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Mary,
The only website approved or endorsed by the Church is www.vatican.va. Possibly other sites ending in .va. Because website content is fluid and dynamic, there would be no feasible way to ensure that a site would always and only contain approved material.
- Diocesan websites and
- the USCCB.org (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
are trustworthy as well and one could make a good argument that they are approved by the church.
You said:
"My concern about this is that we are not supposed to ask the angels and saints for help, but rather go directly to Jesus.
- Am I correct to be concerned about this website?"
This is a Protestant objection. Asking angels and saints for their prayers and intercession (not worshipping them of course!) is an ancient and thoroughly Catholic idea. For example, in the Confiteor prayer of the Roman Rite we pray,
"... and I ask blessed Mary, ever Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."
In Scripture, we can see how the angels (Revelation 8:5) and saints (Revelation 5:8) play a role in interceding for us, we have seen in Hebrews 12:1 how they surround us like a cloud cheering us on, like spectators at a race, and how they are present with us when we worship at the liturgy (Hebrews 12:22-23). Also see 2 Maccabees 15:12-15 and 2 Maccabees 12:39-45 which portrays saints who have gone before us praying for God's people. We also confess in the Apostle's Creed at the liturgy: a belief in the "Communion of Saints", which is what it is. The classic Roman Catholic prayer of the Rosary beseeches the Blessed Virgin Mary for her intercession. So, this is a wholesome thing.
My own judgment is that Woman of Grace can be trusted. I can't vouch for the other two.
For an online Catholic Bible Study, I'd go with Fr. Mike Schmitz's Bible in a Year. It's a podcast format. It should be available wherever you get podcasts; I'm not sure the best way to go about starting it from the beginning though, perhaps this is a good place to start:
Eric Ewanco
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