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Jesus communicated with Mary. That, to me, is equivalent to prayer except that neither party has died yet. And Jesus probably asked Mary for something. So we have petitionery prayer. All we ask her for are her prayers, while at other times (scattered lightly in the daily prayers of Catholics) we ask God to hear Mary's prayers.

My children communicated with me all the time as youngsters growing up and I can assure you it wasn't prayer. Because Mary was a mother to her son there are certain things we, who are mothers, can relate to Mary about. ...It's a Mom thing...something guys aren't going to get.

So I will frankly attest to the fact that communicating with children, from a mother's perspective...is never about them praying to us....nor did Mary see it so. I will come to her defense on this one since she is not here to defend herself. She is otherwise occupied enjoying the pleasures of heaven and those with her.

As for various types of prayer....of course it's communicating with the Lord...and that will vary. We can laugh with Him, cry with Him...share and even debate with Him.... But He alone answers those prayers, He alone communicates with us, regardless of what words we use to communicate to him with.

Further... How we communicate with the Lord is at another level of love and understanding than how we communicate with one another...sometimes raw and bare before Him because it is He whom we trust with our deepest self.

The POINT being...He is our ONLY intercessor.....just as He says that He is...... Mary was His mother..now in Heaven with Him. She plays no role in our life other than an example of a woman humble before God...and we respect her for her words spoken to the Father...."hand-maiden of the Lord". That too we as woman can relate to.

Once again, IF this is intended as argument (not in the contentious sense, just the um, you know, argument sense) it assumes what is to be proved.

This is why I tried to present it as a language/terms issue.

I look at the Psalms. I see the Psalmist praising, whining, rebuking complaining, even asking God to get out of his face and leave him alone! But recently somebody on"your side" told me the Psalms aren't prayers! Okay (Wha'?)

(BTW, stay at home dads may know a little something about interactions with kids.)

If I may generalize, a lot on your side seem to have a very binary way of looking at things. No shades. So our distinction between worship and reverence (or whatever terms one wants to use) just doesn't fit into the bi-pole universe.

It's a pretty old distinction. I've FINALLY begun reading John of Damascus and it's in the first couple of (8th century) pages.

So if we come onto the field saying, "Prayer is what you should do only to God," why then of course it's wrong of me to pray to Michael, Gabriel, Dymphna, Anthony, Thomas, Albert, Terese, Cecilia, Polycarp, Dominic, Jordan, Blessed JPII, and a huge supporting cast. It can't help but be wrong.

But I think it's an arbitrary definition which answers not to the history of the use of the term but only to a specific theological intention.

The POINT being...He is our ONLY intercessor.....just as He says that He is.....

OR the point is that IF, as John and Paul say a lot, we are united with him, we in him and he in us, in a spiritual (that is, more real than physical) union, then we pray in His Spirit, and in His Spirit we pray with each other and for each other, because, being united in him, we share in his intercessory work. I think all those angels and saints I mentioned above pray for me because, after their order, they are "in Him".

The difference you mention has its analog in our (a) asking a saint, notably Mary, to pray for us AND asking God to hear her prayers. We do not ask Mary to hear God's prayers! So there IS an asymmetry in our thinking, just not the one you present.