Response to 'relics' taunt

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I would welcome some ideas/information about a taunt used against Catholic friends by open air “Revivalist” church evangelists, who stand in the town centre each Friday evening when many young people are in town.

Specifically:“You Catholics revere two heads of John the Baptist and a (vial?) of Mary’s breastmilk.”

Neither of us have ever heard anything of these so-called relics. What to respond?

Sadly, one of these young people in this mostly antipodean church (planted by Joseph of Arimathea in Glastonbury and a remnant of the true church, and believers in the POWER of the Holy Spirit, so that true believers, properly baptized by full immersion, cannot sin any more…) was a daily communicant before she converted, or so she says.
 
I would smile and not respond. Pray for this woman. Pray for those who are taunting you…count it all joy. If you respond, it will escalate and you may become uncharitable…I know, in my old worn out shoes, I would.🙂

This person is not trying to have a conversation…but trying to incite. Pay no heed and eventually, the taunts will cease. Remember it always takes two to argue - two to fight, unless you are like me when I argue with myself! :o God Bless you
 
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chimakuni:
I would smile and not respond. Pray for this woman. Pray for those who are taunting you…count it all joy. If you respond, it will escalate and you may become uncharitable…I know, in my old worn out shoes, I would.🙂

This person is not trying to have a conversation…but trying to incite. Pay no heed and eventually, the taunts will cease. Remember it always takes two to argue - two to fight, unless you are like me when I argue with myself! :o God Bless you
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Sage advice. The best thing is to not even dignify these ill-mannered taunts with a response. If someone less churlish addresses these questions to you in a relatively civil manner, that’s another story.
 
Hold up your Bible and ask them where Jesus taught taunting and perverted insults as a way to get to Heaven. Respectfully offer to discuss the issues they have with the Catholic Church and say a genuine prayer for them.

Ron
 
yes, there is supposedly a vial of Mary’s milk in Italy, somewhere.
Actually, the head of St. John the Baptist is in a Mosque in the Middle East. Our Holy Father supposedly venerated it when he visited the Middle East a couple of years ago that is why you never heard of these relics.

Most anti-Catholics base their beliefs on centries old traditions, and hearsay. They are very confused.
 
Here are a couple of Bible verses showing that God chooses to heal through relics. Why do they belittle and question what or who God chooses to heal through?

2 Kings 13:20 - 21 contact with Elisha’s bones restored life
Acts 5:15 - 16 Cures performed through Peter’s shadow
Acts 19:11 - 12 people were cured through face cloths that touched Paul
I just gave an explanation of the verse, not the verse itself. God chooses to heal through relics to honor the saint whose relic it was. It is the prayers of the people that God is answering and choosing answer it through relics sometimes.

Although I would agree that dialogue would be useless with these people, I would hand them the Bible verses written down. God’s word will never come back void. You never know which seeds will take root and which will die, you just need to sow them and leave it up to God.

God Bless
 
How about gathering a few Catholic friends together and going to the town center while this group is there, and praying the rosary? 🙂
 
There are a number of bizarre and gruesome relics. Many of which get paraded around in a really awful fashion on the saint’s feastday. Put your feelings about veneration aside, watch one of these processions with golden containers of saintly blood and then watch a Hindu or Animist procession with a “sacred” object.

That’s why some folks can’t relate to revering relics.
 
Thank you all; the idea of the Rosary is great but I will have to count myself out as I work those evenings.

I will pass this distilled wisdom along to my friends.
 
My cable company carries Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Protestant fundamentalist station. One night, when I was channel surfing, I happen to come upon this station and heard a preacher say “We don’t get saved by crawling on our knees to a statue of the Virgin Mary.” No well-informed Catholic would say that we do. Rather it is a **devotion **that aids in drawing closer to God. I myself, don’t care for that kind of devotion, but the Church has all sorts of devotions to meet every need and to satisfy every sort of person, such as Eucharistic adoration, Liturgy of the Hours, Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, etc.
 
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cestusdei:
Hand them the catholic answers tract on relics.
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The tract is an excellent idea. The conversation might start with, “You sound very angry with the Catholic Church. Would you like to talk about that?” Then patiently, kindly talk to her, countering her charges with the truth, but without counter accusations. Then part with an invitation to come to your parish with you on a Sunday to see what the Church is really like.

Encounters like that make an impression on those who think they have reason to hate us.
 
I love relics. And my boys think they are “cool”!

There is a great collection of relics in Milwaukee at the School Sisters of Saint Francis at 27th and Greenfield. (It’s also a nuclear free zone!).

There is a Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Montenegro (Cetinje) that claims to have the right hand of John the Baptist. I’ve seen it. It still has the flesh on it!

Loss of interest in relics is a sad post-concilar reality. Imagine living in the Middle Ages when RC’s really venerated relics. When Catherine of Siena died her followers had to guard her body, so enthusiastic were her followers to obtain relics. If you see her head in Siena, you’ll notice that it is missing a few teeth.

Bring back Relics!!

Chris C.
 
I noticed one of the respondent’s indicated that there a some gruesome relics and how the relics are paraded around in a awful fashion. I am curious how do we defend such practices. On the surface it appears to be disrespectful to the dignity of the saint. If the relic was the head of some saint that had been decapitated, it seems to acceptable to keep the head somewhere if the body can not be found. But when someone cuts off a finger or other appendage and gives it as a gift to another how is that action defendable. It is one thing to save someone’s body or bones for veneration but to treat a body with what appears to be contempt is another matter. I believe that it is a crime to cut up a persons corpse except for research purposes or for an autopsy.
 
There is a great collection of relics in Milwaukee at the School Sisters of Saint Francis at 27th and Greenfield. (It’s also a nuclear free zone!).

If you want to see relics visit St. Anthony’s Chapel on Troy Hill in Pittsburg. They have the largest collection of relics outside the Vatican.
 
I have a few relics. Invariably the fascinate everyone. Even anti-Catholics often secretly have an interest in relics. I took some of them to a religious ed class. They thought it was “cool” and they all wanted to know how to get one. Don’t ask, it is very difficult nowadays.
 
I don’t think I would refer to any relic as “gruesome”–how gruesome could a part of the human body be? Are some of the relics a bit strange? I suppose. But, if the people of Spain want to honor Santa Maria de la Cabeza, (St. Mary of the Head) by processing with her head, fine. It wouldn’t go over quite so well in the United States. I think that’s the main point to make–different cultures have different tastes and traditions in this regard.

A procession in Spain with a relic might look like a pagan procession in India, sure. I suppose it has to. The object of the devotion is entirely different, though.

Regarding disrespect to the body–again, it depends on the culture/era. When St. Teresa of Jesus died and someone bit off one of her fingers, was he being disrespectful? No. Selfish, maybe.

I think giving people a wide latitude in this regard (as with all private devotions) is a good practice.
 
“(It’s also a nuclear free zone!).”

What does that mean? When the bombs begin to fall, none will fall on that neighborhood?
 
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