| Dear Rev. Know-It-All,
How come if the Bible says there is one
mediator between God and Man, the man Jesus Christ, Catholics have priests
and offer sacrifices and ask saints to intercede? My Uncle Jasper belongs
to the Church of the Separate Sanctified and he says the Catholics are
obviously wrong to have priests and saints and masses. Members of his church
go directly to Jesus. Why can’t Catholics go directly to Jesus?
Yours truly,
I. B. Wright
Dear Mr. Wright,
Catholics do go directly to Jesus, much
more directly than some other Christians. Jesus lives in the tabernacles
in our churches and is really present on our altars at Mass. I don’t
know how much more directly you can go to Jesus than to eat His Body and
drink His Blood. That seems pretty direct to me.
Your Uncle should read the whole Bible
and not just his favorite verses. Let’s look at the text you mention
which was the second reading last Sunday. Especially let’s look at the
Greek word St. Paul uses. They are taken from first Timothy, chapter 2
verses 1-8. St. Paul starts off by asking people
".... to
make “deeseis” (petitions), “proseukhas” (prayers), “evteuxas”
(intercessions), and “eucharists” (thanksgivings, which in the earliest
church meant Masses) for all men, especially kings and people in power."
St. Paul goes on to say that we should do
this because , God is one and the “mesiteis” (arbitrator, mediator)
between God and man is one, the human being Jesus Christ.
The anti-Catholic interpretation can’t
be right, because St. Paul has just asked us to intercede for others. Why
should we do that if only Jesus can intercede? Wouldn't we be wasting our
time? No, I think St. Paul is stressing the oneness of the mediation because
we are one with Jesus and therefore our intercession is effective and we
can go to God with our prayers. We are part of His body, His bride, His
family, adopted by His Father. What he does, we do
As for one sacrifice, the Bible says that
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. For Him, every moment of
time is now. The Mass on Sunday was not a new and different sacrifice,
though it was a real sacrifice . It was the same eternal moment as Calvary.
So, we are obeying St. Paul and the Bible when we offer “Eucharists”
for all people. What a privilege we Catholics have. We step into a time
machine every Sunday and are present at Calvary with St. John and Mary,
our Blessed Mother.
Your Uncle Jasper doesn't know what he’s
missing.
Sincerely,
Rev. Know-It-All
The
Question Was
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If there is only
one mediator -- Jesus -- why have others pray for us? |
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