On the weekend of August 1-2, Rebecca and Jacob, a couple from Ireland who tour the world to increase devotion to the saints of the Church, will bring with them some fifteen relics for display and veneration in our Church. A relic is a tangible connection with a saint whose life was transformed by Christ. Catholics do not worship the relic, nor do they imagine that a bone, garment, or personal object possesses magical power of its own. Rather, the relic is honored because of its relationship to a saint—and ultimately because of the grace of God manifested in that saint.

Relics are also a protest against a purely spiritualized Christianity. The saints loved, suffered, prayed, fasted, worked, and served God through their bodies. The bones of a martyr remind us that Christian discipleship is not an abstract idea. That person actually lived the Gospel in flesh and blood. Our veneration of a relic is a simple prayer that we, in our own body, may make manifest the actions of sacrificial love that can help bring about God’s Kingdom. The veneration of relics remind us that we are truly present with the communion of saints and the power of their intercessory prayers for our own earthly journey.