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Why does there need to be a single authoritative source? Usually the best answers come from a study of many sources

And when the sources you study are at odds with each other ... ?

"And when the sources you study are at odds with each other ... ?"

It seems that most here are guilty of having a theory or hypethesis and seeking to prove it true. When one writes a thesis, one seeks to prove a point and seeks sources to defend that point and excludes sources that would disprove it. (On this forum that is done daily.) To Catholics, the sources are infinite; to non-Catholics, there, usually, is only one. By eliminating all but one material source, one limits the extent of knowledge and understanding - and thus deeper and more thorough thought.

That's part of the beauty of discussion, a deeper, more thorough understanding which can lead contemplation down all sorts of paths. By comparing and contrasting the sources, sometimes truth reveals itself. Not all sources are going to agree. The trick is to gleen the truth from the mess of multiple accounts and opinions.

As to Mary's mediation, if one limits source material to the New Testament as it stands now, 1600 years after it was organized out of material multiple times it's size and content, her place as one of many who act for God and His Son would, yes, be questionable.