The Catholic Church condemns idolatry; that is worshipping an idol. (Exodus Chapter 20, Deuteronomy Chapter 5) He doesn't condemn the making of statues, though, he condemns worshipping them.

From the Bible:

• In Deuteronomy, five chapters after condemning idol worship, he has the Jews create statues.
• In 1 King Chapters 5 and 6 we can see that the temple has many images.
• The Catholic Church uses images of saints they want to immitate. Puul tells Christians to immitate him, for example. But, it is in the context of following Christ. We have other great men and women we can immitate.

Praying to Saints:

Jesus Christ gives us the ultimate example.

Lk 39:32

The Mount of Transfiguration. Two men appear to Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Christ converses with them. Prayer is communication; an earnest entreaty.

In Deuteronomy Ch. 34, Moses went up to Mohab and Christ communicates with him. We can do what Luke tells us in 9:31-32. What Christ discussed on the Mount was heavy communication. Because of that, we can say that Moses and Elijah are involved in our redemption.

From the Bible:

• Rev. 5:8 - do what Christ does. John has a vision of heaven. The 24 elders have it.
• Rev. 8:5 - The angels do it too. Then the Angels cast fire down as a result of those prayers.

Praying to Saints predates the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the faithful normally did not contact the dead unless they appeared to them (2 Macc. Chapt. 15). The reason is the saints in heaven didn't have the beatific vision. In the New Testament, there is a different phenomenon. The Saints in heaven receive the prayers from the believers on the earth initiating the prayers.

The reality of the nature of the body of Christ

St. Paul says we're members of the body. Death shall not separate us through the love of Christ, it's the union of one of another - being part of another.

The Holy Spirit works through and in the Body of Christ. The power of the communion of the Saints is the Holy Spirit through the Body of Christ. We see this everywhere in Sacred Scripture.

• Acts 15:28, the Council of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit and "us" agree.
• 1 John 2:20, Holy Spirit leads us into Truth. The Spirit uses the Apostles, uses the Church to communicate that Truth to the believers. It works through the heirarchy and through us to intercede for one another.

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