Like many of us, I've receive a good protestant stoning every now and then... Most recently, I was challenged to explain why on earth a Christian would "actually believe" that a relic from a saint would have any effect whatsoever? Hmmm.. Well, I did find a passage in the bible that supports this and I was hoping to get some feedback as well as any other scipture that might refer to relics... :)

Acts 19:11-12 "So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Paul that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them."

Isn't this a relic? People were touching cloths to Paul and then laying those same cloths on the ill...and they were healed.

Yours in Christ,

-- Christina (romechurch@aol.com), May 09, 2000

Answers

Yes, Christina, the passage you cited supports our belief and practice concerning relics. Here are a few paragraphs from a "Catholic Answers" site on what we believe and the scriptural support for it, which you sought:

"Keep in mind what the Church says about relics. It doesn't say there is some magical power in them. There is nothing in the relic itself, whether a bone of St. Peter or water from Lourdes, that has any curative ability. The Church just says that relics are the occasion of God's miracles, and in this the Church follows Scripture.

"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).

A woman was cured of a hemorrhage by touching the hem of Christ's cloak (Matt. 9:20-22). The sick were healed when Peter's shadow passed over them (Acts 5:15-16). '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)."

Jesus, I trust in You.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), May 10, 2000.