I think we agree that Mary is now safely in the arms of her Bridegroom (meant as purely as that concept could be stated, not salaciously), and therefore she is now fully sanctified. Where do we find the need to have someone of higher ranking appeal to our Lord, if there is only One needing to intercede for me between man and God, the Man Christ Jesus? How does Mary actually improve that communication? And, does this mean that Mary is in some sense Omniscient or at least All-seeing? Does RCC tradition teach that the dead are in some sense sitting in a stadium watching the earth? What are their limitations? If you use the Hebrews text to support this (”...surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...”), I have a grave disagreement that this broad interpretation fits the intention of the writer.
Second, the S vs. s. You are the first RCC I have been in contact with that acknowledges that there is “s”. But, what I cannot catch, is whence cometh the need of “S”? This is not outlined anywhere I can find in Scriptures, so is this again a product of “tradition”? I don't question that your organization has set a high bar, but that doesn't demonstrate that it is appropriate. The whole matter of elevating some via human observation does not seem appropriate. If the end result of these inquiries are simply, “Trust us, we are the final authority because we are the final authority.” then, I will respectfully disagree.
Please excuse me - I plan on responding soon, but I want to give your reponse the proper attention it deserves, and I do not have time to do such right now! But, I certainly will, I promise.
I think we agree that Mary is now safely in the arms of her Bridegroom (meant as purely as that concept could be stated, not salaciously), and therefore she is now fully sanctified. Where do we find the need to have someone of higher ranking appeal to our Lord, if there is only One needing to intercede for me between man and God, the Man Christ Jesus? How does Mary actually improve that communication?
There is no need, per se, to go to someone other than the Lord. He is certainly above Mary - she leads to Him, but does not outrank him by any stretch of the imagination. That said, we know that the prayers of the especially holy are more effective - there isn't a need to ask them to help, but it isn't a bad idea!
And, does this mean that Mary is in some sense Omniscient or at least All-seeing? Does RCC tradition teach that the dead are in some sense sitting in a stadium watching the earth? What are their limitations? If you use the Hebrews text to support this (”...surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...”), I have a grave disagreement that this broad interpretation fits the intention of the writer.
I don't pretend to know the relationship between the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth. Again, I go back to the "angels" point - if they could hear the Psalmist from Heaven, why can't those who are in Heaven due to the sacrifice of Christ?
Second, the S vs. s. You are the first RCC I have been in contact with that acknowledges that there is “s”. But, what I cannot catch, is whence cometh the need of “S”? This is not outlined anywhere I can find in Scriptures, so is this again a product of “tradition”?
Again, I don't believe there is a need to have "S"es, but, if you take the above seriously (intercession of the saints), then how do you know a person is in Heaven, and thus your petitions that they pray for you will be heard? Yes, I think this came from Holy Tradition - the early Martyrs were venerated by Christians, and that happened under the watchful eye of the first bishops.
I don't question that your organization has set a high bar, but that doesn't demonstrate that it is appropriate. The whole matter of elevating some via human observation does not seem appropriate. If the end result of these inquiries are simply, “Trust us, we are the final authority because we are the final authority.” then, I will respectfully disagree.
Well, sometimes, yes, you need to have faith in the Holy Spirit guiding the Church. But I think I can probably show the historical continuity throughout the history of the Church of this practice - while that may not be persuasive to you, I believe it demonstrates that He is protecting the practice.
I'll address your other post now...