The Catholic Hack Episode No 24 – Praying to the Saints

Let’s talk about 1Tim 2:5 , there is one mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus. Is it a violation of scripture to ask for the intercession of the saints? How can they even hear our prayers? Do they even care… would they not be more concerned with worshiping God than paying attention to our situation?

These are all questions I struggled with in my conversion and I think we can shed some light on them in this podcast. The first step is to understand, as the CCC puts it, we are a family… One Body (Ep 4:4). From that foundation we then need to understand the how… for that we turn to John’s Gospel chapter 15. We see, in John 15, how we are all connected to each other, just as the different parts of the body, through Jesus. We can do nothing with out him…. but, with him, we merely have to ask and it will be done. By asking… i.e. praying for each other… we glorify God and our Joy can be complete. The saints can hear our prayers because they are connected to the same vine we are… Jesus.

Ok… but, why would they care… do they care… how do we know? Good questions… and we can see biblical examples of how souls, after death, have a knowledge of the goings on here on earth. We can also see them offering intercession on our behalf. Why do they care? Because they are absolutely righteous… and they are eager to beg God for your benefit… so that you… their brother or sister will be there, standing beside them in heaven, praising and worshiping God. James 5:16 tells us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful… who is more righteous than the purified souls who are united to God himself in heaven?

If you can ask your earthly family and friends to pray for you; then why not your heavenly family and friends? Are you violating 1 Tim 2:5 by praying for a friend in need? No… even though you are now acting as a mediator between God and man. We pray for one another because we love each other and it pleases God to see his Children build each other up… pray and offer sacrifice for one another.

I hope you enjoy this podcast.

God Bless
Joe M
The Catholic Hack!