Expert: Sal - 9/27/2006

Question
Hi Sal,

Is it true that Jesus is the founder of the catholic church and its faith. Why do other churchs say bad things about Catholics? Are the Catholics the true church of God. An if so where in the bible does it make that statement? I am a catholic and I was wondering why do us catholics including me (persona) pray to saints and Mary the virgin? An what to the nuns represent in the catholic church?  

Answer
Hello Jacqueline:

I will now answer your questions concerning prayer to the saints and Mary. I will first look at the question is it biblical to pray for one another? Then I will explore the question is it biblical to ask saints to pray with us to God? Having established those two points, I will consider the particular intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Catholics view Christians as one family (Romans 12:5) with God as our Father (Ephesians 4:5-6). What father would not be pleased when his children help one another? Catholics believe that this unity shared by Christians is very profound. “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all members share its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:26). The fact that God’s children can and should help one another by prayer is beyond dispute. “I beg you brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, join me in the struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf” (Romans 15:30). “But you must help us with your prayers, so that on our behalf God may be thanked for the gift granted us through the prayers of so many” (2 Corinthians 1:11). Other examples of intercessory prayer for other Christians may be found in Ephesians 6:18-20; Philippians 1:19; Colossians 4:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; 3:1-2; Philemon 22; James 5:13-16, and 1 John 5:16. We even have biblical examples of praying for those who are not united with God’s family (Matthew 5:44 and 1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Catholics do not pray to the saints in the same way as we do to God. All prayer is directed to God. However, Catholics do ask for saints to pray with us to God. We believe in the communion of saints. That means that those Christians who have died are still in communion with Christians still here on earth. They still care about our needs from heaven just as they did while here with us. The Bible gives us clear examples of believers who have left this life still caring for, and interceding for, other believers.

In the Old Testament we read of Judas Maccabeus who related a vision that God had given to him concerning deceased believers. “What he saw was this: Onias, the former high priest…was praying with outstretched arms for the whole Jewish community. Then in the same way another man appeared…Onias then said of him, ‘This is God’s prophet Jeremiah, who loves his brethren and fervently prays for his people and their holy city’” (2 Maccabees 15:12-14). So here we have evidence of deceased believers, a high priest and a great prophet, continuing their intercession for God’s people even after their deaths.

Jesus informs us that the faithful that have left this life are still alive to God. “Moses in the passage about the bush…called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. All are alive to Him” (Luke 20: 37-38). Jesus graphically demonstrated this truth on the Mount of Transfiguration where he spoke to Elijah and Moses (Matthew 17:3). Elijah may never have died since he was taken up to heaven while apparently still alive (2 Kings 2:11). Moses, however, had certainly died long ago (Deuteronomy 34:5-8). In the New Testament we read of Christians in heaven interceding for those on earth. “Along with their harps, the elders were holding vessels of gold filled with aromatic spices which were the prayers of God’s holy people” (Revelation 5:8).  

Catholics believe that the Bible would not so strongly recommend and show the practice of intercessory prayer if it were not of great benefit to us. One such benefit is that the strong faith of the saints can serve to support our weaknesses. The saints can supply what is so lacking in our own faith. Jesus illustrated this by helping someone based on the faith of others. Examples of this can be found in Matthew 8:5-13; 15:22-28; Mark 2:1-5; 9:17-29; Luke 8:41-42, 49-55.

Catholics reason that if we are to pray for one another while here on earth (I Timothy 2:11), and our brothers and sisters who have left this life are alive before God (Mark 9:4), and if the prayers of a holy person are very powerful (James 5:16), and if those Christians in heaven have been made perfect (Hebrews 12:22-23; Revelation 21:27), then it follows that the prayers of the saints in heaven must be infinitely more powerful than the prayers of the sinners here on earth. Therefore, we rightly and wisely seek the intercession of the saints.

Catholics see Mary as the “Queen of the Saints”. She is the greatest of the saints. This is so not just because she is the only mother of the only God, but because of her great faithful obedience to the will of God. “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). She is the humble servant that God has exalted. “For He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness; all ages to come shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). Catholics view the Virgin Mary as the most powerful intercessor of all the saints. We believe that she sits at her Son’s right hand (the place of honor, cf. Luke 22:69; Acts 7:56; Hebrews 8:1; 10:12) in heaven and from there makes intercession for her other children (Revelation 12:17; cf. John 19:26-27).

While this belief is not explicitly taught in the New Testament we do have strong support for it in Old Testament typology. Bible scholars agree that the kingdom of David was a type of the heavenly kingdom. The king was a type of Christ. The kingdom of David always had a queen mother who possessed power and authority only second to her son, the king. The queen mother was a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1 Kings 2:19-20 we read how the queen mother was honored above all others by her son. The king bowed to her in a show of great respect. He commanded that a throne be set up at his right for the queen mother. From there she would intercede for the people of the kingdom with her son. So we can logically expect that Mary as the king of kings’ mother to be in heaven at her Son’s right hand interceding with unique power for her other children, the people of God. We can also expect that her Son will say, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

Mary’s intercessory powers are graphically shown in John 2:1-11. Here we see Mary intercede for the groom at a wedding feast when the wine ran out. She gives us, what could be the most important advice in the Bible, “Do whatever he tells you” (v. 5). Even though his hour has not yet come (v. 4), Jesus cannot refuse his mother’s request (v. 7f). Our Lord’s statement in v. 4 indicates that when his hour does come his mother can intercede with great power.

I believe that I have shown that prayer to the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary is biblical.

God Bless You,
Sal