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To: Boagenes
Any attempt to attribute to Mary and saints the ability to intercede for billions of potential requests from the nearly billion members of the Church who believe such things, cannot be done so without also attributing to them the power of omnipresence which is possessed by God alone.

I think you raise a legitimate issue. I have pondered this belief as well.

I don't think, by attributing the ability to intercede, we are attributing omnipresence. It doesn't necessarily follow. Omnipresence would encompass much more than the ability to hear prayers. Being able to hear someone's prayer request seems, to me anyway, a small and limited facet of what omnipresence entails.

I also wonder if it is fitting to apply our concepts of reality to the the after-life. I mean, our constructs just may not apply at all. We can conjecture and speculate, but our knowlege may be too limiting. I think it helpful to consider the shock an infant experiences when it emerges from its mother's watery womb into the world of light and air. So it may be for us. When we leave this world, our destination and its conditions may very well be utterly inconceivable. The laws and conditions that govern our world and this earthly experience just may not be applicable in heaven.

And yet we have all this antecdotal evidence that there is something to this intercessory prayer stuff. Centuries of it. In my own case, I had been looking for a job for a few months, a particular kind of job with specific conditions that would not interfere with other things I needed to do with my life at this time. It was a tall order and very unrealistic. My financial situation was becoming desperate when I happened upon a link that a Freeper had provided to "Mary, Undoer of Knots." I felt I had a knot that needed to be undone, so I offered a prayer to Our Lady under that title. A few days later I had landed a job that met my precise conditions and has surpassed my expectations. The knot was undone.

Naturally, I'm tempted to write it off as dumb luck, coincidence, and ponder the inevitable questions. Does God care where I work? Does Mary really have anything to do with it? Or by being skeptical am I limiting God's love? Am I applying my incomplete knowledge to things I am incapable of conceiving?

Anyway, it makes interesting food for thought.

360 posted on 06/01/2008 11:56:14 AM PDT by LordBridey
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To: LordBridey
Bravo my friend. Faith is simply a matter of personal experience, it is hard to explain. I have felt her many times. Lovingly taking care of me and bringing back to Jesus, even when I didn't know I was lost. I beleive she is there even for those that don't recognize her. Thank you Jesus.

People may misinterpret our great love for our wonderfull spiritual mother, I almost understand that. They don't realize that love is infinite. The more we love, the more we love God. Insulting God's children is, to me, the enemy's influence.

362 posted on 06/01/2008 12:06:47 PM PDT by mgist
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