I was listening to a priest talk about why we should pray to Mary. He likened it to his mom. He said that sometimes he gets busy and doesn’t answer his email, texts, or calls. When this happens, sometimes his parishioners call his mom to get her involved. They say, “Can you let your son know that I need to talk to him?” He said that praying to Mary is a way to get in touch with Jesus, her Son. Others believe that you can ask Mary to pray for something or someone like asking a friend to pray.
With this, let’s talk about Mary. First, Mary is one of the most blessed women ever… I mean, she did give birth to and raise the Son of God, right? And she even said that all generations will call her blessed (Luke 1:48). However, Mary was still a sinner like you and me. She was not without fault. Therefore, putting her at the level of Jesus is completely wrong. The same goes for the saints that people pray to… they, too, are sinners.
Now, let’s talk about the Bible. First, the Bible says that you need to go through Jesus to get to the Father, not through Mary to get to the Son. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). The New Covenant opened a way for us to go directly to the throne room and commune with God. The mediator is now Jesus, not the priest. We should absolutely take advantage of this GREAT opportunity.
Second, nowhere in the Bible do we see people praying to people… dead or alive. And it’s not taught either. I have asked Jesus to give my dad and my sister a hug, but I don’t pray to them. I don’t even know if it works like that either, but the Lord knows how much I miss them. I’m not sure people in heaven hear us either. And I doubt they are actively involved in guiding us. I mean, they’re busy doing other things… like worshiping Jesus and serving. And guiding us is Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s job.
Third, the Bible clearly shows us that Jesus is always available when we come. Jesus said, “Come to me you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus doesn’t say, “But you may have to wait in line because I have a lot of people that need my attention.” No, Jesus is always listening, always drawing us, always asking us to come. He’s not bound by space… He’s Omnipresent. In fact, I have VIP status. So do you. I’m thinking that most of you know this, but sometimes our grief can cloud our vision.