Three different people have offered us their St Joseph statues to bury in our yards. They all tell me that if I bury him upside down facing the house and then pray
"Oh, St. Joseph, guardian of household needs, we know you don't like to be upside down in the ground, but the sooner escrow closes, the sooner we will dig you up and put you in a place of honor in our new home. Please bring us an acceptable offer (or any offer!) and help sustain our faith in the real estate market."our house will sell.
I have a problem with this.
First of all this isn't religion, it's voodoo. It just has the feel of casting some sort of spell instead of trusting in God. Asking the real St Joseph for prayers - I have no problem with. I've been asking for his help for a while now. Threatening a piece of plastic and putting our faith in it? There's just something about that that seems a bit off.
They tell me, "It's not what you think. You're making a bigger thing of it that it really is. It's just a dumb thing that people do." (This really is what they've all told me.)
They're either threatening a piece of plastic which is stupid, or they're threatening a saint. (They're threatening and blackmailing the step-father of Christ!) That's about as dumb as it gets as far as I'm concerned. Added to this is the fact that they aren't asking for his prayers to strengthen their faith in God, but in the real estate market.
Y'all, this is just all kinds of wrong.
You can tell me all you like about how burying this dumb statue sold your house, but threatening a saint to get more money so that you can have more faith in the things of this world? How does that sound like a good idea?
The only people who can profit from this nonsense are the people selling the stupid kits.
Want some real help? How about asking God for guidance? How about asking St Joseph for prayers for the sale of your house? Because the thing is..... St Joseph doesn't have the power to sell our house. He just knows who to talk to about that.
**Just so you know, the Church isn't in favor of this kind of superstitious nonsense.
When asked about this practice, Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan said that while the Church encourages devotion to saints, it does mind "superstitions and sales gimmicks. 'If it's a pious practice, of just a way of some devotion to Joseph, then it's fine,' said Omaha Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan.
'(But) if it's the kind of thing that is superstitious, that is, there's some kind of infallible result, then I think the church would frown on it. Because we don't look upon any kind of intercession with the saints or any kind of prayers as having those kind of infallible results.' "
21 comments:
Someone needs to send this to every "Catholic goods" store in the country who carries the stupid kits.
I'm talking to you, St. Patrick's Guild in St. Paul, Minnesota.
I love dear St. Joseph. When we sold our house last year, I struggled with this same thing. Finally I got a special little St. Joseph statue and put it on the mantel--no way would I bury him in the yard!! I think he liked it up there--our house went under contract in less than 2 weeks. :)
Isn't the point of your blog to "make a bigger thing of it than it really is?" Isn't that the charm of your writer's voice to take an everyday, pedestrian, moment and open people's eyes to genuine significance, love, respect, reverence, joy, etc.? Jus' sayin'....
I remember doing research on this, and the original idea was to buy a nice statue I'd St. Joseph, have him blessed, bury him on the property in a plastic bag or box, and ask for his intercession in the sale of the home. However, then when the house sells you are supposed to dig him up and display the statue in your new home.
If people do it that way, I don't have a problem, but I agree that when people get superstitious about it is not good. I have often wondered how many cheap St. Joseph statues are buried in the ground long forgotten. :(
I actually really like the mantel idea!
I hope your house sells soon! That stinks about the competition down the street. :(
Glad you got the package! :) sorry it's so late!
I know what you mean and that which you quoted is horrid. We found a novena online to St. J, but it was beautiful, asked help and prayers in many areas, and threat-free.
Ann- I have absolutely no problem with a novena. (We're in the middle of one.) I just think the whole "upside down statue and threaten a saint" thing is not okay.
Novenas - yes
Superstition- no
I am with you one hundred percent!!!!! WELL SAID!
It's a bit like the whole thing about putting a statue of the Child of Prague in the front garden to get good weather. (I don't think any threats are involved there, though...)
My wonderful, delightful grandmother did that in order to get good weather for my cousin's baptism once. The thing was, she put it in a plastic bag so that it wouldn't get wet if it rained -- this is Ireland, after all! I guess there's no harm in covering all bases!!! :-D
I've always felt a bad reaction in my gut when people have told me of the whole 'bury the statue' thing to sell your house. You are 100% correct, it is superstitious and it treats what should be holy reminders of our faith with disrespect. Your house WILL sell! In MI houses sit for YEARS unsold and then the bank gets them back, I'm glad you aren't in MI. -Loretta
WOW. Mom, the world just got really, really small... I know the priest* quoted in that article!!!! =)
I'm a lurker who's enjoyed your blog for some time. I have to say though that I almost fell out of my chair when I clicked on that link! For what it's worth, I called and talked to the priest quoted and the first thing he said was, "I hope it didn't sound like I was endorsing the superstition!"
Another funny tidbit is that while the store mentioned in the article still exists (and I have no idea if they're still selling St. Joseph statues or not), we have another Catholic bookstore in town that for many years had on their main counter a laminated article from our diocesan paper explaining why St. Joseph's intercession was okay, but the statue-burying superstition was not. So take heart! =)
* If you don't believe me, feel free to email and quiz me about this priest!
I totally agree. When we were selling our house, my mom sent me one of those kits. Unlike many others I have seen, this one *didn't* instruct you to bury the little plastic statue, but it did include prayers and the very good advice to do all the things you needed to do with your house, price it fairly, *and* pray. Which we did. A lot :) Our house sold quickly, and St. Joseph very kindly helped with all the obstacles that came with the house we were dying to buy (which was bank-owned, foreclosed on twice in a row; there were crazy title issues...)
The only thing that I might be a *little* embarrassed about is the fact that, once our house was sold, I took my little plastic statue over to the new house (which we didn't have a contract on yet) and put it inside. I just thought if St. Joseph went first, everything would be sure to follow, I guess!
Good luck with your house! I'll say a prayer for you!
Sometime I'll tell you a funny story about this subject but for now, I'll tell you this:
Once a big family was getting ready to move to Texas. They had heard from people at church about burying the St. Joseph statue in the yard so they figured "What the heck, can't hurt." and they buried it in the garden. The next Sunday, they told the lady at church about how they hadn't sold their home and when the lady found out where they had buried it, she was aghast. "NO!" she said, "You have to bury it upside-down!!!" They tried it and they STILL couldn't sell their home... so this went on and on. They heard multiple ways to bury the statue and multiple locations in the yard. Finallly, they got so sick of it all, in a frustrated fit they threw the plastic statue in the garbage. A few days later, the headline in the morning paper read: "Landfill sold after 10 years on the market!"
Superstitious nonsense like that makes all Catholics look bad. Statues have no power. Pray does. Prayer is going up for your house.
+JMJ+
Go to Openhouseok.com and look at what they do. Take pics of your house like that and post them on your blog!
God declares in 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Proverbs 3:5-6 says to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight."
Therefore, if we truly trust God and He tells us that Jesus is the ONE mediator between Himself and us, then why, why, why do we think prayer to a saint is a better option? Do we think God will listen more closely to a saint than He would His own Son? The bible says “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) Do we think some scripture is simply not applicable to ourselves?
Are there any instances of believers praying to saints in Heaven anywhere in the bible? God COMMANDS "You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods" (Exodus 20:4-5).
A believer who prays to a saint INSTEAD of God THROUGH the ONE mediator (JESUS) is like a child going through a dear family friend to get the attention of his mother's heart. If that were your child, how would that make you feel? Imagine then, how God must feel when we break His Command and trust not in Him with our whole heart?
I mean not to offend, but there is only one Truth. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) Why would Jesus say that if it weren't so?
I mean not to offend. I’m spent nearly 40 years of my life as a Catholic who knew “about” Jesus. I just didn’t KNOW Him. And now that I’ve been given New Life in Christ, I have never been so free or so sure of my salvation since the moment I stopped listening to man and started trusting in the Lord, my God and Savior, Jesus Christ. My heart breaks for those who don’t understand the Truth about who Jesus is, and clearly, praying to saints above Him is not understanding who He is or what He did for us on that cross.
Feel free to respond, but please don’t be angry with my message. It is not my own. It is God’s.
In Christ, with Love, Laurie
Well said. I'm thankful and confident in God's ability to both lead us and allow us to use the wisdom and insights he gave us to make wise choices about lots of things including house purchases.
Keep writing and climbing!
Laurie, does it break your heart if a Christian friend prays to God for you? Then why would it break your heart if a Christian in Heaven prays to God for you?
The Body of Christ is one, and those in Heaven are not separated from it or from us. We are all parts of the same Body.
And of course, we Catholics pray directly to God as well.
Blessings!
Laurie, please come to my blog. We often talk of things like this. And if you want to see more Catholic answers to your concerns, please go here:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Praying_to_the_Saints.asp
And here:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp
Blessings!
Sorry, Laurie (and The Mom!), but one more quick thing:
It sounds like you may be around my age (I am almost 44)? If so, you might really relate to my Catholic upbringing, which I wrote about here:
http://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/p/i-was-robbed-my-journey-home-to_31.html
I agree with you that we missed a lot. But let's talk!
One more thought on this, Mom...I understand that the Rosary Novena is very, very powerful. I have friends who definitely attribute their home sales to the completion of this devotion.
Perhaps that's the Novena that you're already praying?
xox
I am glad my puny radar picked up on this one. I heard it, shook my head, and thought that is just not right and I know the Church would not support this silliness. And, of course, your ads are for this very thing at "good fortune dot net" or "bury st. joseph dot com". seriously?
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