Last night I attended a procession that culminated with a mass concelebrated by our Archbishop and two priests. The Archbishop in his homily mentioned about the misconception that many people including Catholics have regarding our relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
Some people especially those from other faith think we Catholics are idolaters because of the statues that we have in our churches, homes and/or altars.
The Catholic Church is not teaching its faithful to adore Mary. Rather, we honor her and give her special attention because she is the mother of our Lord Jesus, son of the Most High God. Thus, we Catholics only venerate Mary.
When we pray to Mary, we are simply asking her to intercede for us to her son Jesus. As the mother, we believe that the son almost often especially if he is an obedient son, will listen to what his mother would say or tell him. (Remember the story of the Wedding in Cana? Mary requested Jesus to turn the water into wine. Although Jesus said it was not yet his time, but he did turn the water into wine. I believe it was done because his mother requested him so.)
The prayer "Hail Mary, full of grace..." is found in the bible. It is the greeting that Elizabeth gave Mary when the latter visited the former after the annunciation.
WHY DO WE KEEP STATUES?
Statues are just representations of the persons. The statues are like pictures.
Let me give you an analogy.
The picture of my husband is not my husband himself, but it gives me a visual representation of him even when he is traveling thousands of miles away from me.
When I miss my husband when he is away for too long, especially when it is impossible to call him over long distance, I usually would grab a picture of him to ease my longing. Maybe like some of you, I also would talk to the picture as if he were there right in front of me, or may even kiss the picture.
Similarly, the statues that we Catholics keep of Mary and other saints, and even that of Jesus, are not the very thing that we idolize (in the case of Jesus) or venerate (in the case of the saints). They are just but visual representations of these persons.
I admit though that there are some Catholics who are not quite educated on this matter and therefore might have the tendency to believe and do contrary to the catholic official teaching.
It is my hope that they will soon realize the difference between the person and the statue or the picture; and the difference between idolizing and venerating.
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