Image of Mary in Chicago concrete

Apparently, there’s another image in which believers are choosing to see an image of Mary. I heard one woman claim that this is a sign that Mary is always with us and that Mary had healed her of cancer.

I’ve never understood the treatment Catholics give to Mary. Many times she is treated as divine. I believe people pray to her (which indicates divinity). And the woman quoted on the TV blurb I saw claims that Mary healed her.

Why? Why does Mary get credit for various “miracles”? Why doesn’t God get credit for these kinds of things in Catholicism?

Well, admittedly this may be a straw man argument. I don’t know for sure that the Catholic church teaches that Mary is healing people — I just heard one woman claim that. But it does seem that many Catholics are quick to see Mary in various forms.

And why is it always Mary? At best the forms that I see could be imagined to represent a figure that could be female. Why isn’t it some other historical woman? If it must be a religious or spiritual woman, why not a famous nun? Or an evil woman like the whore of Babylon in the book of Revelation? Why don’t these forms cause these people to shake in fear?

Again, this may not have anything to do with Catholicism. I don’t recall the church taking any particular stand on these images. But it does seem that when an image is reported, a good number of believers will turn up to gain some kind of “spiritual high” from seeing it. More than I would normally think would go in for that kind of thing.

I guess I don’t understand why anyone would want Mary to be “with them.” Isn’t a relationship with God infinitely more substantial than that? Can’t God handle any problems without Mary’s help?

I’ll put my trust in God, thank you. But then again, I never see Mary in any of these images anyway.