Maximizing Mary

Finding the proper role of Mary in Christianity

09/19/2023

Lk 7:11-17 Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

One of the great fault lines between Protestants and Catholics is the role and reverence we give to Mary. On the whole Protestants tend to minimize her place in Christian faith while Catholics are eager to maximize Mary. Heck, we even name churches in her honor like the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Protestants feel that too much attention to Mary diminishes the importance of Jesus. Catholics, on the other hand, believe that the more attention we lavish on Mary the more we glorify Jesus and showcase the greatness of his grace. In other words, if you want to see everything Jesus’ grace can accomplish, look at Mary, don’t look at me.

The Bible also demonstrates a maximal devotion to Mary, but it is subtle and so you have to sort of read between the verses. Our gospel from Luke 7:11-17 is a perfect example of love for our Blessed Mother, even though it never mentions Mary. On the surface it seems that Jesus simply raises a dead man back to life and gives him back to his grieving mother.

But I believe much more is going on below the surface. Still waters run deep. I am convinced that Jesus saw a premonition of his own death, and more so, he beheld the sorrow of his blessed mother in this scene on the outskirts of Nain. Four striking details make this premonition plausible.

First, the young man who had died was an only son, just like Jesus. (2) The mother was a widow just like Mary was because Joseph had died by the time Jesus became an adult. (3) The dead man is being accompanied outside a city with a large crowd of people, just like Jesus would be taken outside of Jerusalem and crucified. And (4) Jesus always asks for a show of faith before healing someone, but not in this case.

Without any prompting whatsoever, we read, “When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her, and said to her ‘Do not weep’.” And Jesus raised the man from the dead and gave him back to his mother, who I am sure was quite beside herself with incredulous joy. What prompted Jesus to perform this unsolicited miracle? Simple: love for his mother, Mary, whom he knew would soon be suffering and sorrowing like this widow of Nain.

St. Luke wants to highlight the tenderness of Jesus’ humanity; how much he loved his mother and demonstrated that filial affection for Mary in this encounter with another grieving mother. But I think Luke is also inserting this passage in his gospel to invite his readers (you and me) to do the same: love Mary like our Lord does.

The heart of Christian discipleship can be summarized in the old Latin maxim, “imitatio Christi” the imitation of Christ. We maximize Mary because Jesus does so first. He even seems to break one of his personal rules: always ask for faith first. Remember how hard he was on the Syrophonecian woman who had to beg Jesus that even dogs eat their master’s scraps in Mt 15:22-28? In other words, when it comes to our Lord’s filial love for his mother, all bets are off. You never know what Jesus might do.

Of course, we all can think of Jesus’ first reluctant miracle in Jn 2 at the wedding at Cana where he changed the water into wine. It is doubtful – at least there is no scriptural evidence – Jesus would have performed that miracle had Mary not interceded. John, like Luke, is trying to emphasize how influential Mary is in Jesus’ life and ministry, and inviting us, Jesus’ disciples, to do the same, that is, maximize Mary in our Christianity.

My friends, they taught us something in the seminary that I want to teach you today: every Christian must have some devotion to Mary. For example, you can wear the scapular, or pray the rosary, or do a nine-day novena, or visit Marian shrines like Lourdes, Fatima, or Guadalupe. But one thing no Christian should do is minimize or ignore Mary in our Christian walk with the Lord. The evangelists Luke and John did not ignore Mary, and most importantly, Jesus did not either. Mary is Jesus’ first and best disciple, and she can help us become better disciples, too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!