The majority of Christians honor Mary

May is the month when we traditionally honor Mary. Sometimes non-Catholics will ask me why Catholics honor Mary. Since this devotion to Mary may be unfamiliar to them, it can seem strange and even inappropriate. My usual first response to the question of why Catholics honor Mary is to say that we honor Mary because God honored Mary. God chose Mary as the one through whom God would take flesh. What greater honor could there be? God took the flesh of Mary to become His own.
I also usually explain that most Christians honor Mary. In our communities where Catholics are a minority, non-Catholics can be surprised that most Christians honor Mary. They are surprised since most Christians they know don’t honor her. The fact is that there are more than 2 billion Christians in the world. About 52% of all Christians are Catholic. Another 12% are Orthodox who also honor Mary. The remaining 36% are made up of many groups, some of which also honor Mary. In short, the majority of Christians honor Mary.
A parallel from the Old Testament which I sometimes offer is that of the Ark of the Covenant. God ordered Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, which was a box to carry the 10 Commandments and other sacred items. God told Moses what material to use in making it, the dimensions of the Ark, its design, its contents, and the statues of angels to be placed on it. God commanded that no one could touch the Ark without first purifying themselves since nothing impure could touch the Ark. The Ark was honored by the people, carried in procession, surrounded by incense, and located in the middle of the temple. Yet, the people did not worship the Ark; they only worshipped God. But they honored the Ark since it carried the symbols of God’s presence with His people and reminded them of the great thing God had done for the people by leading them out of Egypt.
No one knows what happened to the Ark. It is one of the great mysteries of the Bible. It disappeared from Jewish history. Why would God allow something as special to God as His people to vanish? No one knows.
However, we have the Ark of the New Covenant, who is Mary. She is the “box” that carried, not symbols of God’s presence, but actually carried God. Her womb was where God took flesh and was carried as a baby. She reminds us of the great thing that God has done for us: God became man to die on the cross for us and to give us the gift of eternal life.
We honor her as the People of Israel honored the Ark. We have her statues in our churches, carry her image in processions, place statues of angels around her. But we do not worship her any more than the people of the Old Testament worshiped the Ark. The people of Israel worshiped God alone, but honored the Ark. We worship God alone but honor Mary. The Ark of the Covenant pointed the people to the praise and glory of God. Mary, who at Cana said “Do whatever He tells you,” always points us to her Son.
God has given us to Mary and has given Mary to us. On the cross Jesus said to Mary, “Behold your son” and to the Beloved Disciple, “Behold your mother.” As Jesus honored His mother, we are to honor Mary, the mother He has given us. As a good mother, she seeks only our good. As one who cares for us, we believe she stills presents our needs to her Son, just as she did at Cana when she told Jesus, “They have no wine.” She will always join her prayers with ours and she points us to the love and worship of her Divine Son.