Something About Mary

Happy International Women’s Day! 

On Sunday, I went to mass with my parents after a month of them being away traveling.  We arrived at the parish early and mom said, “I’ll be back I need to go talk to our Lady of Guadalupe, I promised her I would as soon as I got back home.”  She left the pew and visited with Mother Mary for the fifteen minutes before Mass began.  My family has a great devotion to Mother Mary, something that I was not always comfortable with.  Many people have this problem they either ignore her completely or give her way too much attention.  How can they give her too much attention a Catholic would ask?  Well, a priest once told me that during Mass a woman entered the church and while the service was taking place this woman was over by a statue of Mary praying the rosary.  This worried the priest, so after the service he went and told her that when the Eucharist was being celebrated it was better for her to participate in the celebration.  We love our mothers in the Mexican culture, maybe that’s why during services for Our Lady of Guadalupe churches are spilling out with parishioners, but come Easter Vigil and only the hardcore Catholics are in attendance.

More commonly are those that have a Mother Mary allergy.  As soon as she is mentioned these people get defensive.  I once had a cousin come to my house and tell me that Catholicism was great, as long as I ignored the “Mary stuff.”  I understood where he was coming from, since I myself was a reformed Marian devotee.  “Why go to Mary when you have Jesus.” That’s a strong argument, easy to accept because it’s very reasonable.  Yet, a true faith leads us to ask questions to seek the truth.  Jesus had a family a mother and a (foster) father, both nurtured and cared for him throughout most of his life on earth.  These two people will be in heaven and if we believe that one day we too will reach our destination, then we are most likely going to see them there with Jesus.  Can you imagine meeting Jesus at heaven’s door and he asking us to come in and meet his Mother, “This is my mom.”  This thought provoked me because I kept thinking if anyone I care about would ever mistreat my mother or even ignore her I would be terribly hurt.  Our love for Jesus teaches us to respect and hold in high esteem those he loved, his mother included.

I love seeing images of Mother Mary, like her, they lead me to God.  Through her example we can learn so much about holiness and living pious lives because Jesus transformed everything he touched and he lived in her womb for nine months!  She raised him and watched him grow.  She was his mommy, how is that offensive?  Don't be afraid to ask questions to seek the truth our faith should inspire us to grow always.