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St. Joseph Catholic Church

1875 S C R 700 W
North Vernon, IN 47265

Rev. Jonathan P. Meyer, Administrator

Office Hours:

Monday Office closed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30 AM till 12:30 PM

St. Joseph Rectory Phone: 812-346-4783
Fax: 812-352-9033

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Why do we honor Mary?

In review from last week’s homily.
We honor Mary because Jesus did. Jesus, the Son of God, was born of Mary and born into a Jewish Family. He would have honored his mother by following the fourth commandment, “Honor your Father and Mother” (Exodus 20:12). Jesus would have not just fulfilled the obligation of honoring her, but would have gone above and beyond it by loving her. If we want to be like Jesus, which we do, we should honor his mother as he did by loving his mother. Jesus honored his mother even at his death. John 19:26-28. While Jesus was suffering, he was not thinking of Himself, but his mother. He gave Mary to us and asked us to take her into our home. We honor Mary because she asked us to do so. In the Holy Gospel according to Luke 1:48, Mary says “From this day all generations will call me blessed.” We honor Mary and call her blessed because we believe Sacred Scripture to be true and we desire to follow its commands and requests. We honor Mary because we honor all women. As Roman Catholics, we believe that every human being from the very moment of conception until natural death is to be treated with the greatest respect and love. We are NEVER to treat another as an object. We are to honor and respect all human beings, especially women. If God the Father intended to just “use” Mary for her flesh and then not have her be a part of our faith, our faith would not recognize her dignity. If Mary was only an object to be used and then ignored, it would not be consistent with our morality or our theology. So the questions we should be proactive in asking… Why don’t you honor Mary? Why don’t you honor the mother of Jesus who is our Lord and Savior? Why do you pay reverence to Jesus, but not his family? Why don’t you take Mary into your home and fulfill Jesus’ request? TEXTS to MEMORIZE: John 19:26-28 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. Luke 1:48 “Behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”