Defending the Faith 9
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are the one Mediator between God and man.
You have made us members of Your Body,
joined us to the communion of saints,
and given us Mary as Mother and model of faith.
Help us to worship God alone,
to honour Your saints rightly,
and to seek the prayers of those who now rejoice with You in heaven.
Amen.
In this series, we have been asking some of the questions Catholics are often asked.
Why be Catholic?
Did Jesus really found the Church?
Is the Bible enough?
Who has authority in the Church?
Why do Catholics go to Mass every Sunday?
Is the Eucharist really Jesus?
Why confess sins to a priest?
Why baptise babies?
In this session, we come to another question many people ask:
Why do Catholics honour Mary and the saints?
Some people are confused by this.
They say:
“Why not just go straight to Jesus?”
Or:
“Do Catholics worship Mary?”
Or:
“Why pray to saints?”
Or:
“Isn’t Jesus the only Mediator?”
Or:
“How can the saints hear us?”
Or:
“Why do Catholics have statues and images?”
These are serious questions, and they deserve a calm answer.
The first thing to say is this:
Catholics worship God alone.
We do not worship Mary.
We do not worship the saints.
We do not worship angels.
We do not worship statues.
We worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: one God in three Persons.
Everything else must be understood from that starting point.
The Catholic honour given to Mary and the saints does not take glory away from Christ.
It shows the power of Christ’s grace in His members.
The saints are not rivals to Jesus.
They are His friends, His servants, His redeemed ones, His masterpiece.
Mary is not a goddess.
She is the Mother of the Lord, full of grace, the first and greatest disciple, and the one who always points us to her Son.
So the Catholic answer is not:
“We worship Mary and the saints as well as God.”
The Catholic answer is:
We worship God alone, and we honour Mary and the saints because God has done great things in them.
1. The Church is a family, not a crowd of isolated individuals
To understand Mary and the saints, we must begin with the Church.
The Church is not only the people we can see on earth.
The Church is the Body of Christ.
And the Body of Christ is not broken by death.
Those who have died in Christ are not gone into nothingness.
They are alive in Him.
Jesus says that God is not God of the dead, but of the living.
Saint Paul says that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So Christians are not individual believers scattered across time.
We are members of one Body.
The faithful on earth.
The souls being purified.
The saints in heaven.
One Church.
One communion.
One family in Christ.
This is what we mean by the communion of saints.
When Catholics speak about Mary and the saints, we are speaking about the family of God.
Death does not destroy charity.
Death does not make the saints less alive.
Death does not make them less united to Christ.
In fact, those in heaven are more alive, more holy, more loving, and more united to Christ than we are.
So when we ask the saints to pray for us, we are not pretending they are gods.
We are recognising that in Christ, the family of God remains united.
2. Worship and honour are not the same thing
One of the most common misunderstandings is the idea that any honour given to Mary or the saints must be worship.
But that is not true.
We honour people all the time without worshipping them.
We honour parents.
We honour martyrs.
We honour heroes.
We honour those who served the poor.
We honour great teachers.
We honour the dead at funerals.
We honour the memory of those who gave their lives for others.
Honour is not worship.
Catholic theology makes an important distinction.
Traditionally, the Church uses different words here. Adoration belongs to God alone. Veneration is the honour given to the saints. Mary receives a unique and higher honour because she is the Mother of God and the greatest of the saints, but even this is not worship. Worship belongs to God alone.
Adoration belongs to God alone.
Only God is worshipped.
Only God is the Creator.
Only God is the source of all grace.
Only God is our final end.
The saints are honoured, not adored.
Mary is honoured in a unique way because she is the Mother of God and the greatest of the saints, but she is not worshipped.
The honour given to Mary and the saints ultimately praises God.
When we admire a stained-glass window, we are not praising the glass instead of the sun. We are seeing the light shining through it.
In the same way, when we honour a saint, we are recognising the light of Christ shining through a human life.
The saints show what grace can do.
They show that holiness is possible.
They show that Christ’s victory is real.
So honouring the saints does not reduce worship.
It teaches us to worship God more gratefully.
3. Asking the saints to pray is not replacing Jesus
Another common question is:
“Why ask saints to pray? Why not go straight to Jesus?”
The answer is simple:
We should go straight to Jesus.
Every Catholic should pray directly to Jesus.
Every Catholic should pray to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
Every Catholic should love the Lord personally.
But asking others to pray for us does not replace going to Jesus.
If someone asks a friend, “Please pray for me,” no one says:
“Why are you replacing Jesus?”
If a parish prays for the sick, no one says:
“Why not go straight to God?”
If a mother prays for her child, no one says:
“This denies Christ’s mediation.”
We ask one another for prayer because we are members of one Body.
Intercession does not compete with Christ.
It depends on Christ.
All Christian prayer is through Christ.
The saints can pray for us only because they are united to Christ.
Their prayers have power only because Christ is the one Mediator.
So when Catholics ask Mary or the saints to pray, we are not saying:
“Go around Jesus.”
We are saying:
“Pray with us and for us to Jesus.”
That is why Catholic prayers often say:
Pray for us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, pray for us.
Saint Thérèse, pray for us.
The saints do not replace Christ.
They intercede through Christ.
How the saints hear our prayers is a mystery of their union with Christ. They do not hear us by their own natural power, as though they were little gods. They hear and intercede because they are alive in Christ and share in His heavenly life. Their knowledge and love come from God, not apart from God.
4. Jesus is the one Mediator
This point matters.
The Bible teaches that there is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
Catholics believe this completely.
Jesus alone is the Redeemer.
Jesus alone died for our sins.
Jesus alone reconciles humanity to the Father.
Jesus alone is the way to salvation.
Mary did not die for our sins.
The saints did not redeem us.
The angels do not save us.
The Pope does not replace Christ.
The priest does not replace Christ.
All salvation comes from Christ.
But Christ’s one mediation does not exclude others sharing in His work by grace.
It makes it possible.
When a priest baptises, Christ is the one who gives grace.
When a preacher proclaims the Gospel, Christ is the one who saves.
When a parent teaches a child to pray, Christ is the one who draws the soul.
When one Christian prays for another, Christ is the one Mediator.
The fact that Christ alone saves does not mean Christians cannot cooperate with His grace.
It means that any cooperation is entirely dependent on Him.
Mary and the saints intercede because they share in Christ’s life.
They do not stand between us and Jesus like obstacles.
They stand with us before Jesus as members of His Body.
Their intercession is not a rival mediation.
It is participation in the one mediation of Christ.
5. Mary is honoured because of Jesus
Catholic devotion to Mary is often misunderstood.
Some people think Catholics focus on Mary instead of Jesus.
But true Marian devotion is always Christ-centred.
Mary matters because Jesus matters.
We honour Mary because God honoured her first.
The angel Gabriel greets her as full of grace.
Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, says:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
Mary herself says:
“All generations will call me blessed.”
So Catholics call her blessed.
Mary is the Mother of Jesus.
And because Jesus is truly God, Mary is rightly called Mother of God.
That title does not mean Mary created God.
It means that the child she bore is God the Son made flesh.
To deny Mary that title would weaken our confession of who Jesus is.
Mary protects the truth of the Incarnation.
The one born of her is not merely a holy man.
He is God with us.
Mary is also the first disciple.
She hears the Word of God and keeps it.
She says:
“Let it be to me according to your word.”
She stands at the foot of the Cross.
She is with the Church in prayer at Pentecost.
She always points us to Jesus.
At Cana, her words are the heart of all true Marian devotion:
“Do whatever he tells you.”
That is Mary’s mission.
Not to draw attention away from Christ.
But to lead us to obedience to Him.
6. Mary is our mother in the order of grace
At the Cross, Jesus says to the beloved disciple:
“Behold, your mother.”
Catholics have long seen in this more than a private arrangement for Mary’s care.
The beloved disciple stands for the faithful disciple.
Mary, who is Mother of Christ, is also given as mother to those who belong to Christ.
This does not mean Mary replaces God the Father.
It does not mean she replaces the Church.
It does not mean she replaces Christ.
It means that in the family of grace, Christ gives His mother to His disciples.
Mary’s motherhood is always subordinate to Christ and dependent on Him.
She is mother because He makes her mother.
She cares because He gives her that mission.
She intercedes because she is united to Him.
Good Catholic devotion to Mary is therefore tender but never confused.
We can love Mary deeply because she brings us to Jesus.
We can ask her prayers because she is alive in Christ.
We can imitate her faith because she is the model disciple.
We can entrust ourselves to her maternal care because Christ Himself is generous.
Mary does not keep anything for herself.
She gives everything to her Son.
Mary also shows us the destiny of the Church. In her Assumption, we see what Christ intends for His people: body and soul brought into glory. Mary is not an exception that makes her distant from us. She is the sign of what grace is meant to do in all the redeemed. Where she has gone, the Church hopes to follow.
7. The saints show what grace can do
The saints are not spiritual celebrities.
They are witnesses to Christ.
Each saint shows something of the Gospel.
The martyrs show courage.
The confessors show perseverance.
The pastors show shepherding love.
The virgins show undivided devotion.
The married saints show holiness in family life.
The poor show dependence on God.
The missionaries show zeal.
The hidden saints show faithfulness in ordinary life.
The saints are proof that holiness is possible.
Not because they were born perfect.
Many saints were great sinners before they became great saints.
Saint Peter denied Christ.
Saint Paul persecuted the Church.
Saint Augustine lived far from God before his conversion.
The saints show that grace can heal, transform, purify, and raise up.
That gives hope.
If holiness were only for the naturally gentle, the unusually disciplined, or the obviously religious, many of us would despair.
But the saints show that Christ can make sinners holy.
They are not there to make us feel inferior.
They are there to encourage us.
They say:
“Grace is real.”
“Conversion is possible.”
“Do not give up.”
“Christ can make you holy too.”
That is why the Church gives us saints’ days, relics, stories, patron saints, and feast days.
Not to distract us from Christ.
But to show Christ’s victory in real human lives.
8. Statues and images are not idols
Another common objection is:
“Why do Catholics have statues and images?”
People worry that this is idolatry.
But idolatry means worshipping a creature as though it were God.
Catholics do not worship statues.
A statue of Mary is not Mary.
An icon of Christ is not wood or paint being worshipped as God.
A picture of a saint is not a god.
Images help us remember, honour, and contemplate.
Most people understand this in ordinary life.
Someone may keep a photograph of a loved one.
They may kiss it.
They may place it somewhere special.
They may look at it and remember.
They are not worshipping paper.
They are expressing love for the person represented.
In the same way, Catholic images point beyond themselves.
They remind us of Christ, Mary, and the saints.
They teach the faith visually.
They lift the mind to heavenly things.
They make the church feel like the house of a family, filled with the memory of those who have gone before us in faith.
Because the Son of God became visible in the flesh, Christian art has a special dignity.
God has shown His face in Jesus Christ.
So images, rightly used, are not idols.
They are windows.
But Catholics must always be clear.
No image is God.
No statue has power apart from God.
No object should be treated superstitiously.
Images are to lead us to prayer, not replace prayer.
9. Relics and holy places
Catholics also honour relics and holy places.
This too can be misunderstood.
A relic is connected with the body or life of a saint.
Why does the Church honour relics?
Because the body matters.
Christianity is not anti-body.
The body is created by God.
The body is baptised.
The body receives the Eucharist.
The body is anointed.
The body will rise again.
The bodies of the saints were temples of the Holy Spirit.
Their hands served the poor.
Their mouths praised God.
Their feet carried the Gospel.
Their bodies suffered, prayed, fasted, worked, and loved.
So the Church treats the remains of saints with honour, not because they are magic, but because grace touched the whole person.
This is also why the Church honours graves, shrines, and holy places.
God can use material things to draw our hearts to Him.
The danger is superstition.
We must never treat relics, medals, scapulars, rosaries, or holy objects as charms.
Their value lies in faith, prayer, and the grace of God, not in magic.
A medal without faith is not a guarantee.
A relic without prayer is not a shortcut.
A shrine without conversion is not enough.
Holy things are meant to lead us to Christ.
10. True devotion leads to imitation
Honouring the saints is not enough.
We must imitate them.
If I honour Saint Francis but love comfort and ignore the poor, I have not understood him.
If I honour Saint Thérèse but refuse small acts of love, I have not understood her.
If I honour Saint Joseph but do not seek humility, obedience, and quiet faithfulness, I have not understood him.
If I honour Our Lady but refuse to say yes to God, I have not understood her.
The saints are not decorations for Catholic life.
They are examples.
They show us how the Gospel can be lived in real circumstances.
A healthy devotion asks:
What does this saint teach me about Jesus?
What virtue should I imitate?
What sin should I turn from?
What grace should I ask for?
How can this saint help me follow Christ?
True devotion makes us more Christian.
If devotion to a saint makes someone proud, harsh, superstitious, divisive, or distracted from Christ, something is wrong.
The saints are friends who lead us to Jesus.
They do not lead us away from Him.
Mary herself gives the pattern:
“Do whatever he tells you.”
That is the test of all true devotion.
Does it lead to obedience to Christ?
A devotion that says many prayers but refuses obedience, repentance, charity, or humility is not yet mature devotion. Mary and the saints are not substitutes for conversion; they help us become converted.
11. How to answer this simply
So if someone asks:
“Do Catholics worship Mary?”
You can say:
“No. Catholics worship God alone. We honour Mary because she is the Mother of Jesus and the greatest disciple, but she is not God.”
If someone asks:
“Why pray to saints?”
You can say:
“We ask the saints to pray for us, just as we ask other Christians to pray for us. The saints are alive in Christ and united with us in the Body of Christ.”
If someone says:
“Jesus is the only Mediator,”
You can say:
“Yes. Catholics believe that completely. The prayers of Mary and the saints do not replace Christ’s mediation; they share in it by grace.”
If someone says:
“Why have statues?”
You can say:
“We do not worship statues. Images help us remember Christ and His saints, just as photographs remind us of those we love.”
If someone says:
“Why honour Mary so much?”
You can say:
“Because God honoured her first. She is the Mother of the Lord, full of grace, and she always points us to Jesus.”
Simple answers are often best.
The aim is not to win an argument.
The aim is to show that Catholic devotion, properly understood, is about the family of God and the glory of Christ.
12. What this asks of us
If Mary and the saints are alive in Christ, then we should not live as isolated Christians.
We belong to a vast family of faith.
We are surrounded by witnesses.
We are helped by prayer.
We are called to holiness.
The saints should make us hopeful.
They remind us that grace can triumph in weakness.
They remind us that sinners can become holy.
They remind us that ordinary life can become a path to heaven.
They remind us that death is not the end.
Devotion to Mary should make us more faithful to Jesus.
Devotion to the saints should make us more serious about becoming saints ourselves.
So each of us can ask:
Do I worship God alone?
Do I understand the difference between worship and honour?
Do I ask the saints to pray for me?
Do I imitate the virtues of the saints I love?
Does my devotion to Mary lead me to obey Christ more deeply?
Do I remember that I too am called to holiness?
The goal of Catholic devotion is not sentiment.
It is sanctity.
The saints are not remote figures in stained glass.
They are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
They have reached the goal.
They pray for us as we continue the journey.
And they show us that holiness is possible.
Conclusion
So why do Catholics honour Mary and the saints?
Because God alone is worshipped.
Because Mary and the saints are alive in Christ.
Because the Church is one family across heaven and earth.
Because the saints show what grace can do.
Because their prayers help us.
Because their example encourages us.
Because honouring them praises the God who made them holy.
Mary is not a goddess.
She is the Mother of the Lord and the first disciple.
The saints are not rivals to Jesus.
They are His friends and witnesses.
Images are not idols.
They are reminders and windows to heavenly realities.
Intercession does not replace Christ.
It depends entirely on Him.
So we do not say:
“Mary instead of Jesus.”
We say:
“Mary, lead us to Jesus.”
We do not say:
“The saints save us.”
We say:
“Saints of God, pray for us.”
We do not say:
“We worship images.”
We say:
“God became visible in Christ, and holy images lift our minds to Him and His work in the saints.”
To summarise, remember these three simple answers.
Why do Catholics honour Mary and the saints?
Because God alone is worshipped.
Because the saints are alive in Christ and pray for us.
Because honouring the saints praises the grace of God at work in them.
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
Catholics worship God alone, and honour Mary and the saints because they belong to Christ and lead us to Him.
Each of us should ask:
Do the saints help me love Jesus more?
Because true devotion never leads away from Christ.
It leads more deeply into His friendship, His Church, and His holiness.
Amen.
Q&A after Session 9
- Do Catholics worship Mary?
- What is the difference between worship and veneration?
- Why do Catholics ask saints to pray for them?
- How can the saints hear our prayers?
- Why is Mary called Mother of God?
- Why do Catholics have statues and images?
- What are relics, and why does the Church honour them?
- How can devotion to the saints help us become holy?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are glorified in Your saints.
Thank You for Mary, Your Mother and ours,
and for all the holy men and women
who show us the power of Your grace.
Keep us from superstition, confusion, and coldness of heart.
Teach us to worship God alone,
to honour Your saints rightly,
to seek their prayers with confidence,
and to follow their example on the path to holiness.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 