Camino II — Maybe a little too much Mary?

Mary On Display and for Sale

Mary is everywhere here, as she was in the cathedrals and churches in Spain where Sally and I walked in 2022. Now, I like Mary, so a lot of Mary is mostly okay with me, not that being okay with me is any kind of requirement for anyone’s thinking on anything, including Mary. But today was a lot of Mary. Too much?

She Was a Mom

Mary was a mother who birthed a son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and followed, sometimes chased, him around occupied Palestine. Mostly, I think she was trying to figure out what Jesus was up to with his divine status. And that had to have been no easy task, given the fact that Jesus was making more enemies than friends. Any of us who have daughters and sons know exactly how easy it is to worry about the stupid things our children do.

Jesus ticked off his own family and most of the folks in his hometown of Nazareth. His uncles, Sunday school teachers, little league coaches and a bunch of others were going to throw him off a cliff because he didn’t keep their sacred religion in house. Jesus raised hell with the priests. It seems like making a killing off religion pissed Jesus off. He told the elders (Pharisees) that they were like corpses that had been in the ground for a long time. The Roman governor wanted to release him and all Jesus had to do was give him a reason, but he didn’t. See? Kind of dumb really — reckless at best.

Toe the frickin’ line son! Climb the damn ladder, okay?

This Kid will be the Death of me!

And he was, I think, not literally the death of her, but inside a part of her died the day he did. And Mary lost two children, less we forget that James was her child as well. We don’t really know much about what becomes of Mary. There are a number of legends, but not many facts. She lives on for a while, probably dies in Ephesus near John who adopted her.

The fact is that the mother of Jesus drops off the stage and that bothers me, to be honest. So when I see so much of Mary, like today, more of Mary, much more of Mary, than of Jesus, it should bother me, right? And it does a bit. I walk around these churches and I admit that I grimace some. And it doesn’t help that Mary wears a crown and all of that. I get it!

Stay Grounded

Too much Mary? Probably. But here’s what I do: I keep Mary human. She was a mom. She loved her kid. He was a handful. She worried about him. He didn’t seem to care. She stayed with him all the way to the end. She wrapped him in burial cloths. And she watched them lay him out in that cold, damn tomb. He was raised and then he was gone again. She lived on, happy to have her son sitting at the right hand of God. Doubt it, honestly! Ask any parent and they’ll tell you they would much rather have that kid sitting next to them. Just saying …

So okay, a lot of Mary, but then again, where I come from, hardly anything of Mary. Therefore, I’m okay with too much Mary. Christianity needs a woman’s touch, I think. Or maybe it’s just me. I do miss my mom!

Sally and I wish every woman we know a Happy Day!