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I am glad JPII kissed the Koran. I think it was the right thing to do. I think Muslims understood the gesture better than the Protestants on FR do. But then, they were probably not looking for something to condemn.

I am sad that your side absolutely refuses to accept the notion of poetic excess in praises of Mary. I remember proposing it and, talk about "white hankies" ... Your side was horrified at the idea of a nice, High Gothic Age, troubadour-influenced, exuberant contest of wit and rhetoric in praise of the beloved.

Mary's is nothing but creature, albeit redeemed. She is forever subordinate. She is "one of us" in a way different from the way Jesus is united to us, because while Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter, the first fruits of creation, He is also the Word by Whom all things were made. Mary, on the other hand, is one of the creatures, and she is foremost among recipients of grace - first of the second fruits.

So that can almost explain the light-hearted extravagance of praise heaped upon her. I think the undeserved reputation some non-Catholics have for gloominess is here deserved. They do not seem to be able to understand, accept, or enjoy the almost playful aspect of Marian language and devotion.

Look. A Sundae is a Sundae with or without a cherry on top. The cherry adds nothing to the way a Sundae can fill you up and make you "delight yourself in fatness." Jesus is my Sundae. By HIS extravagance, by the shaken down, pressed together, running over nature of His grace, He puts a cherry on top.

How ridiculous the cherry would be without the Sundae, underneath it. How even more than perfectly wonderful the whole thing is!

And despite the obvious pleasure your side takes in insulting her whom we love and us for loving her, I will still delight in the extravagance of the Love of God, who always gives more than we can desire or deserve and greater than we can imagine or pray for.