Intercession

[mulls]

What precisely is intercession?

Why do we need Mary and the saints to intercede for us?

[God Conquers]

Do you ask your buddies to pray for you when you're going through a tough time? The more the better right?

We have advocates in heaven just as we have on earth. Through our baptism and the Vine we are united to Christ and each other (the Church) for eternity.

What could give you greater joy in heaven then being with our Lord while at the same time helping other get to where you are?

The saints are our brothers and sisters, our "cloud of witnesses" cheering us and helping us reach our goal. They help us petition God to do His will in our lives.

I like to think of my big family (not as big as many here but in todays society big) as a good analogy. If I ask my father to get a puppy he might do it, but there is a good chance he wouldn't. If me, my brother, my three sisters and my mom all asked him together, it would be much more likely to happen.

[Cure of Ars]

Well as Christians we are the body of Christ. “The eye cannot say to the hand, "I do not need you," nor again the head to the feet, "I do not need you."” (1 Cor 12:21) So we need each other. This includes prayers from each other both living and dead because death does not separate someone from the body of Christ (Rom 8:35-37). The saints are watching us battle. Hebrews says, “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 while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.” (Heb 12:1) Also you should consider, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” (James 5:16) And when you consider that the saints are in the presence of God where nothing unclean can enter then I would say they are rather righteous.

Revelation 6:9-10 even shows martyred saints in heaven praying for things to happen on earth.

You may say “yes but I do not see an example of someone in the Bible asking someone who has died to pray for them”. My answer to this is that I do not see an example of someone explicitly praying to the Holy Sprit in the Bible. This does not make it wrong to do so. In fact it is a good thing to do. And what is stoping them. They know what is going on on earth (Heb 12:1) and they can pray in heaven (Rev 6:9-10) and we need each other ( 1 Cor 12:21) so let me ask you what is stopping saints from praying for us? God bless

Edited July 17, 2003 by Cure of Ars

[littleflower+JMJ]

read these....

http://www.catholic.com/library/praying_to..._the_saints.asp

and

http://www.catholic.com/library/intercessi..._the_saints.asp

as for me praying for a repose soul:

catholics believe in purgatory, a place where it is a cleansing for us before we enter heaven, its the "front Porch" to Heaven but no one is allowed into Heaven if you have your feet dirty, (ie your sins) so thats where asking and praying comes in.....for the repose soul

but see, once we die, we can not do anything on our own see? our time to seek God is over.....our time is gone, zip nada left...so if we end up in purgatory, that is where our prayers of us still here on earth become and are powerful, catholics offer masses, rosaries, novenas, and anything to offer up for that repose soul because it will help their speedy entrance into heaven, because we are still previliged to recieve graces and inreturn offer them.....i remember reading, i don't remember right now, but that people after dying and are in purgatory, yearn for just a drop of holy water to help them, thats why we offer masses up in their intention because the mass is the MOST powerful thing on earth....so thats why we pray for them, they still need our help to get to heaven and its up to us still here to pray for them....my dad still does that for his deceased parents and so forth, we desire to see them in heaven and we must do all we can to make sure they are....

(thats all in my own words by the way) i hope it makes sense to you!)

God BLess!

+JMJ

[Katholikos]

What precisely is intercession?

Why do we need Mary and the saints to intercede for us?

1 Tm 2:1 RSV - "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men . . ."

Heb 7:25 RSV - "Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."

2 Tm 1:19 RSV - "May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorous, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me --may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day . . . [Judgment Day].

Onesiphorous has died. Paul prays [intercedes] for him and for his household.

The Church is the family of God, whether struggling on Earth, suffering in Purgatory, or triumphant in Heaven, we pray for each other.

[ironmonk]

From the Apostles Creed:

The communion of saints, (Jn 15:5; Rom 12:4; 1Cor 6:12-20; 10:17; 12:4-27; Eph 2:19; 5:30; Col 1:18; 24; 2:19; 3:15, Jer 15:1; Acts 12:5; Rom 15:30; 2Cor 13:7; Eph 6:18; Col 4:3 1Thess 5:25; 2Thess 3:1; Heb 13:18; Jas 5:16 , Tobit 12:12; 2Mac 15:14; Rev 5:8; 8:4 , Heb 12:1, 1Thess 3:13; Heb 11:40; 12:23; 1Pet 3:19; Rev 6:9, Acts 5:15; 19:11-12 , Eph 1:4-6; 12; 14 )

"Communion of Saints" means that we communicate with them.

Does Christ have more than one body?

No. - The Church in Heaven and on earth are the same. The Church is One Body. Christ's Body.

God Bless, Love in Chirst & Mary

ironmonk

[jasJis]

Explaining intercession doesn't get much clearer than this.

John, chapter 2 KJV

"1": And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

"2": And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

"3": And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

"4": Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

"5": His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

Note: I used the KJV so non-Catholics cannot dismiss it as a mis-translation.

In verse 3 it is obvious that they went to Mary for the wine. It doesn't say they said to Jesus they have no wine. It was Mary who told Jesus.

In verse 4 Jesus addresses Mary as 'Woman'. Some argue that is a rebuke. A rebuke doesn't make sense because Jesus goes on and does what Mary asks. It seems to be Jesus is addressing Mary not as her son, but as a Divne. Ther hour he is talking about is his hour of ministry as God and Man.

In verse 5, Mary after interceeding on the servants behalf, addresses the servants and instructs them to obey Jesus.

I didn't excerpt the rest, but we all know the water is turned into the finest wine. This section, in a nutshell, shows how those close to Jesus can intercede on our behalf and God is willing to respond generously.

[Jake Huether]

"1 Kings 2:16-20: ""Pray ask king Solomon- he will not refuse you- to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife." Bathsheba said, "Very well, I will speak for you to the king." So Bathsheba went to king Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." and the king said to her, "Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you."""

An example of the intercession of the queen, mother of the king.

How much more powerful the intercession of the Queen, Mother of the King of kings!?

[Theologian in Training]

When a person dies, we do not believe that they lived a great life here and I will never see them again, no, we believe that we will indeed see them again. This connection with that person is what makes up what we call "The Body of Christ."

Now, how can someone who has died still be a part of the "Body of Christ?" Well, when Christ died and rose again, did He not, through that rising, destroy death? If so, then is there really any separation between those we know in life and those in death? If Christ has reunited Heaven and earth then those we know here on earth and just as real as those we know in Heaven.

With that in mind, we are merely speaking to "our friends," and asking them for help, since they are before God always and, as a result, can intercede for us. In other words, they can ask God for the favor we are asking for.

But why can't we just speak directly to God? We can, but sometimes we "get by with a little help from our friends." If it is merely me imploring God that is good thing to do, but if it is me and 10 or 20 of my friends the request becomes "louder." Then couple that with help from Jesus' dear Mother. Sure He can refuse the request if it is not in His will, but Mary knows Jesus pretty well, and can sometimes give your prayer the extra "boost" it may need.

At the Wedding Feast at Cana, Mary did not say, now listen Jesus I want you to perform this miracle, and I want you to do it now...technically, she could, She is indeed His Mother. No, she said those very beautiful words, "do whatever He tells you." But pay attention to a very important, sometimes forgotten detail, who initiated the request? Someone went to Mary and told her the situation, She made the request. Sure, we can make the request, and we are invited to do so, but how do we know if it is God's Will? Mary said, "do whatever He tells you," in other words, be obedient to His Will as I have been, and your request will be heard. Sometimes when we pray to a Saint we learn what God's Will is through them, since they obviously know better than we do. They are a great help in this kind of discernment.

Yes, we can pray directly to God, and yes we should do so, but we should never neglect talking to "our family," be they here or hereafter.

hope that helps.

God Bless

[Ekilharas]

Our greatest intercessor is our Beloved Jesus Himself. It was He who said: 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.'

He also stands at the right hand of the Father 'making constant intercession for us.'

We have also been told, 'Pray always!' and '...do not turn away from you brothers (and sisters) in need.'

The OT is full of stories and incidents where intercession was the key to receiving blessings from God.

The Catholic church says we should not be self-interpreting of Holy Scriptures, but She does not say, don't read them!

To interceed, (PRAY FOR) simply means to ask for something on behalf of someone else. Most of us do this without even thinking about it. A true intercessor is one who does it constantly, and does think about it with the intention of truly gaining a blessing from God for someone.

Love and Blessings,

Nell

Edited July 19, 2003 by Ekilharas

[mulls]

Sure He can refuse the request if it is not in His will, but Mary knows Jesus pretty well, and can sometimes give your prayer the extra "boost" it may need.

like a job reference?

[cmotherofpirl]

like a job reference?

ASk and you shall recieve.

[Mary's Knight, La]

Mulls, some of the conditions for prayer, are faith and expectation which is part of faith. Our faith is not so great as that of those in heaven because their faith is now built on what they see face to face (fellow catholic no beating me over the head about the Eucharist yet). They also in some ways are capable of expecting more from God than we are because they experience Him in heaven. Hope this helps some it's not coming out the way I wanted so I'm stopping after my last point. Whereas we eat and sleep and do 100 other things, all they do is pray, it's like asking a friend to pray for something since they never stop being right there in front of the Eucharist.