Also, if we eventually find out that if prayers to saints were indeed "dropped" prayers, how much potential wasted time & effort was that?
The word "sin" literally means "missing the mark." (It's not just doing unrighteous, naughty things). Sometimes, we can do perfectly seemingly righteous things, but "miss the mark" because they were ill-motivated or self-centered or whatever. A prayer to the wrong target "misses the mark."
And it's in this vein that we need to raise related questions on the "should we" question.
Should a priest or pastor shepherd his flock by preaching? (Of course). But should he if he wants to receive all the glory and Lord it over the church? (No)
Should an arresting officer arrest convicts on the run? (Of course) But should he if he's the S.S. and he's tracking down a Jew in hiding during WWII? (You know what our hindsight answer is)
Likewise, no one--not Rutles4ever & Campion re: post#358, nor Fourty-Seven in the more recent post (4 questions I asked him in response to James 5:16), wants to directly address the "should we" question in light of the saints and angels getting "thank you" notes in ads & Web sites for answering their prayers.
If we should intercede for one another, then does that mean we thank one another for answering our prayer? (No!) Only God answers prayer. And the fruit of a practice shows us the root of a practice. Thanksgiving and glory and credit is going to saints and angels when in fact it should be solo de gloria! to God alone!
The fact is the inconsistency I've been accused of may perhaps be a more pertinent matter for folks who put these ads in the paper. You should ask them, "Should we intercede for one another?" Because it seems to me, based on who they are thanking, that they are only asking heavenly beings and heavenly saints. They (seemingly) either (a) aren't asking earthly saints to intercede for them, or (b) if they are, they don't feel the same compulsion to thank these earthly saints in the same way.
If this is still too complex, perhaps you could simply answer this one: Is it a good think to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ?
And if you are feeling fulsome: "Is it a good thing to ask our brothers and sisters to pray for us?"
thank you.
E.g., no convicts on the run, no S.S. Officer, no shipwrecks, cell phones, dropped calls, computer glitches, yada yada yada...
Just as an unconditional value statement: should we, does is it a good thing, does it have value... all other conditions being equal.
Or folks who handle snakes or folks who go on tv. Should I assume your belief is the same as that of Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley, prayer cloth 'gifts' and Trinity Broadcasting? We can both degenerate the discussion to what 'some' Catholics or 'some' non-Catholics do and believe.
Catholicism has a stated official interpretation, doctine and dogma. How about we use this to determine what the Church teaches?