Mary, The Mother of the Church

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother

and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, "I thirst."
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
"It is finished."
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. 




Some Protestants think that we Catholics worship Mary.  I know that Catholics worship only God and I am sorry that there are those in this world that have no reverence for the Mother of Jesus, remembering her as just a minor bit character in the Jesus Story, a necessary player but junior to mostly everyone else mentioned in the Bible.  They are afraid that by giving reverence to Mary that they are taking something away from God.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Let's look at just a little of what Mary contributes to the salvation story. 

Mary Was Conceived Without Original Sin
Through a special favor of God, Mary's soul was never touched by the sin of Ece and Adam.  Her soul was saved due to the application of the death of Jesus on the Cross prior to the event taking place.  How do we know this?  The Angel Gabrial greeted Mary by saying, "Hail Mary, Full of Grace..." The angel did not bring or infuse grace into her.  Gabriel recognized that she already had the grace!

Mary Was The First to Accept The Lord as Personal God and Savior.
With her fiat, that is consent, her "Yes," Mary accepted Jesus not only into her heart but into her very body and it was her body that nourished and nurtured the young Jesus for nine months, sharing her very being with Him.  By saying "Yes," she became Christian number one. 

Mary Never Glorifies Herself.
Mary does not have much of a speaking part in the Bible, but when she does speak it is to glorify God and/or point the way to Jesus. 

Jesus Honored Mary First
Jesus is our example of how life is to be lived.  Jesus obeyed the Ten Commandments perfectly including the one that says honor your father and your mother.  We imitate what Jesus has already shown us. 

So Mary is worthy of honor and we do honor her as the mother of the Church.  Honoring Mary is not worshiping her, she wants no part of idolatry, she wants to be closer to Jesus