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Why is Devotion to Mary Important?
The month of May is one of the five months of the year that promotes a devotion to Mary Mother of God. The other four months being August, September, October and December. But why we may ask is such devotion to Mary promoted by the Catholic Church – wouldn’t it distract us from God?
Scripture gives us the answer. We have recently listened on Good Friday to the Passion of our Lord according to John in which Jesus with his final breath, says to his beloved disciple, ‘this is your mother’ and to his mother ‘this is your son’ (Jn 19:26-27). Mary becomes the spiritual mother of every beloved disciple, every follower of Jesus in fact everyone for whom Jesus’ passion death and resurrection brings redemption and renewal. Jesus has come to us through Mary. The Annunciation by the Arch Angel Gabriel is accepted by Mary, she gives birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, Mary instructs the servants at the Wedding feast at Cana to ‘do what he tells you’ and walks with her Son to Calvary. And as they wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit the disciples gather with Mary in prayer. Instead of being a distraction Mary becomes a means through which we come to her Son in prayer and discover a deeper understanding of the incarnation, God becoming human so that we can have revealed to us the love of our Father in heaven