Mary, Who and Why

As a Catholic I believe that Mary is the mother of God. She has many other titles and a special relationship with her son, Our Lord. Who is she and why should it concern us? I will answer this from my heart and leave the apologetical discussions to experts such as the people at "Catholic Answers to Explain and Defend the Faith" (see my "Other Useful Sites" for a link")

First I will say who Mary is not. She is not a goddess; she is a flesh and blood human. She does not focus on herself; she focuses on her son, Our Lord. She does not look to build her own kingdom; she only serves God and his kingdom

Now I will say who she is. She is the mother of Jesus, the son of God. She conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. She is Queen of the Jews (also of heaven and earth). She inherited this title since her son was King of the Jews (also Heaven and Earth) and every Jewish mother of the king became the Queen Mother. As a Jewish queen she had no power of her own but merely had access to her son's power. This is enough information for me to answer the next question: "Why is Mary Important?"

Since Mary and Jesus were human, they had a very special and deep mother and son relationship. Jesus had perfect love so he was the perfect loving son. Since Jesus made us his brothers and sisters that would mean Mary is our mother also. Mary, never far from her son, can only bring us closer to her son.

Since we have direct access to Jesus why would we bother to go through his mother? The same reason that we ask others to pray for us.  The same reason that we go to church. The same reason we have missionaries. It it because God reaches out to each of us in a different way. Some, like St Paul,  he reaches directly. Some he reaches through members of his church. Some he reaches through his mother. God paints a picture of his face for each of us in a different way.

I have witnessed Mary only indirectly in my life. I have prayed for her intersession and the Lord has answered. Once my wife had a bad reaction to a drug the doctor gave her. We asked Mary to intercede. Within a short time the pain mysteriously receded despite the fact that the drug still had another 8 hours to get through her system.

Mary has actually appeared to many witness over the years. I have not seen her myself but a year before he died, a non Catholic friend of mine told me he saw a beautiful lady's reflection on his wall. Since I had been asking for Mary to bring him her son's peace, I was shocked that she may have actually appeared to him. I had asked Mary for her help because she is the best prayer partner you could have. If you were Jesus who's prayers would you answer first, your prayer or Marys? My friend died a year later alone in a hospital room where they kept the family out most of the time. A room where the attendants spent most of their time sitting and playing cards in a separate room. My friend was angry and disappointed at God because of the loss of his wife some time earlier. Mary loves all of God's children and does not care about denominations, bringing hope to the hopeless. She is a reflection of her son's pure love. Just as Mary was one of the few under her sons cross when he died, she will always be under our crosses too. When she is near us her son is always near too, whether we call him or not. I believe that she answered my prayer and brought my friend peace. She brought him her son.

Copyright 2016 Daniel Strizak