Relics?

These thoughts come from Mark Gibson [markguitar_1@hotmail.com]. I don't know him, but his presentation warrants your review and is consistent with the heart of the PrayerMetro blogspot.

Isn’t the Catholic use of relics superstitious? and Don’t Catholics worship idols and make graven images?

Relics: Objects Which Inspire Faith
1. Isn’t the Catholic use of relics superstitious?
No. Relics are material objects (bone fragments of saints, articles of their clothing, etc.) that God uses to bestow blessings on His people.
· In Matthew 9:20-22, we see that a simple tassel on the cloak of Jesus was an instrument of healing for a woman with a blood hemorrhage. The woman’s faith was also vital to the healing, but God used a material object as a means to transfer Christ’s healing grace.
· 2 Kings 13:21 tells how a dead man was touched to the bones (relics) of Elisha and was brought back to life. In Act 5:15, the image of Peter’s shadow heals the sick. In Acts 19:11-12, relics (items touched to Paul) heal the sick through the power of God, “And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.”

Catholic faith is not a superstitious faith but a gift from God which trusts in His Divine Will. We must be open to God’s grace in our lives regardless of the channel through which He chooses to communicate it. It may be a neighbor, a stranger, an inspirational painting, a story or a relic of a holy man or woman who loves God. The Catholic Church teaches that only God can perform a true miracle.

2. Don’t Catholics worship idols and make graven images?
No. Catholics certainly do not worship statues, or anything created. The Catholic Church teaches that only God is to be worshipped: to worship anything created is to commit the serious sin of idolatry.
Catholics use images (painting, statues, stained glass, etc) of Christ, the saints and angles to remind them of those in heaven. Since we have material bodies, material objects, such as statues or pictures, can aid our mind in focusing on heavenly things. When a Catholic prays before a statue of Mary, for example, he is not praying to a piece of wood, stone, or plastic, but to the Blessed Mother, of whom the statue reminds us. When we keep photographs of family or friends, living, or deceased, in our home, their purpose is to us of those persons.
Some examples from Scripture demonstrated that God approves of such practices.
· In 1 Kings 7:29, God commands the making of images to be placed in the Holy Temple: “… and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen and cherubim. Upon the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work.” Obviously, God would not command that images and statues be placed in His Holy Temple if they were inherently evil.
· In Numbers 21:8, God commands Moses to make an image (a bronze sculpture) of a serpent and mount it on a pole so that those who had been bitten by poisonous snakes could look at it and be cured.
· In Exodus 25:18-19, God commands the making of two angelic images which are to be placed on the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the holiest items known to the Hebrew people.

Images and statues are not forbidden by God. It is the worship of graven images or statues, or using them as good luck charms, that God forbids. Catholics do not worship statues, images and painting. Rather, the images of Jesus, Mary, the saints and angels are used for reflection upon those