C'mon. It might be tongue in cheek but Alex's paragraph succiently makes its point. Why can't you pray to George the Plumber instead of Mary? Are there special things Mary does that St. George doesn't do? (Although if memory serves me correctly there's already a saint of plumbing.)
In the final analysis, God shows NO partiality-to anyone. I would say when the scriptures state that, it includes Mary. Mary asking our Lord Jesus to do something at a wedding and granting it has been blown totally out of proportion. Many people asked things of our Lord. Most of the time He granted their request. A few times He didn't. Do you think Mary has more clout than James and John?
Preface: IMHO Mary certainly is someone to be admired and held in high esteem by all Christians.
Serious question: If Mary is at the level where our Catholic friends place her, why couldn't she change the water into wine herself?
Harley,
We CAN ask George the Plumer to pray for us if he is a departed believer. Who said we can't?
Thanks.
That was a great link.
Similarly, the body of believers, the Church, are Christ's body (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27-31; Ephesians 4:1-6, 15-16; Colossians 1:18; etc.) and since Mary is the mother of Christ, she is also the mother of all us believers. And, as if these facts would not be enough, Jesus himself gave us Mary as our mother as he hung dying on the cross (cf. John 19).
The Mother of God, your mother, deserves the utmost respect.
Excellent link, Harley. We're all sinners, saved by God's grace alone.
Since Protestants don't believe in intercessory prayer, wouldn't it have made MUCH more sense for the following exchange to have occurred?
MARY: They've run out of wine.
JESUS: That's too bad. Unfortunately, the bride and groom didn't think it was important enough to come and tell me themselves. Instead, they insult Me by involving someone like you.
MARY: But --
JESUS: -- Gee, look at the time. I gotta run.
Oh, but I can. I can even pray to you.
Like this:
HarleyD, please pray for me.