Sweaty Shoes

Understanding Catholic veneration of the saints

          We Catholics believe in something called “the veneration of the saints,” but this practice is hotly criticized in many quarters.  Some people accuse Catholics of worshiping mere mortals by our admiration and adulation of the saints.  We set up their statues, we revere their remains, we extol their exploits.  But is this any different from the attention and accolades people shower on sports superstars today?  Recently, I saw the NBA basketball player Stephan Curry give his tennis shoes to a young fan after the game.  The little admirer clearly considered those shoes a “second class relic” of Stephan Curry.  In case you don’t know, a second class relic is something that has touched the body of a saint.  That little fan will display those sweaty shoes somewhere prominently in his house and he will proudly tell every visitor how honored he was that Curry actually stopped to look at him, and even gave him his shoes.  Don’t you think that little boy believes he was very blessed at that moment?  And yet, no one accuses the little basketball fan of worshiping Stephan Curry.  That would be silly.  So, too, is it silly to accuse Catholics of worshiping the saints, even though we proudly display their relics and feel blessed to be in their presence.

          Today, December 3, we celebrate the feast of St. Francis Xavier.  I feel a special fondness for Francis because in the sixteenth century he brought a renewal of Catholicism to India, my native homeland.  I’m sure his zeal to re-evangelize India played some part in my vocation to be a priest.  You know, if I got hold of his sweaty tennis shoes, I’d display them proudly in a prominent place in my rectory!  Indeed, the relics of St. Francis are strewn all over the world.  His body is in Goa, India, or most of it is, I should say.  His right arm is displayed in Rome, at the Jesuit church called “Chiesa del Gesu.” And his hand is in Japan.  Does all that sound macabre to you?  Well, it’s not much different than retiring Michael Jordan’s number or putting signed jersey’s in glass cases, as I’ve seen in the homes of sports enthusiasts.  In other words, Catholics consider saints worthy of admiration, but not worthy of adoration; the first we gladly give to saints and superstars, the second we give only to God.

          Of course, to focus on sweaty shoes and right arms is really to miss the point.  People truly worth admiring never want you to focus on them, but rather, they want you to see how God works in your life and to magnify Him.  I suspect Stephan Curry hopes his shoes inspire that little boy to play basketball better, just like St. Francis’ hand and arm should inspire us to do things to glorify God who gave them to us.  You see, Catholic veneration of the saints is not really about the saints, but about God.  And to miss that point would be deeply disappointing to the saints.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!