Sorry ! I was lazy today but I haven’t forgotten your questions! Zach asked about Relics Woo hoo!! Prepare for an expedition into the Catholic world!

So, we all know how us humans like to keep little things as memorials of our beloved departed. I mean, who doesn’t keep with love the earrings of Granma? or that scarf that mom liked? Or who doesn’t get teary eyed when they see dad’s jacket? In some cultures (old school Hispanic) they would keep locks of hair of their loved one...

So catholics are very human…and they like to keep little objects that remain as a memorial of their Holy brothers and sisters, the Saints.

A relic is some object, notably part of the body or clothes, remaining as a memorial of a Saint. Examples would be…a lock of hair from Saint Therese, a piece of the veil of St. Catherine, St. Maximilian Kolbe’s watch, the bones of  St. Peter…

Now up till here no one has a problem with Catholics liking Relics…the problem is when Aunty Maria tells you that so- and – so had cancer and they brought a relic of St. Whomever and the sick person took it, they said some prayers and now they are healed….

NOW is when a lot of people thing “another Creepy Catholic thing!!”

Because Catholics believe that sometimes, God can work miracles through the remains/ belongings of His Saints…is this too weird?…well…yeah. But at least its Biblical!

The use of the bones of Elisha brought a dead man to life: "So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet" (2 Kgs. 13:20-21).  This is an unequivocal biblical example of a miracle being performed by God through contact with the relics of a saint!

Then there is the woman cured of a hemorrhage by touching the hem of Christ’s cloak (Matt. 9:20-22) and the sick who were healed when Peter’s shadow passed over them (Acts 5:14-16). "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" (Acts 19:11-12).

So God didn’t have a problem working miracles through the possessions and remains of Biblical holy people…. Why would He not want to console His people in the same way today?

So yep… that’s the thing with relics. Obviously the handkerchief of Peter didn’t have any “powers.” The power is from God who chooses to use a very weak vessel for His Power!

I’ve seen a couple of really cool relics. One was the sword of St.Ignatious of Loyola the founder of the Jesuits. He used to be a soldier and when he gave his life over to Christ he left his sword in a church as a sign of him surrendering his life to Christ…. And some smart monk kept it! Woo hoo!

It was great, I got to touch it. I didn’t need any physical healing at the time, but through it God granted me the grace of Courage. Pretty cool!!