Praying to Mary, is she STILL a virgin?, and the pope

THE FOLLOWING WAS SUBMITTED BY ONE OF OUR MEMBERS:

i am a born again christian and my wife is a roman catholic and lately i been going to her church. In one of his messages the priest were preaching about when Jesus said that there is no one between me and my Father, and he preached about 20 minutes on this and at the end when he prayed he prayed to Mary and he said that she is always a virgin and i thought she had kids after Jesus, and he also prayed to the saints. He also prayed for the pope and he said he call him the holy father. I always ray when i hear something that i know and feel is wrong i say Father forgive them because they do not know what are they doing. I am sorry to bother , but will you please help me with the answer in the Bible to this questions.

WHO SHOULD WE PRAY TO?

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -Jesus (John 14:6)

"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." -Jesus (John 16:23, 26-27)

He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name...'" -Jesus (Luke 11:2)

• You are correct Jesus is the direct route to the Father for salvation, yet even Jesus directs us to pray DIRECTLY TO the Father. We pray in Jesus' name so that the Father will give us what we ask for in honor of His son who died for our sins

WHY DO PEOPLE PRAY TO MARY?

When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. -John 2:3-9

• The idea is that Jesus will honor his mother and do what she asks even if it is not what he would choose to do. So, people pray to Mary thinking she can get Jesus to do what they desire, however this was BEFORE his time had come...

JESUS "DISOWNS" MARY AS HIS MOTHER

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."

"Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." -Mark 3:20, 31-35

• Jesus nevers calls Mary his mother, but rather, "Woman". Before Jesus' "time" had come, he obeyed and honored his mother as any good son should, however once his "time" HAD come he "disowned" her and instead claimed his disciples to be his mother and family. "Disowned" is a strong word. It was important, however, that Jesus demonstrate his separation as son of Mary and claim his true self as son of God. Mary no longer held sway over him as son, as she once did at the wedding banquet BEFORE his time had come.
  
  As you can also see from this passage, Jesus did indeed have siblings, i. e. Mary was no longer a virgin. Other scriptures refer to his sisters, as well (Matthew 13:56), and that Joseph "had no union with her until she gave birth" to Jesus (Matthew 1:25), hence the siblings.

JESUS CARES FOR MARY, THE WOMAN WHO WAS HIS MOTHER

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. - John 19:26-27

• Though "disowned" as his mother, he never stopped caring for Mary as the woman who raised him and made sure her needs were met, even in his own death, as evidenced here. At the same time, he solidified her removal as his mother, leaving no doubt, and gave her away to mother one of his disciples.

PRAYING TO THE SAINTS, THE POPE and WHO YOU CALL FATHER

To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus -Ephesians 1:1

"You shall have no other gods before [a] me.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God" -Exodus 20:3-5

And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. - Jesus (Matthew 23:9)

• "Saints" is simply another name for Christians or "the faithful in Christ Jesus". A simple study of scripture will reflect this. So, if you are a Christian, guess what? You're a SAINT!
  
  The pope is a man and not God. God is a a JEALOUS God and not only doesn't want you to pray to anyone but Him - He won't stand for it! In fact, He is the ONLY ONE you should ever call Father, let alone HOLY FATHER.

Hope this helps! Feel free to respond with any additional thoughts or questions.