Many people (Catholic and non-Catholic) seem to misunderstand the place, meaning, and purpose of relics within the Catholic Church and indeed, the world. This misunderstanding has led some to view relics as objects of worship or objects that are believed to have magical powers. The teaching of the Church is that they are neither. Instead, relics are objects of veneration that call to mind the person or thing that they represent or are a part of. For instance, a relic of St. Paul, whether a piece of his bone or clothing, is suppose to allow us to think about the gift of his witness and fidelity to Christ and the Gospel, and remind us how God used him as an instrument of His truth; in the same way, He chooses us to be instruments of His truth. While all relics are given a fair degree of authenticity, it isn't so much the specific piece of what the relic is that is important, but what it is calling us to in our prayer and faith journey.
With that said, there are three types of relics:
First Class: An actual piece of a holy object or saint.
(a piece of the true cross or a part of a bone from St. Rita)
Second Class: Something that the particular saint owned.
(a piece of St. Francis' habit)
Third Class: Something that touched a first or second class relic.
(a cloth that touched a bone of St. Catherine)
A first-class relic of the Shroud of Turin, generously donated to "The Crucifixion and the Shroud."
The plain, simple, truth is that God uses the material world to show His extraordinary power. This is captured so clearly in Jesus Christ who was fully God, and yet also fully man. Further, Jesus Himself used the material as a means to work His wonders. He used things like spit, mud, water, bread, fish, etc. to display the power of God to the people, and likewise, the presence of God (Emmanuel) in their lives. The objects that He used weren't holy in themselves, but they were used to show the holy, to reveal God in the midst of the people. This is the basis for the Catholic view on the effectiveness of relics--that God can use them to display His power. While in and of themselves, they remind us of the holy person or thing that they are a part of, because they belong to something that is close to God (i.e. saint, etc.), it is reasonable to expect that God can, and might use them to display His power. Miracles from relics should not be expected--nor should one necessarily make a pilgrimage to a Holy site for the sole purpose of experiencing something, however, the Scriptures are quite clear that God uses the holy ones, even if they are dead, to work His wonders. Consider this passage from Scripture, "So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet" (2 Kgs. 13:20-21). God uses the dead body of a saint to bring a man to life! You can't get a clearer, Scriptural proof for relics than this!
In order to fully understand Relics, both Scripturally and in the early Church, I would like to refer you to the link below by Catholic Answers which features a fantastic article on Relics:
"Relics"
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