From the beginning the scriptures tell us that God created humanity in His image, male and female. Without the female the male is incomplete. Humanity is composed of feminine and masculine and we need both aspects.
Yes, it is true that if we look solely at the New Testament in terms of numbers of verses, we see an almost exclusive focus on God the Father and Jesus the only begotten Son. But we Catholics have never looked at our faith this way. We have always looked at scripture as a unity of Old and New Testament. And beyond the Bible new have looked at how the faith has been lived and understood.
There we find that from the earliest record Christians understood the unique place of Mary. Yes, it is true that when God became incarnate he chose a male body. But it is also true that while he could have simply appeared full grown he did not. God chose to become incarnate inside a female, to be nurtured by a female.
While the number of verses dedicated to Mary are few, from the earliest day the Church has recognized her unique role, not only for Jesus but for us.
Men and women would do well to turn to our mother in prayer, and to imitate her way of being, her form of discipleship. In every corner of our world today, we Christians need to let her “Mary, Queen of Peace” to reign in our hearts.
