I think of it as a "convention".
Praying to Mary, for example. If you lift the lid on that, no one is praying to Mary as tho' she were a god. At least, that is not what the prayers says. The prayers to these entities are always "Please intercede for me with God". In the case of praying to a "Saint", these prayers are the same. In the case of praying to an angel such as Michael... in that case I presume the same convention applies. Please intercede for me with God.
Folks who are not Catholic seem to glom on to these prayers and say "Aha! You are pantheistic, etc." But for Catholics I don't think they ever think of it like that. This is the Holy Host, and no one who is not God gets addressed as God.
EDIT: I should add that I did not address your comment about omnipresence/omniscience. I don't think this is a math-based conversation. I think these people who pray to these entities believe in The Mystery of God and that all things are possible if I do them in Christ. This is not an RPG. We do not know the rules.
I think of it as a "convention".
Praying to Mary, for example. If you lift the lid on that, no one is praying to Mary as tho' she were a god. At least, that is not what the prayers says. They prayers to these entities are always "Please intercede for me with God". In the case of praying to a "Saint", these prayers are the same. In the case of praying to an angel such as Michael... in that case I presume the same convention applies. Please intercede for me with God.
Folks who are not Catholic seem to glom on to these prayers and say "Aha! You are pantheistic, etc." But for Catholics I don't think they ever think of it like that. This is the Holy Host, and no one who is not God gets addressed as God.
EDIT: I should add that I did not address your comment about omnipresence/omniscience. I don't think this is a math-based conversation. I think these people who pray to these entities believe in The Mystery of God and that all things are possible if I do them in Christ. This is not an RPG. We do not know the rules.