Did I commit Simony?!?

[reff]

My mom had a yard sale not to long ago, and I was fast asleep during the whole thing(it was a saturday ) I had some small statues of St. Joseph, and Our Dear Mother, which were both blessed by a Priest. Little did I know that while I was sleeping my mom sold them(she’s Mormon). I was LIVID when I found out, but they were gone and I don’t know who it was who bought them.

My question is, am I liable for the grave sin of Simony? What about my mom, she’s Mormon like I said, so she doesn’t understand the importance of Sacramentals such as statues.

 

[puzzleannie]

no because no one in this scenario planned to sell a blessing for money, they sold objects that happen to have been blessed. If someone had put up a sign saying something like “Blessed by the Pope” and charged $50 for a $2 statue, that might have been simony.

 

[Jolly_Joe]

No, your action was not deliberate.

Simony would be the action if someone sold them deliberately, like what likely happened when they were sold to you. Often people try to get around it by suggesting a “donation”.

 

[reff]

No, your action was not deliberate.

Simony would be the action if someone sold them deliberately, like what likely happened when they were sold to you. Often people try to get around it by suggesting a “donation”.

So selling a blessed statue intentionally is a grave sin? And what if you don’t tell them that its blessed, what if your selling it to make money, regardless of whether its blessed or not. And is the buyer liable for simony as well?

 

[thistle]

So selling a blessed statue intentionally is a grave sin? And what if you don’t tell them that its blessed, what if your selling it to make money, regardless of whether its blessed or not. And is the buyer liable for simony as well?

It is not a sin to sell statues. The sin would be if in selling the statue you charged a higher price because of the blessing.

 

[Holly3278]

No, you did not commit the sin of Simony. For one thing, you were asleep and unaware that the statues were being sold. For another, they weren’t advertised as having a blessing on them or something.

That said, I will pray for the conversion of your Mormon mom.

 

[reff]

No, you did not commit the sin of Simony. For one thing, you were asleep and unaware that the statues were being sold. For another, they weren’t advertised as having a blessing on them or something.

That said, I will pray for the conversion of your Mormon mom.

Thank you very much, however I know that the conversion of my mom would be a long shot. But never say never right? Thank you for your prayers.

 

[kage_ar]

First, let’s remember the definition of simony. From the CCC (bold mine):

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**2121 Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: “Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!” Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: “You received without pay, give without pay.” It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.

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We have physical things blessed - medals, rosaries, statues, holy cards, houses, cars, musical instruments.

It would be simony if one attempted to sell the **spiritual thing, **the blessing. One can buy and sell physical things.

When one sells a physical thing that has been blessed, the blessing does not “transfer” with the sale. The blessing is a spritual thing, it belongs to God and cannot be sold. The people who buy used medals, rosaries, statues, holy cards, houses, cars or musical instruments that were once blessed would be free to have those items blessed again.

 

[Sir_Knight]

It would be simony if one attempted to sell the **spiritual thing, **the blessing. One can buy and sell physical things.

When one sells a physical thing that has been blessed, the blessing does not “transfer” with the sale. The blessing is a spritual thing, it belongs to God and cannot be sold. The people who buy used medals, rosaries, statues, holy cards, houses, cars or musical instruments that were once blessed would be free to have those items blessed again.

Okay, let’s get really technical here …

My mother-in-law found some ad in a Catholic magazine of a place which sells items blessed by the Pope. Knowing that a blessing does not transfer with the sale, the way that they present it, is as follows … You send them the money purchase the item that you wish THEN, after you have purchased the item but before you actual receive it, as a FAVOR to you, they take the item and have it blessed. Thus, the item was technically already your’s at the time of the blessing. Therefore, when you get the item, the blessing remains because, as I said, the sale took place before the blessing.

For some reason, they just doesn’t sound right to me because it still seems like you are attempting to purchase a blessed item.

Comments? Opinions?

 

[dg5887]

Thank you very much, however I know that the conversion of my mom would be a long shot. But never say never right? Thank you for your prayers.

Nothing is impossible to God. Just look at St. Paul. He use to search out and kill Christians but God changed his heart and eventually Paul wrote many books of the new testament. Who knows, with the right amount of prayers maybe your mom will become a great saint others will read about and point to when someone says something would be a long shot. God Bless!