Why do some people pray to Jesus?

Yes, but what you’re asking him or her to do is pray to God about it. Not do anything on their own.

As long as you’re not denying that Jesus IS Him.

He was saying “Catholic Christians” as opposed to non-Catholic Christians, not saying that there is any other type of Catholic.

Don’t the Unitarians not believe in the Trinity? Of course I don’t know if you consider them “major”.

What I mistakenly did in my previous post is what a lot of other Christian Idenominations do. They equate praying with worship. You can worship while praying, but praying in and of itself is not worship. What I was trying to differentiate was what Chronos and ianzin brought up… that Catholics don’t worship saints.
Thanks for setting me straight, and sorry about the hijack.

So who was Jesus praying to? Himself? :confused:

Well, I speak with no authority, and certainly not the level of theological expertise of many of our members, some of whom are not Christians, but have very cogent and perspicacious explanations of what Christians do, and why, but I can tell you why I pray to Jesus, rather than to God, or to the Holy Spirit.

I feel as if I know Jesus better. I think He is more likely to see what I am trying to say, since He is human too. Not that I doubt the compassion of God, only that I have my own difficulties relating with Him, that seem not to be there when I am praying to Jesus.

I am sure this is as foolish, and as theologically indefensible, and entirely illogical as all the other aspects of my faith, but I am not terribly troubled by that. Jesus has not made me feel it is unreasonable, or unwanted, and that is good enough for me.

Tris

[nitpick]
Actually, in modern times (relatively) the Unitarians merged with the Universalist Church to form the Unitarian Universalist church… Some UU churches are more christian than others but no UU theology or doctrine (of which there isn’t much) explicitly commands or recognizes the divinity of Jesus or any other deity, but allows members to believe what they choose provided they uphold the 8 core beliefs of UUism. As a member of a UU church for a good 7 years I’d be happy to share the 8 core beliefs, but suffice it for this thread to say that Unitarian Universalism doesn’t even explicitly acknowledge Jesus as the savior, much less a part of the holy trinity
[/nitpick/hijack]

Yes and no. The Trinity doctrine holds that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are fully Three Persons and also fully One Person. It’s not exactly intuitive. :slight_smile: So they are distinct enough that Jesus can pray to the Father, and yet unified enough that the Athanasian Creed can specify that we must not say “there are three Gods”.

What, you never talk to yourself?

For further information on the “misguided” who Pray to Mary, I refer everyone to this eminent theologian.

God the Father is scary–read the Old Testament! The Holy Ghost is somewhat abstract–leave Him/Her/It to the mystics. Jesus was actually human, as well as being God, but some worry that he might still be angry about what we did to Him. Therefore, talking to His Mom might be the best way to get your message across. As a female, she’s fond of “makeovers”–so you can probably find a Lady who makes you feel at home.

The saints just increase your options. Who might understand your situation best? Who can “plead your case” with The Big Guy? Which image will help you concentrate? Here’s the “menu.”

As many will guess, I was raised Catholic. Many years ago, I realized I didn’t believe in God–but I find many aspects of Catholic belief admirable. So–excuse my levity!

Jesus, completely God, was also completely human and prayed to the Father.