Faith Series, Episode 85

Catholics have a special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. We do not worship her or pray to her as God, as some people mistakenly believe. However we do honour her as the Mother of God, and at times we ask her to approach Jesus with a special need or concern. She is the only person besides Jesus who was born without Original Sin, and at her death we believe she was taken up directly to Heaven.

Nevertheless Catholics would not believe any of these things about Mary if we did not first recognize that she was the first follower, the first disciple of Jesus. Her yes to the angel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38 made it possible for Jesus to come into the world. In the Gospel of John 2:1-11, Mary is the first person to believe that Jesus can work miracles, at the wedding feast at Cana. At the Cross, Jesus tells the beloved disciples, “Here is your mother”(John 19:27), which has the symbolic meaning that Mary is the Mother of all believers. Notably Mary was present at Pentecost (Acts 1:14) receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What an amazing woman! What trust she had in God, what heartache she suffered on account of her Son, and what faith she had in Jesus and his message. Mary is a model for all who wish to follow Jesus more closely. She is our loving and patient Mother and we do well to honour her and ask for her prayers on our behalf – she will never ignore our request.