(OK, spoiler alert...they don't.) I was nondenominational when I first met cradle-Catholic Greg. One of the first things I wanted to know was who do Catholics worship? I saw them wearing crucifixes, I know they have Bibles and say the Lord’s Prayer, but they also had statues of Mary and a bunch of other people they prayed to. It confused me. “You say you believe in the Bible. But why do you pray to and worship Mary and the saints? That goes against the Bible." Catholics DON’T worship saints, Mary, or any other creature. We honor them, but we only worship God.  “Well, why do you pray to them then?” What we actually do is ask those who are in heaven, in God’s presence, to pray with us and for us. The reason we ask the saints to pray for us can be summed up in two sentences:  1. We believe ”The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” ( James 5:16 ) 2. And we believe in the Communion of Saints. The Church is Christ’s body with Christ as the head ( Eph 5:23 ), an...

It is customary for Catholics to have a small prayer garden or garden devoted to our Blessed Mother. In this quiet little space we can come to sit in peace, to be reminded to pray, and to leave all our cares at the feet of our Lord and our Blessed Mother.   My patio prayer garden is where I enjoy making my rosaries .  Prayer gardens do not have to be elaborate to bring peace and reflection. Here are 4 easy steps to get started. 1. Choose a space outdoors where you naturally gravitate to feel at peace. Is it under a tree in your back yard? On your patio? On your apartment balcony? 2. Intentionally set aside that space for prayer and reflection. 3. Choose plants that will adapt to the amount of sunlight and moisture in your space. You can plant flowers or you can choose and arrange potted plants.  4. Choose an item that reminds you to pray. A cross? A statue? A water fountain? You can buy something, you can browse flea markets, or you can create something yourself. You don’...

 Our family has started the 54 Day Rosary Novena, and I hope you will join us.  Now, more than ever, Christians need to be united, praying for our world, praying for peace.  If you are seeing this "too late", it's OK, start now!  If you can't pray a whole rosary, just pray one decade. If you are "too busy", pray in your car, in the waiting room, at lunch, wherever you are. If you miss a day, pick up where you left off the next day.  Just start praying...and keep going! If you need a rosary, just ask. I have free rosaries available. Or look around in my Etsy shop for the one that draws you.

 Today is the Feast of the Assumption, the day Catholics celebrate Mary being assumed into heaven. There is a lot of misinformation about what Catholics actually believe about Mary. We are regularly accused of being idolaters and Mary-worshippers. If you want to talk to Catholics about our beliefs, you won't get anywhere by accusing us of something we don't believe and don't do. (Here’s what we actually believe and practice .) We regularly hear "but that's not in the Bible!" Maybe not explicitly, but definitely implicitly. (Like the doctrine of the Trinity.) It was St. Augustine who said “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed." Many of our Catholic beliefs about Mary flow from our understanding that she is the Ark of the New Covenant.  The old Ark of the Covenant contained mere symbols: the Ten Commandments, manna, and Aaron’s staff. Mary contained within her womb the fulfillment of those symbols—the Word Incarnate, the Bread of ...