Dear conservativegramma:
First of all, I think you are confused about what the Catholic Church teaches about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Christ is not “re-sacrificed.” At Holy Mass, it is the same sacrifice - outside of time - and “we are there” at the foot of the cross, so to speak. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is outside time and space, as you can see in the Book of Revelation, which describes it.
Secondly, in the First Commandment which deals with the prohibition against graven images, God did not prohibit all statues, only ones which were made with the intent of being worshipped as gods. Otherwise, God would have violated His own commandment in these following Scripture verses:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.” Exodus 25:1,18-20
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” Numbers 21:8
Statues in a Church are holy reminders of those who have gone ahead, sort of like photos of loved ones that you put on your walls or desk. No one would ever accuse you of worshipping your grandchildren, even though you probably have photos of them in your wallet. It is the same with statues, pictures, or icons. They are there to remind us of that holy person and the virtues which he or she had, and to inspire us to follow in their footsteps as we “take up our cross and follow Him” as they did.
As for the statue of Mary that you find so offensive, if you look at her hands, they are pointing down toward the altar, which is right below her. She is showing us that Jesus comes to us, body, blood, soul, and divinity, at every Mass. (See John Chapter 6 for Jesus’ teaching on this. Also see I Corinthians 11:27-29 for St. Paul’s words of warning.) She is showing us the way to Him, which is the whole point.
If you want to know what the Church really teaches, as opposed to what ignorant people say the Church teaches, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is readily available from Amazon or any other bookstore, and is quite easy to understand. There is also a “Compendium” that gives the main points in abbreviated form. It might be better to be armed with the facts, rather than second- or third-hand hearsay.
Then why is Jesus NOT the one bathed in light with Mary at his feet pointing UP???