This is a great question, and it touches on so much of what Catholics believe about Mary. I’ll throw out a few different ideas here, and hopefully one or more of them will resonate with you.
First of all, the fact that you have the desire to heal this relationship means that you’re already on your way. I’d start by telling Mary more about the struggles you and your mom have had, and explaining why you want this relationship healed. Imagine that you’re speaking to a good girlfriend about this and asking for her prayers (that is, after all, what we do when we pray to Mary – we ask for her intercession on our behalf). You may even find that the experience of articulating all of this background helps you notice things…

If you were to read all four gospels thoroughly in search of Jesus’ teachings on homosexuality it would be a futile endeavor. Not only would you come to the end of the gospels without finding anything attributed to Jesus on the subject, you wouldn’t even find a single reference to the issue in any context…

It comes from the Miraculous Medal, which is a small medal often worn by Catholics. In 1830, a young French nun named Catherine Labouré had several visions of Mary. In one of these visions, she saw Mary standing on a globe with a snake (Satan) under her feet. Around the image of Mary, Catherine saw the words “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” Mary asked Catherine to have medals made in her likeness, telling Catherine that those who wore the medal and confidently prayed the prayer on it would receive great graces. It’s come to be called the Miraculous Medal because some who wear it prayerfully have reported what they claim to be miraculous occurrences.
The Miraculous Medal is…

From its inception, the apostolic Church spread east and west. In due time the churches in these areas took on the language, traditions and culture in which they found themselves. In the west, the Church grew up in the predominantly Roman Latin culture and became the Roman Catholic Church. In the east, the Church became more and more associated with Greek Byzantium. Each developed its own legitimate and distinctive spirituality, liturgical tradition and internal discipline. For the first thousand years, both allowed married men to be ordained, while monks and religious maintained celibate chastity. Beginning in the 11th century, for a variety of reasons, some spiritual, some practical, the Latin Church…

No! This is a common misconception about the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal. The new missal is not better than the words we have been praying for 40 years…it is just a different way to pray. How is the new missal different? A different tool was used for translation from the original Latin text. In the 1975 Sacramentary (the book we previously used), translators used a tool call Dynamic Equivalence, which focused on translating the meaning of a phrase. In the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal, translators used Formal or Direct Equivalence, which translates word-for-word from the original Latin text. Neither form of prayer is better or worse than the other. And finally, neither one is an incorrect way to pray —…

There is almost no information in the Gospels about what Mary was doing or where she was during the years of Jesus’ ministry. One story we do have, told by three of the four evangelists (Mark 3: 31-35, Luke 8:19-21, and Matthew 12:46-50), talks about how Mary and Jesus’ brothers come looking for him. The use of the word “brothers” here is often understood to refer to half-brothers or cousins; the New American Bible footnote for Mark 6:3 explains this in more detail. It’s very likely that these unnamed relatives were the ones who were caring for Mary while her son was doing his ministry, but we have no way of knowing for sure.…

The Catholic theologian Gerald O’Collins, S.J., has called the writings of the prophet Isaiah “the fifth gospel.” By this he means that so many of the themes of the gospels, enfleshed in their portrayal of Jesus, have their scriptural beginnings in Isaiah. Isaiah’s connection to the story of Jesus seems particularly strong in the Advent and Christmas seasons. Even the prophet’s name — Isaiah means “Yahweh saves” — foretells the Christmas story.
The book of Isaiah is one of the longest books in the Old Testament and the writings within it were composed over a period of so many years that most scholars believe there were at least three “prophet…

Question:  I dropped by a local parish recently to visit the Lord in their perpetual adoration chapel. When I got there, however, there were no other “adorers” there and the Precious Body was covered by a cloth. My question is this: Why cover Him up? It doesn’t make the host cease to be the Body of Christ, right? And covered or not, He is well aware that the chapel is empty, right? To be honest, it kind of reminded me of when I had a pet bird as a kid. At night, we would cover the cage with a towel so the bird would sleep. Haha I know it isn’t the same concept at work, but the similarities struck me as funny! Thanks for your time!

Indeed I agree with you, this doesn’t make much sense and several liturgy…

Marriage in the Catholic Church is different from civil marriage. It is no mere legal contract, easily made and easily broken; rather, it is a covenantal relationship in which a man and woman commit their whole selves to each other, in love and fidelity, for the rest of their lives. The Church recognizes marriage as a sacrament, a special sign of God’s love in the world for the couple and for those around them, especially any children that they are blessed to have. In short, it’s a big deal. So the Church wants to be absolutely certain that couples enter into marriage only after the proper preparation that, with God’s grace, allows them to freely make this commitment and be true to it for richer or poorer, for better…

Every Mass that we celebrate is directed by the Bishop whether the Bishop is there in person or whether he has appointed a priest to celebrate the Mass (General Instruction for the Roman Missal #92). When the Bishop is present at the Mass, he will often preside over the entire Liturgy. In the event he does not preside for the entire Mass, he will at least preside over the Liturgy of the Word and give the Final Blessing. There are special procedures regarding what to do when a Bishop is present at Mass. The most visible procedures will be regarding the bishop’s mitre and crozier (two of the Bishop’s liturgical regalia). Throughout the Mass, there are times when the Bishop will need to wear his mitre and hold his crozier…

Fees for a wedding ceremony go directly to the parish and are generally applied to administrative expenses: church upkeep and utilities, staff time and paperwork. The pastor receives a salary from the parish; weddings and other celebrations are part of his job and he isn’t paid according to how many he does. But, as you well know, a lot of time and energy goes into preparing a couple for marriage and into preparing for the wedding liturgy itself. Also, as you can probably imagine, the pastor isn’t paid very much – no one enters the ministry seeking to get rich! Thus it is gracious of you to offer a small sum to the priest who witnesses your marriage, as a way to thank him for his effort in helping you to prepare. The…

The Gloria and the Creed are reserved for our most solemn holy days, which includes the Sunday Celebration of the Eucharist and any other holy days in the Church (including Solemn Feast Days). The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (nos. 53 and 68) states that the Gloria should always be sung (or said) on Sundays (except during the seasons of Advent and Lent). The Creed should be said or sung at all Sunday celebrations and solemnities. Why is this the case? The Gloria and the Creed are not necessary for a celebration of the Mass, and indeed are ornate ways to express the faith that we believe. Therefore, we reserve these beautiful expressions for our most solemn and festive occasions.…

If you’re planning a Catholic wedding, then you and your fiancé have been working closely with your priest throughout the preparation process. He has probably met with you many times, helped you to arrange for an engaged encounter and/or marriage preparation classes, and guided you through the liturgical planning for the ceremony. Over this time you have come to know each other fairly well and he has become an important support for you as you prepare to enter the sacrament of marriage. Not only is it appropriate for you to invite him to the reception, but it is also a kind way to thank him for helping you on the journey. He would be delighted to celebrate with you – priests enjoy a good party as much as anyone else!…

Question: Being a confirmed catholic in 2008, does attending a non-denominational Christian church go against a person’s Catholic beliefs? Also, is receiving communion at a non-denominational church also against the Catholic beliefs?
Attending a non-denominational church is does not go against Catholic beliefs, but receiving communion in that same church is not possible at this time. The key concept here is that of “real but imperfect communion.” In the Decree on Ecumenism (“Unitatis Redintegratio”) of the Second Vatican Council, the Council fathers state: “Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church…

The USCCB has released a statement regarding flags in Church. Officially, there are no rules regarding state or national flags in the Church and the USCCB leaves it to the local bishop’s discretion on when, or if, to display flags in Church. Remember , in the Liturgy, we celebrate the living, dying and rising of Christ and all the symbols present in our Church and sanctuary lead us deeper into this Paschal Mystery. The presence of a national or state flag does not lead us deeper into the Paschal Mystery of Christ and therefore, its presence in the worship space should be strongly discouraged. At funerals, when a US Flag drapes the coffin, the Rite of Christian Burial says that any flag displayed over the coffin must…

Priests should dress tastefully and modestly, just as we all should, whether they are “on” or “off” duty. But, except for members of some religious orders that wear habits, they don’t have to follow any specific dress code. Black clothes and the Roman collar are extremely common for parish priests in the United States but are certainly not required. Depending on the community in which a priest is serving, he may never wear them or may wear them only on special occasions. Some priests may choose to dress in black and wear a Roman collar when they are at work, and then to wear different clothes when they are out of the office or away from the parish, as a sign to others (and to themselves) that they are taking a day…

Militant atheism is one of the worst forms of proselytism. It is definitely a belief system which seeks to impose its will on those who might have differing opinions. To combat militant atheism on campus, do these four things:
1. Pray. Why? Because it works. Pray for the conversion of those who seek to impose a militant atheism on college campuses. Pray for the faculty and administration to be open to the initiatives of faith based organizations on campus. Pray, pray, pray.
2. Refuse to be irrelevant. A university environment is supposed to be one that welcomes the free exchange of ideas. In fact, your rights to this are guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States, as is your right to freely associate with other…

No, Mary did not write a Gospel, or anything else that we know of.
There is a text that is known as the Gospel of Mary, but the Mary in question is Mary Magdalene, not Mary the mother of Jesus. It’s an apocryphal text, meaning that it is written in the style of sacred Scripture but is not considered to be divinely inspired. You can read Joe Paprocki’s answer on the Gospel of Mary here.…

If your only disagreement with your family about your wedding has to do with your aunt’s voice, you’re probably ahead of the game. But in the interest of family harmony, rather than reminding your mom that your aunt is no American Idol, get someone who’s a little removed from the situation to make your point for you. If you’re concerned about her singing during the liturgy, ask the parish wedding coordinator to help you arrange for musicians from the parish music ministry; you can tell your family that the church gives preference to its trained liturgical music ministers. If you’re concerned about her singing at the reception, give the DJ a heads up and ask him/her to keep things rolling and not give up the…

Unlike the Catholic Church, Buddhism is not hierarchically organized. Therefore, there is no earthly, physical head of the Buddhist religion as a whole. That being said, there are spiritual masters and abbots of monasteries who have a definite prominence within Buddhist communities. Probably the most well known of these figures is Tenzin Gyatso, better known to the world as H. H. The 14th Dalai Lama who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. The central institution in most Buddhist communities is the monastery. Like in Western monasticism, the Abbot or Abbess of the monastery is charged with the physical and spiritual well being of those in his or her care. To find out more, visit the site of the Interreligious…