December 31, 2023, 12:00 PM

When praying to God the Father, it is customary to pray through Christ our Lord. You hear those words at the end of many prayers during Mass, which is said to God the Father, through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit. When we pray to Jesus, many Catholics pray through the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother. Remember praying is not worshiping. We worship God alone, not Mary. Pray means “to ask.” For example, praying through the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a version of this that comes from the Gospel of John and the Wedding Feast of Cana. Mary is able to prevail over Jesus to turn the water into wine. He not only makes the wine He makes it in great abundance. Mary’s role as a powerful intercessor has long been sought and rewarded. In terms of Mary’s heart, there is no purer heart or one more tuned in to her Son’s heart. She knows His will and just what, and how, to ask. There is no greater intercessor than Mary. So why do we ask her to pray for us when we could just pray to God ourselves? Consider this, in the Hail Mary, when we pray, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners …” we are requesting that she ask of her Son on our behalf as she did at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Revelation 5 describes the 24 elders as holding golden bowls, filled with the prayers of the faithful on earth. So we do both. We pray for ourselves and we ask Mary to pray for us and God hears and answers us. Now you know!