not superstition to keep these relics, why should it be
superstition to keep the relics of the saints?

Even God Himself honored the relics of saints, for He has often
performed or granted miracles through their use. We read in the Bible (4
Kings 13:21)--and it is the word of God--that once some persons who were
burying a dead man, seeing their enemies coming upon them, hastily cast
the body into a tomb and fled. It was the tomb of the holy prophet
Eliseus, and when the dead body touched the bones of this great servant
of God, the dead man came to life and stood erect. Here is at least one
miracle that God performed through the relics of a saint.

God does not forbid the mere making of images, but only the making of
them as gods. He gave the Commandments to Moses and afterwards told him
to make images; namely, angels of gold for the temple. (Ex. 25:18). Now,
God does not change His mind or contradict Himself as men do. Whatever
He does is done forever. Therefore if He commanded Moses by the First
Commandment not to make any images, He could not tell him later to make
some. It is not the mere making, therefore, that God forbids, but the
adoring. What He insists upon is: "You shall not adore or serve the
images you make." This is very clear if we consider the history of the
Israelites, to whom God first gave the law. They were the only nation in
the whole world that knew and worshipped the true God, and often, as I
told you, they fell into idolatry and really worshipped images. When
Moses delayed on the mountain with God, and they thought he was not
coming back, they made a golden calf and adored it as a god. (Ex. 32).

The Israelites fell into idolatry chiefly by associating with persons
not of the true religion. Let us learn from their sins never to run the
risk of weakening or losing our faith by making bosom friends and steady
companions of those not of the true religion or of no religion at all.
You are not, however, to treat any person with contempt or to despise
anyone, but to look upon all as the children of God, and pray for those
not of the true religion, that they may be converted and saved.

342 Q. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ
and His saints?
A. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and
His saints, because they are the representations and memorials of them.

343 Q. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics
of the saints?