Is Food Offering To the Religious Statues Idolatery?

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I think it’s likely a cultural thing: there was a homeless Vietnamese woman who used to beg for small change outside a church in Boston where we went to the Latin Mass, and from time to time, she would leave small hard candies in front of the two angel statues that stood just inside the front door, or the big white statue of Our Lady in the rose garden next to the church. One Christmas, she left a whole bag of them in front of the Nativity scene outside the church! It was perplexing, but I think she was trying to show her gratitude to God for sending kind people her way, even if she may not have been a Christian herself.
 
Unless the people are worshipping the statue or the deceased, it’s not idolatry. It’s just a harmless folk custom.

I would be curious to know who ends up eating the food. The statue can’t, so it either gets thrown away, which would be a shame, or someone eats it. If, indeed, someone eats it, then it’s clear that nobody thinks the statue will.
 
Ridgerunner said:
Unless the people are worshipping the statue or the deceased, it’s not idolatry. It’s just a harmless folk custom.

I would be curious to know who ends up eating the food. The statue can’t, so it either gets thrown away, which would be a shame, or someone eats it. If, indeed, someone eats it, then it’s clear that nobody thinks the statue will.
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I believe in some cases the priests of said parish will collect the food and feed it to the poor and homeless, which are many in the Philippines.
 
ConstantineTG said:
I believe in some cases the priests of said parish will collect the food and feed it to the poor and homeless, which are many in the Philippines.
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An excellent practice, and I’m sure those who offer the food know about it.
 
CathMass said:
Okay, I feel I have to straighten out this question.

As a Filipino, I learned that the practice of food on the altar was not for the statues but rather for the dead. I don’t know where the idea came from but it is a way that Filipinos try to connect with family on the other side. It is NOT supposed to be for the statues. Anyone who thinks they have to feed the statues needs to be taught that this is idolatry and is a sin because the statues, though blessed are nothing more that sacramentals that remind us of Jesus and the saints. They are not living beings nor are they in need of nourishment like those false idols of the pagan religions.

One may argue that the dead don’t need food. Certainly, the souls should be prayed for and indeed they have no need of food but then again, they don’t need flowers on their grave either. We put flowers on graves becasue we love our dead and want to show that remember them.

The same applies for Filipinos. In lieu of flowers, food on the altar which is usually from the dinner eaten by the family is offered as a means of affection for the dead. This is a mere cultural aspect that Filipinos have to express belief that death is not really the end and that all of us will be together in Heaven with the Child Jesus and those holy ones depicted in the home shrines. Since the statues symbolize the presence of God, food is placed before the home shrine because the physical presence of the images evokes a tangible presence of God and a hope that the dead are in Heaven with Him.
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Thank you for that information, it was really interesting. 🙂

I don’t see an issue with that. It’s not harming anyone and I don’t see how its heresy.
 
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