What About Praying To Mary And The Saints?

What About Praying To Mary And The Saints? By Jack Kelley I’m wondering what you have to say about Catholics “praying” to Mary or other saints. I understand that the first commandment tells us to have no other gods, but Catholics seem to believe they’re not praying to Mary or the other saints, but somehow praying to God through them. Q. I’m wondering what you have to say about Catholics “praying” to Mary or other saints. I understand that the first commandment tells us to have no other gods, but Catholics seem to believe they’re not praying to Mary or the other saints, but somehow praying to God through them. This also brings another question to mind of praying for someone after they’ve died. Is there anyplace in the bible that speaks to this?   A. All during Old Testament times, the way to God was through the Priest. The people brought their prayers to the temple along with a sacrifice and the priests presented their prayers to God. When Jesus died the veil of separation in the Temple was torn apart, signifying that the people would no longer need an intercessor on Earth. They could now approach God directly (Ephes. 3:12) In the New Testament, only Jesus (Rom 8:34) and the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26) are named as intercessors for us. None others are authorized. The notion of praying to Mary or others is uniquely catholic and has no Biblical support. The same is true about praying for the dead. It comes out of the Catholic tradition of purgatory, where according to them all believers go to pay for their remaining sins upon death. It’s believed that the prayers and good works of their living loved ones can shorten their stay there. This is another non-Biblical tradition of the Catholic Church. The single over riding purpose of our lives is to decide whether to allow the Lord’s death to pay for our sins or not. We have to decide for ourselves, no one can do it for us, and we have to do it while we’re still alive. Failing to decide is the same as rejecting it. At the instant of death, we’re either saved or not based on that one decision, and no effort by us or anyone we’ve left behind can alter it thereafter. Man was destined to die once and after that to face judgment. (Hebr. 9:27) Jesus and His Word teach... You are saved by faith and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). All who rely on observing the law (commandments) are under a curse (Galations 3:10). Salvation occurs at the moment you believe the Gospel (Ephesians 1:13). Jesus purifies sin (Hebrews 1:3). You can know for sure you are saved (1 John 5:13). The sacrifice of Jesus is finished (John 19:30).    The Pope and his church teach... You are saved by faith plus works. Obedience to the commandments is a condition for salvation. Salvation is a process from baptism through purgatory. Purgatory purifies sin. You are condemned if you claim to be saved. The sacrifice of Jesus continues in daily Mass. As you can see these two teachings directly oppose one another. You must make the choice as to which is true and which is deception. Your choice will determine your eternal destiny. Bigger Problems If the differences between Catholics and Protestants were simply a manner of form and style, there would be no reason for concern over the ECT document. Sadly, there are bigger issues involved, much bigger issues. Consider the Catholics' preoccupation with Mary. The Catholic apologists, such as Keith Fournier, would have us to believe that they do not worship, or even pray to Mary. Fournier writes: "Catholics venerate Mary... (they) only worship and pray to the Creator, not to creatures... poorly catechized Catholics have at times gone to extremes and appeared to elevate Mary over Jesus. But their mistaken piety does not reflect the teaching of the Catholic church." Thus it is all a big misunderstanding. Catholics and Protestants alike respect Mary as a wonderful woman of God, so what's the problem? The problem is that "it just ain't so!" The current Pope, John Paul II, has the Latin words totus tuus sum Maria (Mary, I'm yours) embroidered on the inside of his robes, and he has attributed his escape from death at the hands of an assassin to Mary, acknowledging, "For everything that happened to me on that day, I felt that extraordinary Motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than bullets." In his petition to Mary at the close of the Sunday Mass in Denver in August, 1993, the Pope prayed: "Mary of the New Advent, we implore your protection on the preparations that will now begin for the next meeting. Mary, full of grace, we entrust the next World Youth Day to you. Mary, assumed into heaven, we entrust the young people of the world... the whole world to you." Is this the prayer of a poorly catechized, extremist Catholic? If the Pope prays to Mary and commits all the world's youth to her, what should we expect from the rest of the church? Bishop Fulton J. Sheen declared: "When I was ordained, I took a resolution to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist every Saturday to the Blessed Mother... All this makes me very certain that when I go before the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will say to me in His Mercy: 'I heard My Mother speak of you.'" Major Catholic leaders have consistently worshipped Mary and seen in her the key to their salvation. St. Bonaventure said, "the gates of heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary." St. Ephrem called devotion to the divine Mother "the unlocking of the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem." Blosius said, "We ought constantly to pray to her... 'Open to us, O Mary, the gates of paradise, since thou hast its keys.'" Friends, we are no longer talking about differences in styles of worship. These things get right to the heart of what is Christianity, and what it is that makes one a Christian. This unhealthy, idolatrous preoccupation with Mary is utterly without any basis in Scripture and is, no doubt, responsible for sending countless millions into hell, vainly trusting in the "Queen of Heaven" rather than the Prince of Peace. Another Gospel The apostle Paul took the gospel seriously, so seriously that he even referred to it as "my gospel" (Romans 2:16). He declared that any who would try to pervert the gospel or come up with some false version of it should be totally disregarded, even if they came with the appearance of an angel from heaven (Galatians 1:8).  The ultimate factor in deciding the legitimacy of the Catholic Church is its presentation of the gospel, its answer to the age-old question of "What must I do to be saved?" The Catholic apologists argue strongly that the Catholics, like the Protestants, believe in salvation by grace through faith. Keith Fournier declares, "As the Catholic Church teaches, we are converted to Christ by our faith, not because of our good works; and we do good works only because we have the divine grace to do so." This sounds very evangelical; Billy Graham could not have said it better.  The trouble is that in order for us to find out the position of the Catholic Church we must look beyond the apologists. These are often born again believers themselves, who have indeed found Christ through personal faith, and are eager to have the world believe that Catholics and Evangelicals are but two flavors of the same church.  To anyone who bothers to do much reading on the Catholic position on salvation, the truth becomes readily apparent - the official position of the church is that salvation comes through grace, but the grace is distributed a little at a time through the official sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. The Council of Trent proclaimed: "If anyone says that the sacraments... are not necessary for salvation but... that without them... men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification... let him be anathema."  The Vatican II Apostolic Constitution declares: "Following in Christ's steps, those who believe in Him have always... carried their crosses to make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others..." Anyone who is familiar with the writings of Paul will immediately realize what incredible blasphemies these quotes are! They mock the cross of Christ and show utter disregard for the very heart of New Testament theology.  This is no small issue. No matter how much help our Catholic friends may be in working with us in the great moral reforms of our day, we would be less than loving to disregard their blatant misconceptions and try to pretend that we are one in the Lord, and that, as Pat Robertson has suggested, "While there may be differences between the two faith communities, it is time that we focus on the similarities." We are not talking about the differences between blue or red choir robes, we are talking about two diametrically opposed belief systems which cannot possibly both be true. Even Catholic apologist Peter Kreeft admits: "Over the past 25 years I have asked hundreds of Catholic college students the question: If you should die tonight and God asks you why He should let you into heaven, what would you answer? The vast majority of them simply do not know the right answer to this, the most important of all questions, the very essence of Christianity. They usually do not even mention Jesus!"  If someone I cared about had just been born again, and was now studying theology in the Catholic Church, I would be deeply concerned. If he were to believe the official Catholic teachings, he soon would no longer trust in Christ alone for his salvation, but would be putting his faith in Mary, communion, baptism, and a number of other sacraments and works, and according to Galatians, would be fallen from grace and alienated from Christ (Galatians 5:4). I would do anything I could to get him out of that church and into one which teaches that grand old biblical doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone.  Yes, there are certainly wonderful born again Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, and I praise God for them. May their numbers increase by millions more! But we must not approve nor should we endorse any system which makes our Savior's death only a partial payment for the sins of mankind. When Jesus said, "It is done," it was done!