October 13, 2022

Reflections

MARY

The other day a lady was talking to me about this blog.

She said she liked the things I said about Mary the best.

There's a message there.

However, I couldn't recall anything I said about Mary.

Honestly....

Various people who come here to church in Annapolis, Maryland, come on Wednesday - because that's the day we have some special novena prayers to Mary.  We honor her here under the title of OLPH - Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Wednesday is the traditional day for Mary in the Philippines - Brazil - and India. Growing up in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Brooklyn. New York I saw this all through my childhood. When I went to the seminary I heard about the same thing happening on Wednesdays in Mission Church in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts.

There's a message here.

Question: what does Mary touch in the human heart?

For starters I'd have to say, "Momma".

I would have to remember every time I stood there seeing a mother with a child in her arms. Whenever I would say, "Hi" to the kid - if I was a total stranger - the child would turn their face from mine and bury it in their mother's embrace.

There's a message here.

I would have to say that everyone has a deep desire to always want to return to their mother's womb.

Isn't that why we say in the ancient Mary prayer, the Hail Mary, "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus"?

We all want down deep: peace and security.

I don't get it when Protestants protest about how Catholics honor the Mother of Jesus.

I've heard people say, "We're making her God."

Nope.

I think the complaint should be against the dogma about Mary being called, "The Mother of God"  - Theotokos - in Greek.

That decree from Ephesus is an ancient decree - way before the Protestant Reformation.

I suggest that Protestants should at least honor Mary as the Mother of Jesus - the Jesus you honor and love.

In the meanwhile - go to Ephesus - delve into the fight over the title of Mary as Mother of God.

Then people might grasp and understand, Part 2, of the Hail Mary prayer: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."

In the meanwhile, if you don't accept the title of Mary as  Mother of God, grab a rosary and say, Part 1 of the Hail Mary prayer: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus."