I would like to write about something that means a lot to me and that is my faith! I converted to Catholicism in April of 2009 after a year long journey of learning about the Catholic faith. It is going to be a lifelong journey as I learn more and more everyday. I was baptized Lutheran as a baby and grew up in an Evangelical church so I never imagined that I would end up Catholic. Many of my best friends and family are not Catholic and they probably think I am a little crazy for converting so I wanted to share more about my journey on my blog. I want to be more open about my faith and I am open to questions. This is my journey and I want to share it with you if you are willing to listen. Many people have so many misconceptions about Christianity especially Catholicism so I wanted to write a little bit about some of the misconceptions I had before I converted. I am in no way representing the Catholic Church and I do not have all the answers. In fact, I am still learning so much everyday and firmly believe that I know very little but I am hoping to learn more everyday through the grace of God. I am going to choose one topic each time. This week is Mary.
Myth #1: Catholics worship Mary
I do not worship Mary and neither do most Catholics. If they do worship Mary then they are misguided in their faith. The Catholic Church does not teach us to worship Mary. However, I do now pray to Mary. Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you when you were in need? You could go to God directly but you ask others here on earth to pray for you too as the more you have praying to God the better, right? Let's say your child is sick and you ask friends and family to pray for your child. You see it on blogs all the time where someone is in need and they ask for prayers. I do the same thing with Mary now. I pray to her when I am in need and ask her to pray for my family. She is in heaven and is more alive than any of us on this earth so why not ask someone who is right next to Jesus to pray for you? Catholics believe that you can pray to anyone in heaven and ask them to pray for you to God. We are not worshiping Mary but rather asking her to to talk with God. Next time you are in need of prayer why not pray to Mary who is the mother of God and ask her to pray for your needs. There is so much more that I could write about Mary but I am going to keep it simple for now. I have grown to love her since becoming a mother in so many ways which is crazy because I never used to think about her.
Again, I want to open up about my understanding of the Catholic faith and I am open to questions that you may have.... if you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment please send me an e-mail. I will try and write about a new Catholic topic once a week even if I don't get any comments. I am not here to judge but rather to share about my journey.
