Mary the mother of God, the perfect mother, by her son’s side, from conception to death. Never wavering, humble, never doubting, always faithful. Her first answer to God, a resounding “Yes”, yes to the Joy, yes to the journey, yes to the pain, and yes to the sorrow. The world’s first Christian, the first to say yes to Jesus. Mary, our spiritual mother in heaven, Mary mother of God.
Although, there might be some who abuse their relationship with Mary, by spending more time thinking about her, than her son, this is not the teaching of the Church. Some people of different faiths feel that if they pay to much attention to Mary, it my be construed as the worship that is only do to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, so they end up paying no attention to her at all.
The bible say’s in Luke 1:46-49; “And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me.” Mary is someone to be honored, and venerated, not feared or worshiped. I remember going to church with a friend from another faith, I don’t remember the place in scripture they were reading, but I remember the preacher bringing up Mary, I don’t know if it was on my behalf, or not, but, the preacher told us that Mary was just a vessel that God used, to bring his son to earth. That we shouldn’t lift her up to any place of honor. I remember being so upset, because I couldn’t understand how someone could say that about her. It’s almost as if some people are ashamed of her.
I once told someone this story to help them understand how we need to recognize Mary for who she was, the Mother of God, and not be ashamed, or fear that they are worshiping her if they give her the honor that she deserves. Here’s how the story goes; One day when I was in junior high my mom was giving me a ride to school. We all know junior high was a weird time, lots of changes. But anyway, when we were getting close to the school, and I started seeing kids walking to school, I ducted down so no one would see me with my mom, because I was embarrassed, (for which I had no reason), but nevertheless, I ducted, motioning to my mom from a ducted position with my arms, drop me off over there, away from where all the kids were. She honored my request, and took me where I wanted to go. She stopped the car, I got out, like nothing had just happened, oblivious to what I did, and said by mom, and went on my merry way.
For the next week or so I never gave it a second thought, but I did notice something different about my mom, something wasn’t right. I couldn’t pin it down, but I knew something was wrong, and that mom looked sad, but I didn’t have a clue why. So finally, I went up to my her, and said, what’s going on, you look sad, are you O.K.? She told me she was fine, but I didn’t believe her, so I asked her again. She asked me, do you really want to know? I say yes! She told me, remember the day I took you to school, and you ducted down because you were embarrassed to be with me in front of your friends? At that moment, it was like someone hit me with a sledge hammer. It finally clicked, I was an idiot. I had showed total disregard for the woman who had brought me into this world, both body and soul. The woman that had nurtured me, loved me unconditionally, and had been by my side throughout my life. How could I be such an ungrateful son? If you knew my mom you would wonder how a person could treat her that way, let alone her own son.
