[drstevej]

Are not relics more than a link with the past? Do you not believe their veneration produces spiritual merit?

Does this kind of thing bother you?

[Gamecock]

Discount Catholic Store?

[Desdemona]

Do you not believe their veneration produces spiritual merit?

I haven't really thought about it. I believe in the miracles associated with them. The realization that anything is possible with God kind of overshadows anything else.

As for things like Lourdes water and Knock water, etc., no, it doesn't bother me. They are the places of miracles. I grew up with this sort of thing, so....

[AlguyA]

"Are not relics more than a link with the past? Do you not believe their veneration produces spiritual merit?"

Yes, relics are more than links with the past and, yes, their proper veneration MAY produce spiritual merit. As with much of Catholicism, relics engage our senses, physically bringing us into contact with either a saint or Our Lord, thus drawing us deeper into the communion of saints which constitutes the Body of Christ. There is a great deal more "physicallity" in Catholicism, all of which helps the believer to be drawn further into the mystery of the Incarnation -the central Truth of all salvation history.