That Time When Our Blessed Mother Was Compared To A Donkey

On the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, I posted one of my all time favorite religious pictures. It’s a stunning depiction of Mary being carried into Heaven by four angels. It’s one of those paintings that’s too beautiful for words.

But, you always gotta have the Negative Nancys and Nates come along and spoil the moment with outlandish comments. Even for a former Protestant’s ears, one poster’s comment was too much for me to stomach and so I must respond. You’re not going to diss on our beautiful Mother Mary and walk away without a response.

Since I think the poster deleted his comment, I can’t quote it verbatim, so I’ll paraphrase.

“What happened to the donkey that carried Jesus on Palm Sunday? Who knows? That was the end of his story and we never hear another thing about him. Mary is no different. She gave birth to Jesus and then her story, in effect, ends. She was just a vessel, nothing more. Just like the donkey, she wasn’t that important, so you Catholics should stop worshipping her.”

Ouch.

Does this guy put his own mother on par with a dirty beast of burden? I sure hope not.

(Mother’s Day Card): Hi Mom, You’re basically just like a donkey and your story ended after you gave birth to me, so thanks. Bye.

Now, if I give this man the benefit of the doubt and try to really see his logic, I think he was trying to say this: The donkey carried Christ and Mary carried Christ. We don’t revere the donkey, why revere the woman?

First off, no human should be put on the same level as a donkey. I shouldn’t need to explain this, but apparently I have to. See, back in the story of Genesis, God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the animals. There is a hierarchy in the created world and it goes something like this: Inmaterial items, plants, animals, humans, angels. So, to say that any human is basically no different than an animal is utterly wrong. But, to say that the woman who bore the Son of God in her womb is no different than a donkey is…well…horrifically calloused and heretical. There was no angel coming to the donkey before his Palm Sunday ride saying, “Hail, Donkey, full of grace.” It’s not too hard to see that Mary’s significance is far greater than a donkey’s.

Second, you don’t love Jesus more than Catholics just because you ignore His mother. In fact, as Christians we are to celebrate and honor God’s created world–Mary is a created being of God set apart to have the special privilege of being Christ’s mother. This notion that to love Mary even a smidge takes away from Christ is bizarre. Does loving your own mother take away from Christ? Does loving your children or your spouse take away from the love you have for Christ? No, of course not. In fact, the closer we are to Christ, we become more capable to love others even more than before. The love compounds. It’s always remarkable to me how quick some people are to dismiss Mary, as if they think God in Heaven is pleased with their dismissal and proud of their willingness to cut Mary out of their spiritual life.

Thirdly, Catholics get accused all the time of worshipping Mary. I used to think the same ignorant thing before I became Catholic. I was ignorant because I just listened to what non-Catholics told me and I never once looked into the issue. Had I researched even a tiny bit, I would have discovered that a.) The Catholic Church does not believe Mary is equal to God and b.) We are taught not to worship her but to honor her as the Mother of Our Lord. There is a difference. You can honor a person and not believe they are God at the same time. It is possible. Now, have some people wrongly worshipped Mary? Sure. Have they set her up as an idol? Sure. But, people have set numerous things up as idols: Money, sports, famous people, success, power, marriage, etc. None of these things are bad in-and-of-themselves, but, as humans, we can always fall into the trap of putting things above God. That doesn’t mean we need to wipe them from our lives forever. It means we need to prioritize and put things in their proper place. Mary does not come before God and the Catholic Church has never taught the faithful to do so. If someone idolizes her, they aren’t following Catholic teaching.

Lastly, Mary wasn’t “just a vessel”; she is a beloved child of God with a special divine purpose. Mary’s story didn’t just end at the birth of Jesus. A quick glance through the Gospels shows us that Mary was present in Jesus’ youth, she interceded for a couple at the Wedding of Cana, she was with Christ at different points in His ministry, and she was at the foot of the Cross. It was at the foot of the Cross that Christ entrusted the care of His mother to St. John and, at the same time, gave her to all of us as our Blessed Mother. But, the thing that is so striking about this man’s crude comments is his lack of understanding that Mary’s story obviously continues on in Heaven. Does he think that Mary just ceased to exist after she gave birth to Christ? I bet not. If he is any type of believer, then he must at least acknowledge that it only makes sense that the woman who born God in her womb would now reside in Heaven. However, I think he knows that. His comment wasn’t coming from a place of true ignorance, but rather a place of pride.

His comment was a jab at Catholics for daring to honor and revere the most important woman to ever have existed. By denying the importance of Mary, he thinks he is somehow giving more honor to Christ. I know, because I used to pat myself on the back for the very same thought process. Once I converted, though, I learned that Mary is our spiritual mother who is there to guide us to her Son and wants nothing more than to see us united with Him in Heaven. Now, I simply couldn’t imagine standing before Christ trying to explain why I left His mother out of the equation. And I sure wouldn’t want to be the person to stand before Christ and have to try and explain to Him why I put His Blessed Mother on par with a donkey.

Mary has never and would never try to usurp the power or position of God, Catholic Pilgrims. Perfected through the grace of her Immaculate Conception, she is in perfect alignment with God’s Will and only ever wants to help us to grow in love and worship of her Son. Honoring and loving the woman who brought forth our Savior from her womb is the only appropriate response.

Our Lady of Joy, pray for us!