Relating to Mary

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

There are some aspects of Marian devotion and dogma that are difficult for the average person to relate to.  After all, Mary is the only one to receive the privilege of being sinless throughout her existence on earth.  The images of Mary as a rarefied queen make her seem remote and distant from God's children, as most royals on earth project that image.  

But the Gospels themselves give us a presentation of Mary we can all relate to - a woman who has a genuine struggle to endure in making this momentous decision.  It was one that presented itself with a great deal of dangers and vulnerabilities for her, ones we can see in our own lives and the lives of ordinary people too.  It is in these difficult decisions and moments of life where we can identify with Mary, and where she can identify with us.  

If we follow her example in the Gospel stories we can perhaps get a faint glimpse of what it is like to be without sin, or at least to make a decision in our life that is truly noble and ethically pure.  If we make the conscious decision that our fundamental option in life is to follow the way of the Lord Jesus, we are more surely going to lead a life of greater virtue and holiness like Mary.