I have never been shy about my faith and because of it I have heard many alarming and eventually annoying statements and questions. I just want to start off by saying that I do not hate it when people ask about my faith, that's not the issue here. The problem is when other Christians try to morph what Catholics believe in into something completely inaccurate just because they don't understand it and aren't willing to. Here's a list of 10 things that Catholics really wish that some other Christians (certainly not all) would stop saying.

1. "So are you Christian or Catholic?"

Same, Brit.

Let's break it down. A Christian is "one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ" (Thank You, Merriam-Webster). If you've ever heard a Catholic talk about their faith, I think it's safe to say that they've mentioned Jesus. As Catholics, we believe in God and we believe that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. We profess this belief through our actions and literally through our words as we recite the Nicene's Creed (adopted by a number of Christian denominations) every Mass. So to answer your question, "Am I Christian or am I Catholic?" Yes.

2. "Catholics worship Mary, they literally pray to her."

We do not worship Mary but we honor her. We admire her for her courage and her willingness to serve God in the way that she so humbly and wholeheartedly did. Also, no, we don't pray to her. The Hail Mary is a way to ask her to pray for us just as you would ask anyone else to pray over you.

3. "Catholics just sit, kneel, and stand...they don't even worship."

Excuse me, but just because we don't worship the way others do, doesn't mean that we don't worship. We love some Matt Maher and Chris Tomlin but we also love our hymns. Oh, and the sitting, kneeling, and standing, yeah that's also how we worship. Every movement has meaning. Every knee bent, every hand raised, every head bowed, every word spoken all comes together to share in the praise and the glory of our Lord.

It's also great aerobics.

4. "Catholics think only doing good things gets them to heaven."

Well, we do like to do good things. However, we don't do good things to make ourselves feel better and we certainly don't think of doing good things as heaven's flash pass. As any Christian believes, there is only one way into the Kingdom of Heaven, and that is through our Savior Jesus Christ. The good works that we perform are not meant as a bargaining chip but as a way for us to share God's love for all his children. It's not about doing something to get God's love, which we all as people have unconditionally, it's about doing something because of His love and how it changes us.

5. "Catholics only care about tradition."

True, tradition is important to us, but just like any family tradition, it is not the sole source of our belief system. The traditions we have serve as way for us to honor and celebrate our God and our faith in Him. Just like every movement in a mass, every tradition has meaning if you're willing to actually learn about it. It's all meant to bring us closer to the one who gave it all.

6. "Catholics don't have a real relationship with Jesus."

This statement is normally a conclusion after the first five points of this article. Therefore, please refer to my responses to the first five points of this article. But for the sake of clarity, Catholics wouldn't do any of the things we do if we didn't think it was bringing us closer to Jesus.

Once again, I love every part of my faith because it allows me to become closer to God each and every single day. Catholicism is how God reveals Himself to me and to many others. I understand that some people may actually fall into the general negative Catholic stereotypes, which is a shame, but those people are not representative of what the Catholic faith should be. Sweeping generalizations have never helped any group of people. If you don't understand something, please do everyone a favor and at least try to understand before you make a judgment. God loves each and every one of us the same so as Christians it's our job to love each other as Christ loves us.

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