At 06:58 PM 6/21/2003 -0500 Robert Seeberger wrote:
>My father is dead and I talk to him in my prayers. Does this mean that I
>accord my father the same status as God?
>I pray to the saints for intercession. Does this make them gods?
>Doctrine says no, but also implies that praying to dead people may be
>useful. This may be one of those old pagan carryovers that infest
>christianity such as Christmas.
>I think the simple explaination is that prayer to saints is in sort of a
>gray area that lies between worship and conversation (monologous as it may
>be).
No. Prayer is simply a means of conversaion between this world and
heaven.
Worship is a specific set of communications that may be made by any means.
For example, the prayer "please pray for me that my friend might recover
from her illness" is not worship. Saying that to you over the telephone
is likewise not worship.
On the other hand, the prayer "You are holy, great, and merciful in all
things" is worship. Likewise, saying the same thing on your knees in
front of an Earthly emperor would be worship.
>> Before you answer that, let me try to parse this out: IOW, You're saying
>> that Mary is prayed to because she has access to God? That she might
>> 'have His ear' so to speak? So she's not really worshipped, but merely
>> acts as a 'prayer conduit'? Then prayers to Mary are really requests
>> that she might act as an advocate with God on our behalf?
>>
>> Do I understand correctly?
>>
>
>That is accurate enough for me.
I think that "prayer conduit" is a poor choice of words. We pray to Mary
to ask her to pray for us. As a free-willed being, Mary presumably has
the choice whether and how much to pray for us.
>This is one of the reasons catholicism has endured. It has stayed close to
>its roots in many ways. In modern times it has drifted somewhat. The
>abandonment of the Tridentine Mass frex.
Yes, but had it not switched to the Novus Ordo Mass, Mass attendance would
likely be even lower than what it currently is.
>People do see Jesus.
>I think you have just forgotten about it.
For instance, a case in Pennsylvania about 10-15 years back when some altar
boys claimed that they saw a crucifix bleeding.
JDG
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John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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