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Jolene —
Let's see if we can undo some really,
really, horrible religious education
you got somewhere along the line.
The statues, pictures, paintings,
etc., don't help us. The saints,
as part of the Body of Christ, help
us. Statues, and so forth, are simple
reminders and "points of contact"
for our faith.
A blessing is a prayer of the Church
which consecrates an object, sets
it aside for God, and makes it belong
to God. This blessing, a prayer of
the Church, also contains petitions
about the object, that may be an
occasion of grace for those who use
it. God honors this blessing by His
Church, and blessed objects are off-limits
to the evil one, who fears them because
they are holy.
e.g. they belong to God. These are
not lucky charms. The objects have
no intrinsic power of their own.
They have the power of the prayer
of the Church in the blessing.
My point is that you shouldn't be
thinking in terms of getting the
statue of St. Martha to do anything.
That's idolatry and a violation of
the first commandment!
Now, if you have a devotion to St.
Martha, if you've read about her,
ask her intercession, then the statue
is reminder and "point of contact"
for your faith but, at this point,
I'm even concerned that if you're
focused so much on the statue and
the Saint, you will forget the most
important thing is your relationship
with Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Ultimately, it's Christ that assists
us in our Christian walk. The saints
only do so by virtue of being in
the Body of Christ.
St. Martha can hear you whether or
not the statue is blessed, whether
or not the statue has it's ears broken,
whether or not the statue is there,
whether or not the statue exists!!
I would encourage you to get back
to basics of your faith. Buy a Bible
and start reading it.
Buy a Catechism as well. Our faith
starts and ends with our relationship
with Jesus Christ.
Yes, as Catholics we understand that
the Saints in heaven pray for us
and some of us have beautiful devotions
to certain Saints but we have to
keep these things in perspective,
especially when it comes to statues.
They are sacred to us because of
who they represent. Other then that,
they are nothing but plaster, ceramic,
or wood.
John
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