Mother Mary’s true place in our prayer life

It is important to address those skeptics who dismiss Mary as insignificant and complain how Catholics have turned Mary into a deity. The thinking here is a lot like that old axion: “Roman Catholics tend to adore Mary while Protestants and Evangelicals tend to ignore Mary.” I can understand why some of our Catholic beliefs and titles given to Mary might lead to this thinking, but from my perspective, neither adoration nor ignoring her is ideal.

Anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus needs to include Mary in their faith life because she is a model of faith. She is not-God, but she is the one who said yes to God. This willingness to hear God’s will and do it would later be used by Jesus to describe those whom he regards as his mother, brothers, and sisters. (Mark 3: 33-35 and Matthew 12:50). It is for this reason when I hear the phrase, “let it be” I immediately recall Mary’s words to the angel, “let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). Her yes makes her the mother of Jesus, but also makes her a model of faith, a template for all of us to copy. A way of life to imitate.

[…] The Catholic Church declares that in times of difficulty we can ask Mary to intercede on our behalf. A biblical example of what I mean is found in the wedding at Cana as described by John in his gospel. At this wedding Mary intervenes on behalf of a couple to let Jesus know about an impending wine shortage. When Jesus says this is not our concern, she tells the servants, “do whatever he tells us you.” (John2:5) Notice, Mary does not tell Jesus what to do, she simply draws his attention to a need. In the same way, our Blessed Mother Mary is with us in our times of troubles. She is there drawing Jesus’ attention to our needs. She is there pointing us to Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Deacon Bill Gervais, August 30, 2021 (blog)

Adapted from his blog https://www.faithforliving.ca/search?q=Mary

Deacon Bill Gervais is a registered spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and religious columnist for the Whig Standard.