Calling all Catholic newbies! Here are two fantastic free Catholic resources for you to help get to know your new Church :).

CatholicCity.com

I recently discovered this website after picking up a free CD at my parish. It offers free booklets and audio CDs that are super helpful. I grabbed the audio CD of the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet and have been using it almost every day. These are great, especially if you have not memorized the prayers yet. Stick it in your CD player and turn it on when driving. Pray along with them and boom! you’ve got your prayers done for the day.

Even if you do have the prayers memorized (I’ve got the Rosary down, but not the Divine Mercy Chaplet yet), I liked this better than praying on my own in the car. It makes you feel like you’re praying WITH others. Plus, it has additional prayers on here that I don’t have memorized like the Morning Offering and St. Michael prayer. LOVE IT!

DynamicCatholic.com

If you’re an avid reader, you’ll want to check out Matthew Kelly’s DynamicCatholic.com site where you can get his and other Catholic books for FREE. If you read my blog, you know how important Kelly’s “Rediscovering Catholicism” book was to my conversion and I encourage everyone to get their hands on it. He also has other great books you can delve into. Please note, you do have to pay shipping.

Got any other great free resources for Catholicism? Please share!

Credit: SoulCore

Our bodies are a gift from God and they are an essential part of our being. Someday, we will reunite with our bodies in heaven. So we should honor our bodies here on earth as the divine gifts they are in everything from the clothing we wear to the food we eat to keeping it in healthy physical shape.

SoulCore, a program started by a parishioner in Carmel, Ind., offers a new way to honor your body with physical exercises while praying the Rosary, something Our Lady has asked us to do every day! What a wonderful way to accomplish two important tasks at the same time — and in the company of others with the same intentions.

SoulCore combines core exercises, similar to Pilates and yoga postures, with praying the Rosary. Here is a video that helps explain the program:

Started by parishioners within my diocese of Lafayette, Ind., I first heard about this in my local Catholic newspaper and local Catholic radio station. As a former practitioner of yoga before joining the Catholic Church, I was excited about the idea, but classes were not offered close enough to me to try it.

Our parish purchased a DVD version and invited parishioners to do the program together while watching the DVD and so I have now done the program many times. I really enjoy it and highly recommend it to others. It’s a peaceful respite in the midst of a hectic world and accomplishes two very important tasks that should be at the top of all of our to-do lists.

One note, for those of you who practice yoga. Did you know that yoga and Catholicism don’t jive? Here’s a great post on the subject from Spiritual Direction.

Essentially, there’s nothing wrong with the poses, but you must be sure the “intention” of your exercise is not directed to Gods or religions or other things that don’t fit within Christianity. And you certainly should not be saying words of which you don’t know the meaning.

SoulCore involves similar exercises (afterall, yoga doesn’t have a trademark on stretches and body exercises!), but with the proper intention of lifting our thoughts to Jesus and Mary.

According to the founders of SoulCore, while the program hasn’t been “officially” approved by the bishop of our Lafayette, Ind., diocese, Timothy Doherty, he did come talk with the founders, blessed the project and is “fully supportive” of it. He also encouraged our diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Moment, to write an article. SoulCore has also been featured on Seize the Day with Gus Lloyd on the Catholic Channel on Sirius XM radio and on EWTN’s The Son Rise Morning Show.

Says Colleen Scariano, co-founder, “We also have the full support of our pastor Fr. Doerr at Our Lady of Mt Carmel parish, as well as area priests, including Fr. Joshua Janko at Guerin Catholic [High School] and Fr. Haan at St. Elizabeth Seton [parish].” I can also say that Fr. O’Keefe of my parish, St. Alphonsus Liguori in Zionsville, also approves since he is permitting an organized gathering to do the program.

Want to try SoulCore? You can order a DVD or, if you happen to be local, they offer classes in Noblesville, Ind., and at Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind. You can also join us at St. Alphonsus on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:45 a.m. (right after daily mass at 9 a.m.) at the Parish Hall to do the program as a group. Let me know if you try it and what you think!

If you try it, let me know what you think!

St. Therese of Lisieux, the “little flower,” is my confirmation saint and I am much devoted to her! Through PrayMoreNovenas.com, I’ve been praying a novena to her leading up to her feast day Wednesday, October 1.

It’s said that when praying a novena to St. Therese, you should look for roses as signs. Those were her favorite flower and she is often associated with them. I have very special intentions for this novena, so I was hoping for another such sign. You can read my past signs and experiences with St. Therese here.

Tonight, I dropped my kiddos off at their religious education classes at our parish for the first time this school year and returned to pick them up 45 minutes later. I walked to the end of the hall to wait for my youngest. As I stood there waiting at the very end, I looked up and literally right in front of me was a large St. Therese statue that I have never noticed before. I had no idea our parish had a statue of my saint until she was right on top of me last night! In the statue she is carrying a large bouquet of roses.

I consider that my novena sign that she is praying for me. I highly encourage you to pray to St. Therese! She is a gentle, lovely, powerful saint whose prayers are heard by God and who is much devoted to our Blessed Mother. Remember her on her feast day this Wednesday. Pray for us, St. Therese!

Are looking for peace in your life? I know that’s what drew me to the Catholic Church. I have the answer: don’t worry, just work!

When you are a follower of Christ, you know that you can give everything to Him, or to his Blessed Mother whom he has designated as the dispenser of all grace and our advocate. Jesus and Mary WANT to take your worry and your stress and your anxiety and your problems and give you peace in return.

I recently finished reading Gary Zimak’s new book “From Fear to Faith: A Worrier’s Guide to Discovering Peace.” Gary is a renowned Catholic speaker on the topic of worry and anxiety, and he outlines this important process in his 5-step plan to let go of worry and find peace. He was recently on one of my favorite Catholic radio shows, Catholic Answers Live, discussing the topic, which you can watch here:

For Gary, the first step in letting go of worry and finding peace is: Prepare.

You do this by prayerfully asking God to help you with a given problem and by asking Mary, and any of the saints, to pray for you regarding this problem. Then, you look for signs from God (you WILL see them if you’re paying attention) and do the “work” He is asking you to do. We can’t expect God to take care of the whole problem without us doing our part; however, we need to be sure “our part” is His will and we do so through prayer and careful discernment.

Then, do everything that’s in your power to help solve the problem. If you need a job, polish your resume and look for work. If you’re sick, go to the doctor and follow his or her orders. If you’re having a problem with a family member, speak the words you feel called to say, asking the Holy Spirit to speak through you.

Then… let God do the rest. His will be done! And be at peace.

Gary gives several wonderful examples of this process in the Bible. First is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Jesus gives the apostles work to do: ordering the crowd and distributing the food. The apostles did the work and Jesus performed the miracle, creating more than enough food for everyone.

Another example would be the Wedding Feast at Cana where Jesus began his public ministry. After Mary’s statement that the married couple had no more wine, Jesus directs the workers in filling jars with water. Then… HE performs the miracle that solves the problem.

I recently had a similar issue with my mother, who was completely against moving to a new home, which really is a necessity for her financial stability. I had done everything I could to help her with her finances and run out of options. Out of no where, a friend suggested this VERY SAME new place to live and she was suddenly miraculously convinced that it was not just the right thing for her but something she really wanted to do. I did the work I could; God performed the miracle. Thanks be to God!

This has happened to me so many times in the last couple years since becoming Catholic and especially since consecrating myself to Jesus through Mary and praying the rosary daily. If you pay attention and give your live over to God, these things will happen to you. I hope you are able to recognize them as the work of God and remember to give thanks :). Let these miracles uplift you as you encounter the next problem in your life.

Do you see how this works? Can you stop worrying and just work? Totally trust God to do the rest? You will be blessed in abundance if so. Even if His solution is not your solution, you will have peace about it — whatever it may be.