I like a quote by A.W. Tozer addressing our understanding of God's revelation to man: If we don't/can't know what a passage of Scripture means, we can often at least know what it does not mean. I can read difficult passages of the Gospels and know that it does not mean that Mary had an ongoing role in salvation, or that she is to be venerated to a point of idolatry, or that God cannot resist her requests for whatever she wills.
I can never get past thinking how cruel Jesus Christ would be to have Mary sit at His feet and not protect her from hearing all those painfilled petitions. What kind of heaven does that put Mary in, where she listens (omnisciently, I guess) to so much horror?