On Statues and Images

The First Commandment reads: “I, the Lord, am your God…You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below…”(Ex. 20:2). Some Christians today think that this commandment forbids us to use statues and images (pictures) in our devotion. But there are a few important differences. The First Commandment forbids making an image of GOD Himself. No one can pretend to make an image of God who is transcendent and incomprehensible. He is totally different from any object in nature. Our Christian statues and images are of the Incarnation of God, beginning with Christ Himself, and then, secondarily, of the good men and women who lead us to God, beginning with Mary, the Mother of Jesus and his first Disciple, and continuing with saints through the ages. And, most importantly, these statues and images do not take the place of God, but lead us to Him through making more present to us the men and women who are so close to God. God leads us to him through the human imagination, and we venerate the memory of Mary and the saints, whose sole desire is to draw us into deeper relationship with the One God. We sit at their feet. We gaze into their faces. We are drawn into the light of holiness. - - - Fr. Jim