Luke 1:26-35: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband? And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
Luke 1:48: “. . . for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me . . .”
Mary is the mother of Jesus. This truth is attested by the Scriptures and universally held. However, a few verses later in Luke it is written that all generations will honor her. The Catholic Church still venerates her as the blessed Virgin, the mother of the Redeemer who is now the mother of all the redeemed. Fundamentalist churches tend to respond to Mary with silence or with a quick rebuke that she was “only” the mother of Christ. Ours is the Church where the prophecy is fulfilled! Yes, she is a creature like us, although “full of grace” and preserved from sin; but she is the mother of the whole identity of her Son. Her Son is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. As with all mothers, her maternal role never ceases. Truly, she is “blessed among women!” Our honor of Mary imitates that of heaven. As for her assumption, there is precedent in the Old Testament. Unlike Jesus, she is not taken up by her own power but by that of her Son.
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Mary is our biggest advocate. More people need to have a relationship with her.