Learning to give Mary due veneration
08/15/2017
1 Corinthians 15:20-27 Brothers and sisters: Christ has been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For
since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through
man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to
life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his
coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the
Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and
every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies
under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for "he subjected
everything under his feet."
Today’s feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven makes
many of our Protestant brothers and sisters cringe. Why is that? Well, they
believe it confirms their suspicion that Catholics worship Mary, that they make
her equal to Jesus, that they lavish love on her that only belongs to God.
Well, that suspicion should make Catholics cringe, because it could not be
farther from the truth. Catholics do not worship Mary, we venerate her, and
that difference is decisive. Worship – in Latin that is called “latria” – is
given only to God, while veneration – the Latin word for that is “dulia” – is
given to super holy creatures, like the angels, the saints, and the Mother of
God, Mary. In fact, we give Mary something called “hyperdulia” because she is
“hyper-holy,” not because she is god, but because she is as good as a human
being can get.
Think about it this way: who do we pray to? Catholics always
direct our prayers to God. God alone is the one who hears our prayers, and he
alone is the one who answers our prayers. But we ask as many people to pray for
us to God as possible. We do this all the time. For instance, this morning
Senator John Boozman went in for surgery, and I sent a note to his family
saying I was praying for them. His daughter, Lauren, became Catholic a few
years ago and she had asked for my prayers. Haven’t you done something similar
thousands of times? But we Catholics don’t just ask for the prayers of the
people we can see; we also ask the prayers of those we cannot see, like Mother
Mary, the saints and the angels, those who are already in heaven. Just because
they are invisible doesn’t mean they are any less real; indeed, in a sense,
they are more real and more fully alive in heaven than we are here on earth.
So, we ask the heavenly hosts, and the Queen of heaven in particular, to pray
for us to God. Mary receives hyperdulia, and she never receives latria, because
latria would make Mary cringe and run the other way.
The feast of the Assumption is the Fourth Glorious Mystery
of the Rosary. Like all mysteries of our faith, the Assumption, too, is
ultimately a mystery of God’s love. What do I mean? Well, in the case of the
Assumption, we see how much Jesus, the Son of God, loves his mother, Mary.
After Jesus, Mary is the only person to have her body glorified in heaven. So
that means she can literally see Jesus face to face – because her face is in
heaven! And when a mother ask a favor, especially face to face, it’s hard for a
good son to say no. Believe me, I know! And that’s why God grants some of our
prayers – not because we are so holy and lovable, but because Mary is. And if
you don’t believe me, just ask the crowd who attended the wedding at Cana in
Galilee, where Jesus reluctantly performed his first miracle of changing water into
wine, just because his mother asked. Some prayers are only granted because of
Jesus’ love for his mother, and that’s why Catholics accord Mary the veneration
called “hyperdulia.”
When I pray my rosary today and get to the fourth glorious
mystery, I will ask Mary to pray for Senator John Boozman. I will also ask her
to pray for me, so I will love her like her Son, Jesus, does, and anything else
should make me cringe.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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