“They are intercessors, mentors and part of everyday life. “

One would think that if even one of those was true and important for the Church,
revelation would record an example, a command, or even a suggestion...

The only intercessor I need is Christ who assures me that through faith alone I am saved.

So..... you have never, ever asked anyone of your family or friends to ask Our Lord for help on your behalf? No disrespect, just askin’.

“One would think that if even one of those was true and important for the Church, revelation would record an example, a command, or even a suggestion...”
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One could ask the same thing about the doctrine of “Sola Scriptura”—the Bible alone. Seems like such a key belief would be explicitly laid out in Scripture itself...

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Scripture is directly inspired by God to equip the saints and has been for thousands of years. If we are to pray to saints, be mentored by saints, etc. why didn’t God mention it?

You might also note that the word Bible is not in the Bible...

http://www.icatholic.org/article/the-saints-walk-together-with-us-5124808

The saints walk together with us

Friday, Nov. 02, 2012

Saint Therese of Lisieux

By Marie Mischel

Intermountain Catholic

SALT LAKE CITY — For Catholics, saints are more than simply plaster statues: They are intercessors, mentors and part of everyday life.

Saints "intercede for us with the Father, with Christ; they lead us to the Father and to Christ; and they act as models on our pilgrim way," said Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, pastor emeritus of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish. "All Christians are called to be modeled on Christ and the saints are those who have achieved that status in a remarkable way."

Many saints, including the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ own mother, suffered terribly, but their examples "show us what the power of God’s grace in the human life can be," said Sister Cheryl Clemons, an Ursuline Sister of Mount St. Joseph who is vice president for academic affairs at Brescia University in Kentucky. "God can bring beauty out of the most gosh-awful human experiences. It’s a way of finding hope in somebody else’s story."

Praying to the saints differs from praying to God, Sr. Cheryl said. "Only God is deserving of worship. Our prayer to the saints is ... talking to someone who’s a big brother or big sister in the faith, because we believe they understand something’s going on in our life right now or can help us with something that’s going on."

There is no clash between the adoration of Christ and the veneration of saints, because the saints always point to God, agreed Msgr. Mannion. "We can talk to anybody we want to, so we can talk to Mary, but the conversation with Mary never ends with Mary, it always ends with Mary leading us to Jesus," he said.

Saints come from every culture and walk of life, which "can be encouraging for us because we see that there’s no one single path to holiness," Sr. Cheryl said. "The great beauty of the saints is that ... their lives continue to be applicable to new times and new places."

For example, the 17,000 Ladies of Charity in the United States venerate Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, who founded the organization in 1617 to serve the desperately poor. Here in Utah, local chapter members attend a retreat each year that emphasizes this mission, said Daughters of Charity Sister Germaine Sarrazin, the group’s spiritual moderator.

The patron saints "affect us today because their spirit is what we have to maintain," Sr. Germaine said. "We were always taught to serve the poor with humility, simplicity and charity, and that is what we still strive to do."

In a similar way, members of the Militia of the Immaculata emulate Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest who died in Auschwitz after entering a starvation bunker in place of another man who had a wife and children.

St. Maximilian founded the Militia of the Immaculata, an evangelization movement, while he was a seminarian.

He "stressed in his spirituality total consecration to Our Lady," said Donna Masek, a Saint Mary parishioner, so MI members entrust their spiritual life to Mary and ask her to help them be greater witnesses to Jesus; in Utah, the group dedicates itself to pro-life efforts.

For Masek, being a member of the Militia of Immaculata "has tremendously strengthened my faith," she said. "I think we went from being once-a-week Catholics to going every day to Mass if we can, getting back to the Sacrament of Confession once a month, and things like that."

Similarly, Rita Silvestri of Saint George Parish venerates the Virgin Mary; her devotion has resulted in the publication last month of a memoir that details her five trips to Medjugorje, the shrine in Bosnia and Herzegovina where Our Lady first appeared in 1981.

Once Silvestri and her husband began visiting Medjugorje, "incredibly wonderful things were happening to us; not only that we were seeing miracles, we were meeting people of God, and we were having experiences traveling back and forth to Medjugorje that were astonishing," she said. "Our Holy Mother is there. She’s palpable. You know she’s there."

Silvestri was brought up praying the rosary around the table, and her father was devoted to Mary, she said. "Whenever I needed anything ... I turned to her, I turned to Saint Anthony, I turned to Saint Jude, but Our Holy Mother was always right on top of the group. She has been a part of my life from very, very early on. She’s my mother."

The Holy Spirit urged her to write The World Needs Medjugorje, she said, which is "the culmination of the need to tell the world that they have to come back to God," she said – a message to which all the saints attest.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Scripture is directly inspired by God to equip the saints and has been for thousands of years.

It says Scripture is “useful” for these things, NOT that it is sufficient. It is ‘useful’—even vital— for me to know the rules of the game of baseball to be a big league player, but it is not “sufficient”—I also need to condition myself, know how to hit a ball and field my position.
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Again, if Sola Scriptura is to be the grounds for ALL that a Christian believes, you would expect to find it all over the Bible. But the Scriptures are silent on it—and for good reason: Sola Scriptura is an unbiblical, man-made doctrine and a tradition of men. Here are some resources that may help you gain clarity on this:
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What Is Your Authority?
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/whats-your-authority
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Practical Problems With Sola Scriptura:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/PRACTICL.htm

I believe you misunderstand the teaching of Sola, by creating a straw man caracature of it - as do your links.

Prior to 1931 all Protestant denominations that rely on Scripture Alone taught that contraception was a sin. Those same denominations, thousands more that have sprung up, and millions of people, still claim to rely on Scripture Alone but now teach the exact opposite, that contraception is not a sin.

Were all those denominations and millions of people who taught that contraception was wrong ignoring Scripture, or are the denominations and millions of people wrong now and ignoring Scripture now?

If Scripture Alone were anything other than part of the marketing scam Luther started, everyone would arrive at the same interpretation of Scripture and would NEVER totally reverse what they taught was the Truth from Scripture. Scripture Alone is not based on the Scriptures, period.

It's just a bogus term intended to help hide the fact that those who claim to rely on it actually rely on Self Alone and in doing so worship their own, Most High and Holy Self rather than Jesus Christ. When people start their heresy by throwing out portions of the Scripture Jesus Christ never indicated were uninspired or otherwise unworthy of being included in the Septuagint, they can't possibly be relying on Scripture first and foremost much less Scripture alone.

“If Scripture Alone were anything other than part of the marketing scam Luther started, everyone would arrive at the same interpretation of Scripture and would NEVER totally reverse what they taught was the Truth from Scripture. Scripture Alone is not based on the Scriptures, period.”

I couldn’t disagree more with your opinion, as expressed here. In fact, there isn’t any part of what you wrote that I believe is a valid argument - or a Biblical argument.

You ask me about the views of “all Protestant denominations that existed before 1931, in regards to their views on contraception”. I can’t speak for them and have no dog in that fight. Any Protestant who was an adult in 1931 would now be in their 100s. I suppose you could find a very old Protestant and ask them about their views on contraception? I am willing to bet they are not using any...

I would gently add that I know many Catholics that use contraception - both married Catholics and unmarried Catholics - and yet their church teaches the opposite. I suppose you could ask them why? Again, I have no dog in that fight, not being Catholic. You apparently do, so I encourage you to pursue it to satisfy yourself.

Obviously you have a strong, but different view than I do. No problem. Be convinced in your own mind. I certainly am.

I wish you a close walk with Him who is sufficient.

The Saints Walk Together With Us
Benedict on All Saints’ Day: “In the Saints We See the Victory of Love Over Selfishness and Death”
Are You Smarter than a Fifth-Grader? (The Communion of Saints) [Catholic Caucus]
Saints are sealed by God, called to be sons of God, and saved by God [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
All Saints or All Souls? Differences should be black and white
The love of the saints [All Saints Day] (Catholic Caucus)
All Saints' Day [Catholic Caucus]
All Saints' Day, (All Hallows' Day, or "Hallowmas") [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Bishops’ Halloween Advice: Dress Children Up as Saints, Not Witches
'We are never alone,' Pope exclaims on All Saints Day
No Mistaking a Saint [Catholic Caucus]

Celebrating 'All Hallows Eve' and the 'Feast of All Saints' in a Pre-Christian West
"From the Pastor" ALL SAINTS & ALL SOULS
All Saints 2009
An Apologetics Primer on Explaining the Communion of Saints ...
THE SAINTS From Around the Year with the TRAPP FAMILY
The Veneration and Imitation of the Saints
Hallowe'en -- Eve of All Saints, October 31st
For All the Saints (College Campuses Seeing Catholic Processions)
Know Your Saints Quiz for families -- Catholic/Orthodox Caucus
All Saints and All Souls

Anonymous Saints [Solemnity of All Saints]
All Saints, All Souls and the Four Last Things
All Saints Day in Poland (beautiful photos)
The Feast of All Saints - What are the origins of All Saints Day and All Souls Day?
All Saints Day - November 2005
All Saints and All Souls
All Saints Day – November 1
The Communion of All Saints
VESPERS (Evening Prayer)Nov.1 2003 Feast of ALL SAINTS
Ideas for Sanctifying Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day

I see, then it is part of a belief in Scripture Alone to insist that the Holy Spirit would guide people to something as Truth today, and to the exact opposite as Truth tomorrow. Interesting.

Every Catholic in the whole country could be using contraceptives in contradiction to the Truth the Church teaches and it wouldn't make a bit of difference, the Scripture says murdering your children with contraceptives is a sin. Those who choose infanticide over Christ are free to do so.

I always enjoy people who try to evade the fact that they're very clearly unable to defend what they believe by either changing the subject or adding a bit of snark to their comments. I enjoy that because it shows that such folks know they cannot defend what they claim to believe, especially when they defend their belief that God the Father is not the same yesterday, today, and forever.

As for surveying old folks for the sake of evasive snark, I'll leave that to the sort of folks who rationalize their macabre and anti Christ of the murder of infants on the alter of Self.

I still wish you blessings.

And I wish you sufficient discernment to see the errors inherent to the doctrine of Self Alone.

“And I wish you sufficient discernment to see the errors inherent to the doctrine of Self Alone.”

I have not advocated Self Alone any more than Sola Rome. This was entirely something you ranted about.

And yet, I wish you blessings in your life.