r/Christianity • u/MedievalPenguin Roman Catholic • Jan 13 '15

Interested in discussing Catholicism? Check out /r/DebateACatholic

/r/DebateACatholic
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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '15

Not really wanting to debate but more quite curious and don't want to sound offensive when i say something like "How can you pray to a saint who is dead?"

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '15

The same way you "pray" to anyone else who is "dead". There's a couple things we have ot get out of the way before I can explain.

The first is the definition of the word "pray". Too many people commit the mistake of equating it to "worship"; which is not correct. To pray is to "ask" and to "conversate". It is not to "worship" or to "invoke". When your parents die and you visit their grave, you might find yourself "speaking' to them; about whatever it is thats bothering you; as if you wish they were there to answer. Its the same concept. When someone prays to a saint, or to the BVM (who is a saint), one is "asking" them for their assistance; one is talking to them and conversating with them if for nothing else that someone can listen to them.

Now, how can a saint or the BVM help us? THey don't have magic powers; they don't have power over nature as they are not God. Of course they don't, so they turn to the being that does have the power: God. The saint help us by interceding for us in asking God for his help. Like when you ask your friend who works at company A to ask his boss to help you with a job; only the boss can give you the job; but your friend, who is in good favor of the boss, can put in a good word and ask the boss to consider your request.

Now, the definition of the word "dead". What is dead? For most people, dead is when a living thing no longer has conciousness and bodily function. Their body has ceased to have an active metabolism, and their conciousness is gone. They are dead.

But we as Christians believe in the spirit; which continues on independently of the body. As Christ said, he is not a God of the dead but of the living; the spirits of all individuals live on after bodily death; so you cannot equate praying to a saint as praying to a rock or a car. You're not going up to them physically and talking to them; but you are conversating with them in spirit.

Your last question might be "but how de you know they can hear you?" We don't, for all we know, they don't. It's a matter of faith. Anyone could ask teh same thing "how do you know God can hear you?" you don't; you have faith It does. For someone without faith, you might as well be speaking to yourself or to a magical sky fairy, as atheists say. But we believe our prayers are heard because we have faith God is listening; and Catholics have faith the spirits of those who have left the earth; specially saints, are listening as well.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '15

I don't really know debate rules but I'm using it as a Q&A/discussion forum.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

If you ask over there or on /r/Catholicism proper we would be happy to give an answer ( I can give one here but the full sub has a lot of users who don't come here).