Mary is not a god or goddess. She's a great saint. Our Lord talks about the psalm which says,"You are gods," and it is certain that great saints, those who show forth most fully what God intended for each of us, at least in some degree, could be confused with a diety.
But, nope: Only one God. A bunch of angels, one of whom is rooting for me in a special way, and then the blessed. And yes, I ask the angels and the blessed (and some of them more than others) if they wouldn't mind rooting for me. And I do so because I am confident that the God whose Son described what He had to offer in terms of overflowing abundance -- shaken down, pressed together, running over -- told me so because He wanted me to take heart, to know that HE and not He alone (which would certainly be MORE than enough!) but a great heavenly host are cheering for me, wincing when I fall, yelling all the louder when I stagger to my feet, yelling themselves hoarse, exchanging high fives, waiting with eager longing for me to finish the race and join as partners with them and even with God, El Shaddai, the great and terrible, Lord of Armies, as we struggle to the best of our ability to haul, to cheer, and encourage, and when needed, rebuke and scold, our brothers and sisters into the kingdom.
Nope, not a diety, but a remarkable woman who shines like a light, but still only reflects (or maybe refracts, like a lens) the dazzling light of Him who overwhelms the darkness and sends it, chagrined and ashamed, scurrying off vainly looking for a place to hide from His Love.
Nope, not a diety at all. But it's time for my to pray my rosary.
Most excellent summary!
Fabulous post, Mad Dawg! I'm going to share this with my CCD class, if you don't mind.
Wow! Bump for an incredible post :)