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Shop Small (and Catholic)

Posted by Cedar House Team on Nov 10th 2021

Shop Small (and Catholic)

We’ve all heard why it’s good to support small businesses: it’s healthy for the economy, it creates jobs and opportunities for small communities, and it helps quality-first manufacturers stay on their feet. It also benefits consumers—who can know that their purchase was crafted with passion and commitment.

We at Cedar House are proud to support small Catholic businesses and creators. We have made it a major part of our mission to continually seek them out and share their unique offerings with our customers.

And we don’t just do that because it makes us feel good about ourselves (although, yeah, it does.) This aspect of our business actually has a very important spiritual purpose: it helps all the faithful come closer to Christ in their own unique way.

As Catholics, we believe in One God. We hold that the Truth is both ultra-specific and universal. But this does not mean that we are all made to live the exact same life. Quite the opposite. We believe that God makes each of us as individuals, no two exactly alike.

The task of the Christian life is to incorporate our whole selves into the Love of God, and this task looks a little bit different for each and every person. If that were not the case, then what need would there be for different religious orders: Franciscans, Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, and so on?

In a similar way, we think that individual Catholic creators are just as important to the Church as big organizations. By expressing their own unique spirituality, they offer others the chance to find types of prayer that are more suited to their own particular needs and desires.

Similarly, each of the small businesses we work with has found a beautiful way to share their own unique spirituality with the world, whether it’s through hand-crafted religious items, home goods, or even delicious snacks from a monastery.

Furthermore, the passion with which they make their products bears an important spiritual reality. As Catholics, we hold that the means are as important as the ends. If you wanted to set up a sacred space in your home, what would you choose: a dispassionately mass-produced home altar; or one that was prayerfully constructed, built for purpose, and built to last? We exist to offer people the chance to make the means of their prayer just as thoughtful as the ends.

The bottom line, though it may seem dramatic, is this: we support small Catholic businesses because it helps increase Christ’s voice in the world. God reveals the infinitude of himself and his love through our own love and works. By pursuing our own unique passions and talents, we demonstrate the limitless ways that God can speak.

So, on behalf of all our sellers on Cedar House, thank you for supporting them.

And on behalf of our customers, thank you, Cedar House Sellers, for your unique addition to our lives as Catholics.