Communioin of the saints

Living in the Bible belt i realized, people talk alot about Catholics and yet know very little about them. I find myself as a defender of the Catholic church. It takes various forms. But people assume they are not Christian and they use them as some sort of whipping boy whenever they want to make a point. As this has been going on I have realized that i have come to issue on several occasions on the Saints. Whether it is the Hail Mary or "praying to saints" i had the issue come up on several occasions. I have realized that protestant have a horribly weak belief in the "communion of the saints" and that it perhaps stems from a poor theology of resurrection. Have you noticed how in many churches there are pews, tables, etc. given in honor or in memory of someone who has died. Perhaps the pulpit was donated by So and So's grandpa. Someone's grandma donated such and such, and you had better never change it. I feel like the reason people are so unwilling to change those things is they feel like the only way to keep grandma in the church is to keep this table. Or this picture. That once that is gone, then grandma is gone. And so they feel that because grandma is dead, she is no longer here. But if we believe in the communion of the saints and if we believe in resurrection then grandma is still part of the church. She is still in communion with us, because death has lost its sting. So when we deny that we can still commune with those who have died, then we forget so much of what God offers to us. Which lead me to Hail Marys. Do you ever ask anyone to pray for you. Do you ever ask people you know are close to God. I have noticed that most people bring their problems to pastors to get prayer. They want someone who is Clergy or set apart to pray for them. And if someone is not really serious about their faith, then you probably don't want to entrust them with your concerns. You want someone like Abraham, who was close God, so close he could change God's mind (Gen 18). And if you believe in the communion of Saints than why not ask Mary, the mother of Jesus to pray for you. If i had a choice between me and Mary, i would choose her. Apparently so would the Catholic church. They believe in the communion of the Saints. They really do. So much so that they ask the saints to help them, just like protestants ask people in church to help them. They really believe this stuff, that we protestant just say we believe but don't really act as if we do. Well, all I am saying is that Catholics ask the saints to pray for them because they believe that God has given the Saints the same resurrection promised them by God. So may the Saints look after all of you.