Posted on 11/04/2017 12:24:50 PM PDT by Salvation
Question: Are the saints in heaven active in the affairs of Earth? — Robert Bonsignore, Brooklyn, New York
Answer: Yes, we have a lot of evidence for that. But exactly how and to what extent they are aware and active is not fully known to us.
It seems unlikely that the saints can merely look down and watch us as though they were watching a movie, or that they can know our inmost thoughts. Such things are probably beyond their capacity and might even be considered intrusive of our privacy.
It seems safer to assume that the saints are aware of our needs and condition to the degree that God reveals this to them. Thus, if I am asking St. Anthony to pray for me, his capacity to hear my request is facilitated by the Lord and due to the membership both St. Anthony and I have in the Body of Christ. By analogy, the two members of my body that I call my hands can interact by the fact they are coordinated through my head. Jesus is the Head of the Body, the Church and everything in his Body is under his authority and coordinated by him, including the awareness and communion of various members of the body with each other.
Monsignor Pope Ping for OSV column.
No biblical revelation states this.
... this idea came from Greek religion that modified roman religion that was incorporated into Romanism.
Yes, there is. In Revelation.
As we’ve discussed on FR many times, this is a false claim.
It does not say the prayers were *to* the saints.
Ever.
“And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” Book of Revelation, Chapter 5, verse 8,
Yes, it does. The prayers rise like incense to the saints. I know that’s not the direct quote, but it is there.
Lifelong Protestant here, and sick and tired of willfully ignorant knee-jerk anti-Catholic posters who attack the Catholic Church at every opportunity. (FYI B.A, M.A, and Ph.D. in Theology here).
Addressed in post 5
So far all I e seen is discussion of an idea in the article that th OP asked for discussion about.
In fact Catholicism has not been brought up yet.
Thank you.
But do you know and believe the bible???
6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil 4:6 NASB
Jesus Himself, when He taught the disciples to pray, instructed them as....
5“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:5-9 NASB
13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:13-15 NASB
6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NASB
And for reference...where is your PhD from?
Let us remember and pray for the souls in Purgatory.
Not in the Scriptures either.
I am sure that you have been informed before, but for the benefit of others:
“The faith of the Church is that the saints are not really dead, but are fully alive in Jesus Christ, who is life itself (John 11:25; 14:6) and the bread of life who bestows life on all who eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:35, 48, 51, 53-56). The saints are alive in heaven because of the life they have received through their faith in Christ Jesus and through their eating of his body and blood.
The book of Revelation shows the saints worshipping God, singing hymns, playing instruments, making requests to Christ to avenge their martyrdom, and offering prayers for the saints on earth (Rev. 4:10, 5:8, 6:9-11).
Because they are alive, we believe that we can go to them to intercede for us with God. We do not need to see apparitions or hear their voices in order to believe they will pray for us in heaven. We trust that the saints will accept our requests for help and will present them to Christ for us.”
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-bible-supports-praying-to-the-saints
First, God expects us to pray for one another. We see this in both the Old and New Testaments.
In a dream, God commanded King Abimelech to ask Abraham to intercede for him: “For [Abraham] is a prophet and he will pray for you, so you shall live” (Gen. 20:7). When the Lord is angry with Job’s friends because they did not speak rightly about God, he tells them, “Let my servant Job pray for you because I will accept his [prayer], lest I make a terror on you” (Job 42:8).
Paul wrote to the Romans: “I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive with me in prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judaea and that my ministry may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem, so that in the joy coming to you through the will of God I may rest with you” (Rom. 15:30-32).
James says: “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (James 5:16-17). Thus, according to Scripture, God wants us to pray for one another. This must mean that prayer for one another cannot detract from the role of Jesus Christ as our one mediator with God.
Second, the reason that Christians have the power to pray for one another is that each person who is baptized is made a member of the Body of Christ by virtue of the Holy Spirit’s action in baptism (1 Cor. 12:11-13). It is because the Christian belongs to Jesus Christ and is a member of his Body, the Church, that we can make effective prayer.
The reason we pray to the saints is that they are still members of the Body of Christ. Remember, the life which Christ gives is eternal life; therefore, every Christian who has died in Christ is forever a member of the Body of Christ. This is the doctrine which we call the Communion of the Saints. Everyone in Christ, whether living or dead, belongs to the Body of Christ.
From this it follows that a saint in heaven may intercede for other people because he still is a member of the Body of Christ. Because of this membership in Christ, under his headship, the intercession of the saints cannot be a rival to Christ’s mediation; it is one with the mediation of Christ, to whom and in whom the saints form one body.
As suspected...all talk...no show.
You've said nothing on this thread other than you claim to have a phd in theology, for which I asked where you got it from to which you won't reply, and a presumptuous jump on amoreperfectunion for an attack on roman catholicism when the poster didn't even mention roman catholicism..
I invoke the playground rule: put up or hush up.
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