I know that some of you may wonder about my affinity with the Roman Catholic church and enthusiasm for certain aspects of what is the largest denomination in Christianity. It really is a strange relationship because there are aspects of Catholicism I deeply admire and others that I abhor. I am encouraged by the leadership of Pope Francis, although at times he confounds me. I celebrated the retirement of Pope Benedict who was astonishingly arrogant and set ecumenism back years.
I have never understood the strange devotion to relics, bits of wood and bone which are venerated because they are alleged to be part of the true cross or skeletal remains of a saint. This baffles me. If we have absolutely nothing related to Jesus the human, or the Risen Christ, why would Christians need this other stuff?
Today is the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene and -- guess what? -- a church claims to have her skull. I promise you that a bunch of guys came up with this and would have put a flashing neon sign on the church if they'd existed at the time. It really was about getting "on the map" literally and figuratively.
I appreciate Miriam of Magdala, or Mary Magdalene (who was not a prostitute) for being the first witness to the Risen Christ. Her grief over Jesus' unjust assassination was deep, yet in his presence on Easter morning she was awakened to the unthinkable and was able to both express joy and share the Good News. A relic in a building means nothing to me.
Who she was in Jesus' circle, the intimacy of Easter morning, and her ongoing example of faithfulness are truly what matters to me.
The idea of revering relics has always been repulsive to me .... faith comes from hearing the Word in today's world. from living voices who have been transformed by the gospel of Christ, not from climbing up 1000 steps at a huge cathedral (like the one in Montreal that I visited a few decades ago), or some other "penitent" act,
ReplyDeleteto visit some dead priest's remains !