Mary

By Fred Vilbig

Growing up in Dallas surrounded by well-meaning evangelical Christians, I often heard the criticism that “you Catholics worship Mary.” I really had no response at the time. My parents were good Catholics. We went to Mass every Sunday as a family; my mother went to daily Mass when she could. But we didn’t pray the Rosary at home as a family or talk much about our faith, much less about Mary. As I grew up, I kind of left Mary to the side so as not to offend my Protestant friends.

Many years later, that changed. I was going through a particularly tough time with work, bills were mounting, and I was really desperate. I was driving home one night, and it occurred to me that I should pray a Rosary. I didn’t have one in the car, but I had 10 fingers. I really only vaguely remembered any of the mysteries, but that first night, I did the best I could. When I got home, I did some research and figured out how to pray the Rosary.
I have since learned that Mary is a very special person. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias to announce the birth of John the Baptist, he was a very domineering person appearing in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. He lectured Zacharias telling him that Elizabeth would have a child even though she was way beyond her child-bearing years. When Zacharias asked how this could be, Gabriel struck him dumb, mute.

In contract, when Gabriel appeared to Mary, he was deferential, respectful. “Hail, favored one!” Luke 1:28. He told her that she would be the mother of God. When Mary asked about the same question as Zacharias, “How can this be?” (Luke 1:34), Gabriel very gently explained, even offering Elizabeth’s pregnancy as proof. When Mary said, “May it be done to me according to your word,” He left her in peace. Gabriel knew that Mary was special.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of the wedding feast at Cana. John 2:1-10. When the wine was running short, Mary turned to Jesus. She didn’t really ask Him to do anything. She just pointed out that they had no wine. Jesus protested saying it wasn’t yet His time. Mary completely ignored Him. Instead, she turned to the servers and said, “Do whatever He tells you.” John 2:5 (Her last words in the Bible.) Without questioning His mother, Jesus turns water into wine, His first miracle. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen observes, this was the first step on the road to Calvary. But Jesus can’t say no to His mother.

So now I try to pray a Rosary just about every day. Typically it is in my car going to or from work. I am usually distracted when I pray. Sure it would be best for me to pray the Rosary in a quiet place away from distractions, but as Pope Saint John XXIII once said, the only bad Rosary is the one you don’t say.

I am not going to say that praying the Rosary has turned everything around for me. Difficult times persist. But I think that I have grown closer to Jesus because of praying the Rosary, and isn’t that what we should doing all the time anyway?