[Antoninus]

It's as though Catholics are adding an unneeded step into the mix. Would one need to eventually ask a Saint to ask Mary to pray to Jesus for me? Please note I mean no disrespect, it's an honest question.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, check the following link which explains the matter much more clearly than I could off the cuff:

Praying to the Saints

[EarthBound]

Okay, thanks. I will confess it leaves me actually a little more confused. When we speak of the Resurrection then, are we saying the dead ones in Christ return from Heaven and resume in a new body, or that they awake renewed in their same body? If the first, then I could certainly accept people in heaven offering up incense for us. I'm not sure I'd be able to make the leap of asking for specific help, from specific saints, though.

That just leaves Mary as having some sort of "inside-track" to Jesus. That just doesn't make sense to me.