Life is Short and Distracting- We Need Icons!

      One of the many joys of re-discovering the Catholic faith so late in my life (I was 45) was to gain an appreciation for icons, images, statues etc. My wife and I often take weekend trips to shrines to soak up this aspect of our faith that was so sorely missed (though unbeknownst to us). Fortunate for us, Pennsylvania is a pretty Catholic state so there is never a shortage of beautiful old Churches and shrines.

      Our house now has many images of the Lord, the saints and the Blessed Mother (she is blessed because scripture tells us all generations will call her blessed.)  I  have a wonderful concrete statue of Mary illuminated by a solar light in my backyard. It's a great treat to step out onto my backyard at night and see the statue and it reminds to pray the Hail Mary (most of the prayer comes from scripture)  All these images of the saints and the Holy Family are a constant reminder of who watches over us and who we have surrendered our lives to. At the front door and garage door we have little holy water fonts to bless our selves with the sign of the cross. A great way to start and end the day, remembering who died for us and that we have died to ourselves in the waters of baptism.
   In 8 years of being Catholic, I have not been tempted to worship these images.... ever. I have never thought that an inanimate object had any magical power or thought the spirit of the saint inhabited the statue or icon. Instead I have gained an appreciation for the role the saints play in interceding for me, and I ask their intercession when I look at their image. Life is short and full of distractions to our faith. Images and icons are God's gift to man to help refocus our attention on Him. Nothing wrong with that.

Catholic Answers has a great article on Images here.