I Took This From My Bible

[the_rev]

Well my bible is the International Catholic Youth Bible, in the front they have several things, and this is one of them, it is about Saints and Mary.

Here it is

Hey Man Will You Pray For Me!

John:  Paul, you gotta pray for my dad, cause he’s really sick right now and he’s going to the hospital to get tests. 

Paul:  Really, Okay year I’ll definitely say some prayers for him and I’ll also as St. Francis to pray for him as well.

John:  St. Francis, you mean the guy who lives 700 years ago in Italy? How can he pray for me, he’s been dead for centuries, Besides Jesus told us that he was the ONLY mediator between us and God.

Paul: Then why are you asking me to pray for your dad?

John:  Well because we should all pray for each other Jesus said I say to you if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. MT18:19

Paul: I totally agree.  So if I can pray for you or your dad now, don’t you think I can keep praying for you after I did, If I died tomorrow knowing that your dad needs prayers, don’t you think I’d still pray for him once I got to heaven.

John: Yeah I guess.

Paul: And guess what? If I pray for him today, which I will, my prayers are still somewhat limited by my sins and my lack of faith, but once I reach heaven I won’t sin anymore, therefore my love and my prayers will be even more powerful before God.

But they don’t even know my name!

John: Well maybe it’s true that your could pray for me once you’re in heaven, but the rest of the saints in heaven don’t even know who I am.

Paul: How do you know, the saint’s can see everything God allows them to see because God sees everything.

John: So you’re saying that these saints’s are just like our friends and relatives on earth except that they’re in heaven?

Paul:  Exactly.  It’s what we call “The Communion of Saints.” It’s the big family of the children of God, composed of those living on earth, those being purified in purgatory, and those who have already made it to heaven, We’re one big family of Christians supporting each other on our trek to heaven.

John:  So we don’t really pray to the saints, as if they were God, we just ask them to help us by praying with us.

Paul:  Right! And then we get a lot more prayer power.  That’s why prayers with the saints have worked so well since the beginning of the Catholic Church.

John:  You mean they did this in the early church as well?

Paul: You bet. If you go into the catacombs, (you know the caves under the ground where poor Romans including many Christians were buried) you’ll see the names of Christian martyrs together with messages asking them to pray for those where were still alive.  They were an inspiration for the Christians.

John:  But why do we need any Inspiration other than Christ.

Paul:  Because God wants us to inspire each other.  That’s why St. Paul wrote, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1)  In the lives of the saints the power of Jesus is acted out in every age and every situation.  And that helps us relate to Jesus even Better.

John:  Doesn’t that take away from Christ?

Paul: Not at all, it’s like the Mona Lisa, the more you admire the painting the more you praise the painter, The saints always said their holiness came from God, not themselves, So in honoring the saints you automatically honor God.

So what is so special about Mary?

John: So why is the Virgin Mary so special of all the saints?

Paul: Because her yes to God was the beginning of our salvation, the moment the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb, Jesus took his humanity from Mary, Mary was his mother, He obeyed her, he loved her, and she loved him more than anyone else ever loved him, (Generally who loves a child more than his own mother?)

John:  Are you saying that Mary was closer to Jesus than anyone else?

Paul: Absolutely, As the mother of Jesus Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary was more united to God than anyone who has ever lived, not even Moses had this kind of relationship with God, He carried God’s commandments on stone tablets, Mary carried the author of the commandments in her womb!  Moses obeyed God, but in the little home in Nazareth the Son of God obeyed his mother Mary!  And then don’t forget that Jesus entrusted John and all of us to Mary as he was dying on the cross.

John:  But God is God, and Mary is just a creature.

Paul:  That’s right, she is only a creature, and anyone who says Mary is anything more than a creature is committing idolatry.  But nothing the less Son of God’s creatures become more united with God than others, and Mary united herself completely to God.  That unity with God makes her prayers especially powerful.  Remember the weeding at Cana, They ran out of wine and Mary asked Jesus for a Miracle, even though he resisted at first he changed the water into wine because his mother asked him to help.  In heave Mary still asks Jesus to help us in many ways, and Jesus says yes to his mother like and good son would.

John:  Well does all this mean that I should always pray to the saints and never God?

Paul:  Of course not!  You should always pray directly to God and then you should also ask others on earth and all the saints in heaven to pray for you as well, all of those prayers are ultimately directed to God who alone holds the power to answer them. 

Does this answer any of your questions. If they do what questions do they answer.

[cantstopdancin9]

To me it answers a question a lot of non-catholics ask: "Why do you worship Mary and the Saints" or "Why do you pray to them? You put more focus on them than Jesus." I think it explains to you, as a catholic, why it is part of our faith.

[the_rev]

I shared this with my youth group before, and I'm gonna share it with them again.

It is kinda funny, i got my bible for free from a retreat I went on when I was in 5th grade, I was the youngest person there!

[BlackOrpheus]

No offense, but I just remember that Bible. I hated the translation passionately. It seemed like a lot of meaning was sapped that can be found in an NAB or a King James translation in an attempt to be 'hip.' It seemed like a lot of the phrasing and wording were very partial to a merely superficial understanding and made it harder to grasp deeper meanings.