art icle, Rev. Y akubu argues t hat every woman is like M ary t he mot her of Jesus. H e support s his vi ew from t he exampl e of M ary who cooperat ed in fulfilling t he plan of G od. I f every woman does her dut y as a woman and t ruly finds joy in raising happy children wit hout breaking t his divine ordinance, she t oo has unwit t ingly undert aken t he kind of act ivit y M ary consent ed. H e concludes t hat \u2018every woman is M ary\u2019 for respect fully obeying t he W ill of G od in

My experience of being Catholic is that many non-Catholics tend to view Catholic practices as anti-biblical. Although all Christians accept Mary as mother of Jesus, there\u2019s uniqueness attached to Catholic respect for Mary which other Christians do not have. There is something in me that convinces me that Mary is more thanb ei n g the mot her of Jesus. We are often accused of worshipping Mary, a point many Catholics struggle to defend ash o n o u r i n g Mary. I concern myself with seeing beyond that which ordinary minds see and imbibe divine assistance to understand what Mary has offered the world. The bible itself is full of praise for what Mary did.

So many times I have had to argue why t he Blessed Virgin Mary is important t o me and to the life of the Church. However several times my explanations on Mary truly ended on dead ends. But that should not be a great problem. Where the problem really lies is in the fact t hat the Catholic Church over the cent uries recognized a great fact in the bible and stuck by it. And now Mary has been accept ed as a symbol deserving honour.

Anyhow, there\u2019s something that tells me that every woman is Mary. I do not intend to label every woman as Mary, but the trend of activities surrounding the mother of Jesus is replicated in the life of every woman. I do not wait too long to inform my non-Catholic friends that there are lessons from Mary\u2019s life which have shaped Catholic theology and which every woman can learn from her adorable personality. This reality is my strong conviction that the Church, of course the Catholic Church, has not made a mistake in the case of Marian devot ion.

Like every woman, Mary conceived her child in her womb for nine months, underwent labour pangs, and soon after brought Jesus into the world. If we cont inue with t his premise we will realize that all women share a common bond of satisfaction at the first cry of their babies. Mary felt the same way at the birth of Jesus \u2013 the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Every mother is expected t o breat he a sigh of relief with the birt h of her baby. But much more than that, she begins an emotional journey

Remember every woman undertakes childbirth not as a mere human activity but as a divine activity. The joy of bringing a new life into the world supercedes the pains of labour. And if every woman realizes that this divine act is sacrosanct, then it makes family life and womanhood respected for all time. A woman follows the stages of growth of her baby as a duty and she finds much joy assisting the baby to stand on his feet. When her child is doing well, the joy flowing in her heart is unbounded. But when the child does poorly in terms of relating with the world, the woman\u2019s heart alone suffers grief and scorn. Mary suffered

such scorn when her only son was innocently condemned, tied to the wood of the cross and died after a grotesque humiliat ion at the hands of Roman soldiers and vindictive Jewish officials. While His loved ones deserted him, Mary and the other women remained resilient in alleviating the pains of Jesus even on t he Cross.