Divine intervention in the real estate market?
I have a friend who is getting ready to sell her home, so I asked her recently if she has buried a statue of Saint Joseph in her yard. She said she's been thinking about it.
"Oh, really?'' I said. "Is that the way the universe works? God, with all that he's got on his plate, uses some sort of X-ray vision on the property of Catholic home sellers, and if he spies a hidden statue of Joseph in the sod, awards them a quick and profitable sale. But if there is no statue of the patron saint of carpenters, God says, "The heck with them. I don't care if those heathens never sell.'' That's the way the Lord of the Universe operates? A kind of a shakedown artist, offering protection for a price?''
My friend laughed. "Well, it can't hurt,'' she said. Is there anybody who can offer a sound theological explanation for this practice?
"Oh, really?'' I said. "Is that the way the universe works? God, with all that he's got on his plate, uses some sort of X-ray vision on the property of Catholic home sellers, and if he spies a hidden statue of Joseph in the sod, awards them a quick and profitable sale. But if there is no statue of the patron saint of carpenters, God says, "The heck with them. I don't care if those heathens never sell.'' That's the way the Lord of the Universe operates? A kind of a shakedown artist, offering protection for a price?''
My friend laughed. "Well, it can't hurt,'' she said. Is there anybody who can offer a sound theological explanation for this practice?
posted by Michael Riley at 3:34 PM
2 Comments:
I've never heard of burying statues, but if you're trying to reconcile logic and religion, you're going to step into deep do-do. From my perspective, burying statues is not much different than lots of the other illogical things which religious people do in their desperate attempt to figure out just what it is God wants us to do. Stop making fun of the Catholics, and examine the intellectual dishonesty of your own beliefs, Mr. Riley.
This tradition of placing a statue of St. Joseph in the garden has been traced to Saint Teresa of Avila, who prayed that Saint Joseph would intercede to obtain land for Christian converts, and encouraged her nuns to bury Saint Joseph medals to consecrate the ground in St. Joseph's name.
St. Teresa prayed to St. Joseph because of his history of and providing for a home for the Holy Family. He relocated his family to Egypt, and so is familiar in the stress of moving. He was also turned away from the inn, and his son was born in a stable, and so is likely to be sympathetic to people with trouble getting or leaving a home.
Praying for Saint Joseph to intervene when selling a home is also a common practice Mr. Riley, you ask for a sound theological explanation for this practice, and I ask you, what don’t you understand about it? What is the explanation for prayer? Appealing to a patron saint or the Lord to intercede on your behalf is a common practice that you’re surely familiar with. You describe God searching for a St. Joseph and handing down judgment accordingly. Is that just idle sarcasm, or do really believe the Lord that mercenary? Do you believe that God causes those not wearing crucifixes to be hit with a bus?
How can you find fault with those with a little faith appealing to St. Joseph and consecrating the ground of the property in his name?
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