Dear Jaime, I seriously doubt that most Catholics or anyone else worship the idol of a saint - This veneration of saints is a form of ancestor worship. It is only one of many "pagan" traditions in organized religions, not just Christianity. The separation of "pagan" and "Christian" is artificial as Christians adopted many of the cultural and religious motifs from those "pagans" they converted. Canonizing someone as an official saint does not make them an idol. Canonization is the Church's organized process of making that person a model of Christian faith and love for the entire, universal Church. We Goans feel that we have produced such outstanding models and we want them officially and justly recognized just like Mother Teresa, who, incidentally, doesn't have the monopoly of faith, Christian charity and love! Mother Teresa didn't just arise out of a vacuum in India. She and the Catholic Church benefitted from the labors and sacrifices of Indian Catholic men and women like Father Joseph Vaz who took the hard knocks of past centuries to build the Church up. So, it's high time that the Church acknowledged Indian saints who made the even bigger sacrifices of working under persecution, not just white missionaries in India. Filomena
--- Bosco - Goanet Volunteer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 20:09:26 -0800 (PST), Jaime > DeMello <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > It is very sad when human beings, in their desire to > honor a Saint, exalt a > saint to a point that instead of being inspired by > the life of the saint, we > become worshipers of that saint (or more like in > case of Goan Catholics, end up > worshiping an idol of that saint). For example, > Mother Teresa came to be > recognized by human beings as a Saint, because was a > faithful disciple of Jesus > Christ. She often said that she saw the Jesus in the > faces of the poor and the > neglected. Instead of the Church leaders reminding > us of her deeds and > challenging us to follow in her footsteps by > becoming genuine followers of Jesus > Christ, conduct elaborate ceremonies to bless idols > and pictures of the saint. > Soon, these idols will find a spot in our local > churches where people will > engage in idol worship of Saint Mother Teresa. So > instead of Christ being > glorified through the exemplary life of Mother > Teresa, an idol made of mud or > wood or other material becomes glorified. > > That's the real tragedy of this whole so called > "veneration" and "canonization" > process. For me, the life and spirit of mother > Teresa, embedded in my memory and > my heart is more than enough to honor her. Worship > belongs only to our One God > as stated in the first and second commandments. Not > to any Saint or any human or > any man made idol or picture. > > God Bless. > > Jaime. > > ########################################################################## > # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > # > # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), > and avoid top-posts # > # More details on Goanet at > http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # > # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to > reflect respect to others # > ########################################################################## __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
