the Catholic Church but I have little desire to join a religion that's so heavily influenced by men living in an ivory tower in Rome.

What are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re asking saints to intercede - Why not just go right to the top?

Saints led holy lives and are examples for the church. They are human. They are more approachable.

This is a staggering statement. Christ is God made man. He came to Earth to identify with us and us with Him. Hebrews 4:15 says he is our great high priest who is able "to sympathize with our weaknesses." Christ is imminently approachable, and dead people are not approachable at all.

This Catholic insistence on praying to dead people, or however you want to term it, is extremely confounding. It seems that you have no real faith in Christ is you need dead saints -- who all had their own sins to deal with -- to "help you out."

Confounding to you. Not to practicing Catholics.

So don't convert to Catholicism. Easy-peasy!

[Anonymous]

Okay, DH is foreign and Orthodox (not sure why they are getting a pass on the statues, candles etc and the Catholics are not).

This is how he explains praying to Mary if one needs something instead of to Jesus. That is that any man will do what his mother tells him to do, Jesus included.

There is obviously a cultural thing going on here, but DH holds that the wedding at Cana demonstrates this fact about Jesus. Mary tells Jesus the hosts have run out of time, Jesus demurs saying his time has not yet come, she insists again, and so he then converts the water into wine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you read the responses to your question? What do you think of those responses? Do they make sense to you?

+1 Hey OP if you're not a troll come back and address the real answers Catholics have provided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, DH is foreign and Orthodox (not sure why they are getting a pass on the statues, candles etc and the Catholics are not).

This is how he explains praying to Mary if one needs something instead of to Jesus. That is that any man will do what his mother tells him to do, Jesus included.

There is obviously a cultural thing going on here, but DH holds that the wedding at Cana demonstrates this fact about Jesus. Mary tells Jesus the hosts have run out of time, Jesus demurs saying his time has not yet come, she insists again, and so he then converts the water into wine.

This would mean that the best way to get your prayers answered would be to pray to Mary instead of to Jesus. I never heard any representative of the church say that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re asking saints to intercede - Why not just go right to the top?

Saints led holy lives and are examples for the church. They are human. They are more approachable.

This is a staggering statement. Christ is God made man. He came to Earth to identify with us and us with Him. Hebrews 4:15 says he is our great high priest who is able "to sympathize with our weaknesses." Christ is imminently approachable, and dead people are not approachable at all.

This Catholic insistence on praying to dead people, or however you want to term it, is extremely confounding. It seems that you have no real faith in Christ is you need dead saints -- who all had their own sins to deal with -- to "help you out."

Confounding to you. Not to practicing Catholics.

So don't convert to Catholicism. Easy-peasy!

Exactly. Catholics -- especially those taught Catholism from birth and coming from a long line of Catholics, have no trouble with these concepts. It's completely cultural and seems quite normal if you've heard it all your life and everyone around you believes it too. It's only outsiders who have trouble understanding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many people are well aware of how contradictory Catholicism is. It's especially obvious in Europe with the Vatican being so wealthy even with a refugee crisis going on. Now the Catholic Church is changing its party line on female priests but mainly for political reasons.

Catholicism comes across to me as a man made religion. Which is why there is so much emphasis on priests and the Pope as opposed to Jesus. It's why mass is so fancy. Previously it was a way to govern (I.e. Control people) and the church didn't even hold church services in the native tongue. It's sad because i don't believe that was at all the intent of Christianity. I'm sure there are great things about the Catholic Church but I have little desire to join a religion that's so heavily influenced by men living in an ivory tower in Rome.

This is classic baiting.

Don't feed the troll.

It's also factual

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asking a saint to pray for you or a particular request of yours is not any different from asking friends and family members to pray for you. Of course, we could all pray only for ourselves, but many people do pray for others and ask others to pray for them. Including those who are already in heaven in those requests for prayers is something some people like to do, but no one has to do this and the Catholic Church does not require the practice.

Prayer is a very personal thing. I know that my mother prayed for me regularly when she was alive, and I still ask her to pray for me now that she is gone. Anyone in heaven is a saint and I hope, and pray, that my mother is in heaven now and is praying for me.

OP, do you understand that asking those in heaven to pray for us is the same as asking friends to pray for us?

his is not a belief of the Catholic Church. There is a very grueling process for sainthood, including proof of 2 miracles performed by the would-be saint after death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asking a saint to pray for you or a particular request of yours is not any different from asking friends and family members to pray for you. Of course, we could all pray only for ourselves, but many people do pray for others and ask others to pray for them. Including those who are already in heaven in those requests for prayers is something some people like to do, but no one has to do this and the Catholic Church does not require the practice.

Prayer is a very personal thing. I know that my mother prayed for me regularly when she was alive, and I still ask her to pray for me now that she is gone. Anyone in heaven is a saint and I hope, and pray, that my mother is in heaven now and is praying for me.

OP, do you understand that asking those in heaven to pray for us is the same as asking friends to pray for us?

I would think having people (i.e., saints) pray for you in heaven is much better than having living friends praying for you, because you know the saints are holy, free from sin and have the ear of God. You can't know that about your living friends. They may have committed mortal sins for which they have not been absolved. I doubt God would listen to them over his own saints in heaven.