Dear Brothers and Sisters Who Ignore Our Blessed Mother,

She does not deserve the silent treatment from you. Your aversion to honoring Mary is just one issue you have against the Catholic Church, but this one is so rude that I want to talk with you about it.  Allow me to make a few points to introduce you to the beauty and power of a devotion that you are missing out on.

Worshipping Mary. We worship God. Period. We honor Mary and worship God. If you heard otherwise, you heard wrong. And you didn’t hear it from a Catholic so please check your sources in the future.

The Fourth Commandment. Honor your Mother and Father. Jesus loves and honors his mother. Don’t you think he wants us to do the same? Give Jesus what he wants.  How can you think it is pleasing to Jesus to ignore the woman who gave birth to him?

There is Only One Mediator Between Us and God.  (1Tim 2:5).  No one ever said to skip Jesus.  The Bible clearly tells us to go through the Blessed Mother on the way to Jesus.  He performed his very first miracle even though he said it was not his time yet because his mother was concerned over someone’s problem. The Bible hits us over the head with a clear message: ask Mary to take our problems to her son.

The Bible also tells us to have others pray for us. I choose Mary every time.

“The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effect” (James 5:16).

“God will hear the prayers of the just” (Prov. 15:20). 

Going to Mary is Traditional. In the Old Testament it was the Queen—the king’s mother in those days—who people went to with their requests. The best shot at getting a good answer from the king was to run it by his mother.  That’s the way it was done during King David’s time and Jesus is descended from the House of David.

It’s a Family Affair.  We have Father God, our brother Jesus and hmmm, what is missing? Oh yes, our Mother.  Except, she’s not missing in my world.

Mary can’t hear us.  I’ve been told this one before, but be reasonable.  Why would you think the devil can hear us but the mother of our Savior can’t? Catholics believe that as “one body” in Christ, there is no separation between us and those in heaven.   Biblical examples include the Transfiguration (Luke 9: 28-36). This passage offers evidence that there is not an impenetrable wall between heaven and earth. 

The Bible also says everyone in Heaven can see us.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...” (Heb. 12:1).

The Trinity Honors Mary. Jesus honors Mary, his mother; God the Father chose her to be the Mother of his only-begotten son; the Holy Spirit is her spouse. Yet, you don’t even speak to her?

The Rosary.  Some think that the rosary proves that it’s is all about Mary for us instead of Jesus because there is only one Our Father for every 10 Hail Mary’s.  Not true. Allow me to explain the Hail Mary to you.

• Hail Mary full of Grace. It’s Scriptural—Luke 1:28.  It can’t be wrong to repeat the words of an angel or quote Scripture.
• The Lord is with thee. Reference to Jesus.
• Blessed art thou among Women. Scriptural again--Luke 1-42
• And blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Another reference to Jesus, the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb. 
• Holy Mary Mother of God. Jesus reference again.
• Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. What Christian would not want the mother of their Savior to pray for them? 

If you want to spend some time really understanding the Hail Mary—reflecting, savoring and understanding it—consider getting Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary by Sarah Reinhard.  It could help with another phobia you might have—fearing memorized prayers—when you come to understand the richness of each word.

Even if you think only one of the points I’ve presented is worth considering, then use that as a starting point to develop a  relationship with your Heavenly Mother.   God is not going to get angry at you for doing the same thing he did:  going through Mary to bring Jesus closer to us.

It is so simple.  When you go to Jesus, just bring his Mother with you.   He will say: Oh hi Mom, what can I do for you?