Saint Worship?

I was intrigued by the statement regarding "Catholics worship" saints... First of all, no Catholic that I know or will probably ever meet "worships" anyone other than God. It's a commandment that is a very clear teaching in the church. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you for something, anything? I know I have. I ask all the time of fellow Christians because as James 5:16 says ... "16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." When Catholics look to the lives of the saints, they are looking to them as examples to follow, they may learn from them, etc. They don't "worship" the saints.

Eph 6:18 says "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

Catholics definitely know that there is one mediator between us and God, Jesus Christ. The bible itself teaches that intecessory prayer is pleasing to the Father. That is what Catholics do...pray for intercession by those who have gone before us who stand in the presence of God.

Asking a saint to pray for us is in no way different in asking your friend (a Christian here on earth and also regarded as a "saint") to pray for you. Why then do you ask others to pray for you...that's not going straight to God if you're seeking someone else's help or intercession. People ask people to "pray for me" all the time. Why not ask the Virgin Mary or any other saint to "pray for you?" Just because they are no longer "of this world" does not mean they don't "talk" to God. Paul said in Philipians 1:20-24 "20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body."

The saints in heaven are not "separated" by death from the community of the Church of believers (Romans 8:38-39) as we are ALL one Body in Christ (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12) and Christ "abolished death" (2 Timothy 1:10). Therefore, the saints in Heaven can pray for us just as anyone here on Earth can. In fact, better, as they are presently with God. The Virgin Mary asking God to help you should "carry more weight" so to speak than having your best friend on this earth praying for you. True or not? That doesn't mean that you're accepting Mary as your mediator, but as an intecessor. In fact, Christ's first public miracle was performed upon the "intercession" of His own mother (John 2:2-11).

In 1 Cor. 1-2, the letter is addressed by Paul to 'saints' with the definition being those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. Therefore, every believer is a saint. Wouldn't you say that anyone who has gone before us who we know are saints (as you said, those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus) are not dead in Christ, but very much alive in Christ, but just gone from the earthly body. Consider the following scriptures...2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 1 Cor 6:2-3 (NIV)

28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matt 19:28 (NIV)

One charge made against praying to the saints is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us. Some might try to argue that in this passage the prayers being offered were not addressed to the saints in heaven, but directly to God. Yet this argument would only strengthen the fact that those in heaven can hear our prayers, for then the saints would be aware of our prayers even when they are not directed to them! In any event, it is clear from Revelation 5:8 that the saints in heaven do actively intercede for us. We are explicitly told by John that the incense they offer to God are the prayers of the saints. Prayers are not physical things and cannot be physically offered to God. Thus the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God mentally. In other words, they are interceding. Romans 14:8-9 says "8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." Another charge commonly levelled against asking the saints for their intercession is that this violates the sole mediatorship of Christ, which Paul discusses: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5), as you noted in your post. But asking one person to pray for you in no way violates Christ’s mediatorship, as can be seen from considering the way in which Christ is a mediator. First, Christ is a unique mediator between man and God because he is the only person who is both God and man. He is the only bridge between the two, the only God-man. But that role as mediator is not compromised in the least by the fact that others intercede for us.

Furthermore, Christ is a unique mediator between God and man because he is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15, 12:24), just as Moses was the mediator (Greek mesites) of the Old Covenant (Gal. 3:19–20). The intercession of fellow Christians—which is what the saints in heaven are—also clearly does not interfere with Christ’s unique mediatorship because in the four verses immediately preceding 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says that Christians should interceed: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1–4). Clearly, then, intercessory prayers offered by Christians on behalf of others is something "good and pleasing to God," not something infringing on Christ’s role as mediator.