Avoiding Mary
Okay, I’ll admit it: I’ve been avoiding Mary.
Since becoming Catholic, I’ve done my best to ignore Mary. In RCIA, we didn’t talk a lot about her. I knew about the Immaculate Conception and I knew about the Assumption but to tell the truth, I felt these were not “salvation issues” and even though I didn’t really believe them about Mary, I figured it wasn’t even something for me to really investigate. I knew Catholics didn’t worship Mary – I’d seen enough evidence of them NOT worshipping her. And for me, that was enough. I’m just a simple soul!
In the last couple of years, I’ve been forced to dig into the doctrines of Mary in order to defend the Church’s teaching. Particularly because I live in Baptist Territory and many Baptists don’t much care to hear about Mary.
And if you don’t think that’s true, let me recount a situation from two years ago:
I made a Christmas ornament to give to special friends. It was hand-painted, and was a folksy rendition of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in His manger. When I gave it to a lovely Baptist family that we know, they opened the gift and the Dad said to one of his daughters, “Honey, come see the baby Jesus!”
When the little girl came forward to take a peek, I said, “It’s not just Jesus, look! It’s the Holy Family – Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.”
The Dad said to me, “I didn’t know ya’ll believed in Jesus! I thought Catholics only believed in Mary!”
Puleeze. Gimme a break!
I know that I’ve avoided Mary primarily because of my fundamentalist background. Oh, I’ve collected statues and have numerous Rosaries lying around the house. I pray the Rosary occasionally and have a better understanding of the relationship between Mary and those of us on earth. And I understand the difference between rote prayer and meditative prayer.
But I still haven’t gotten her in my heart. Let me rephrase that: I suspect she’s in my heart, only I can’t seem to find her!
So I’ve decided to go back to the basics and begin anew. I’ve picked up a book entitled Introduction to Mary, The Heart of Marian doctrine and Devotion, by Mark Miravalle, which I’m hoping will help. I plan to post my ponderings as I work through these things.
Maybe this time, I’ll be able to break through to a greater relationship with Mary and all the Saints.
Since becoming Catholic, I’ve done my best to ignore Mary. In RCIA, we didn’t talk a lot about her. I knew about the Immaculate Conception and I knew about the Assumption but to tell the truth, I felt these were not “salvation issues” and even though I didn’t really believe them about Mary, I figured it wasn’t even something for me to really investigate. I knew Catholics didn’t worship Mary – I’d seen enough evidence of them NOT worshipping her. And for me, that was enough. I’m just a simple soul!
In the last couple of years, I’ve been forced to dig into the doctrines of Mary in order to defend the Church’s teaching. Particularly because I live in Baptist Territory and many Baptists don’t much care to hear about Mary.
And if you don’t think that’s true, let me recount a situation from two years ago:
I made a Christmas ornament to give to special friends. It was hand-painted, and was a folksy rendition of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in His manger. When I gave it to a lovely Baptist family that we know, they opened the gift and the Dad said to one of his daughters, “Honey, come see the baby Jesus!”
When the little girl came forward to take a peek, I said, “It’s not just Jesus, look! It’s the Holy Family – Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.”
The Dad said to me, “I didn’t know ya’ll believed in Jesus! I thought Catholics only believed in Mary!”
Puleeze. Gimme a break!
I know that I’ve avoided Mary primarily because of my fundamentalist background. Oh, I’ve collected statues and have numerous Rosaries lying around the house. I pray the Rosary occasionally and have a better understanding of the relationship between Mary and those of us on earth. And I understand the difference between rote prayer and meditative prayer.
But I still haven’t gotten her in my heart. Let me rephrase that: I suspect she’s in my heart, only I can’t seem to find her!
So I’ve decided to go back to the basics and begin anew. I’ve picked up a book entitled Introduction to Mary, The Heart of Marian doctrine and Devotion, by Mark Miravalle, which I’m hoping will help. I plan to post my ponderings as I work through these things.
Maybe this time, I’ll be able to break through to a greater relationship with Mary and all the Saints.
posted by Dixie @ 7:09 AM
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