My understanding of the Mormon Godhead and the Catholic Trinity are as follows. (I apologize for writing God and Jesus so many times…I would prefer to use The Father and The Son because these names are sacred, but in this instance it would be somewhat verbose and possibly confusing.)

Latter-Day Saints believe that the the relationship between God and Jesus (in the spirit sense) is similar to the relationship between your father and you (in the flesh sense). God is also the father of our spirits, and this makes Jesus literally our elder brother in spirit. God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings with three distinct intelligences and personalities. God must converse with Jesus (even today) to inform Him of His will. God and Jesus both have perfect and un-corruptible physical bodies of flesh and bone (but, as exalted beings, their internal organs may differ from ours and serve different purposes; we will eventually obtain similar bodies when we are resurrected). The Holy Ghost does not have a body, and He exists as a spirit only. As a spirit, the Holy Ghost can effectively be everywhere simultaneously, and He acts as a sort of messenger to all, but some of us are more receptive to His promptings than others, according to our faithfulness, and also depending on whether we’ve received the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying-on of hands (which is usually performed within one week of being baptized by water). I could expound upon this a little, but would prefer to check the details first. God and Jesus are one in purpose, but physically and mentally distinct.

(I think) Catholics believe that Jesus and the Holy Ghost are extensions of God, that enable Him to conveniently or efficiently execute His will in different ways. They share one intelligence and one personality. God and the Holy Ghost exist as spirits only (although their precise distinction is unclear to me). Jesus may exist as spirit only (today).

Please correct me if I’ve misrepresented the Catholic perspective. I am curious about it and have many questions to ask, but will save them until someone can confirm or correct my statements so far.

Why wouldn’t you want Mary to pray for you? I take all the prayers I can get.

For the record, I don’t have a problem encouraging Catholic-style prayer in Catholics. As someone who was brought up surrounded by Catholic traditions and learning about the religion even if I didn’t practice it, I know that the rosary isn’t solely about “vain repetitions” as some LDS think, but is more like a meditation on divine topics when properly done. When I attend religious events on the Catholic side, I will pray the rosary, I just omit the parts of the Hail Marys that ask Mary to pray for us because that’s not what I believe. (But I’m not so anal about it that I won’t sing or listen to “Ave Maria”.) Now if somebody asked me “How should prayer be done?” I wouldn’t say “well you could pray the rosary, or you could do it the LDS way…”, but for people who’ve already made up their minds, I don’t think the rosary is a bad thing at all. The Lord loves us all and listens to all our prayers, whether we do them on our knees, while holding on to beads, write them on prayer flags or stick them between cracks in stones.

My grandparents and ancestors were great and godly people who trusted the Lord. My mother-in-law is a paragon of faith. That they are and were Catholic doesn’t change that. My Catholic relatives are people who strive toward the same righteous goals as I do, just in a different way, according to their understanding. I honor them.

And now I’m off to make a rosary for my mother-in-law…