Please show me from scripture where bodies were exhumed and put on display for 'veneration'.
Earthly remains of the saints are venerated because the saints are living members of Christ and their bodies, like ours, were temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:15, 19, Eph. 2:19-22). These remains will one day be awakened and glorified (1 Cor. 15:42-54). While the saints were on earth, God bestowed many graces upon his Church through them (2 Cor. 1:11), and he continues to do so now that they are glorified in God's presence (Heb. 12:1). We honor (dulia) the relics, statues, and images of the saints with a veneration that is directed toward the saints themselves, and in honoring the saints we honor Christ whose members they are (1 Cor. 12:27).
Not only were items associated with the saints used by God as conduits of grace, but the saints' physical remains were used by God as well. In 2 Kings 13:20-21 we read that, after the prophet Elisha had died, "while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet." Hardly a more dramatic example of the power of God working through relics could be imagined!
Just curious, Goody, do you ever visit the graves of your deceased family members?