It is mind-boggling that Mary can be used as such a docile image for so many that if not accepting papal feminism descend much lower in their view of women. Too many make Mary a woman who blindly accepted the will of a male God, because her only role was to bear children anyways, and she was given the opportunity to give birth to the Son of God. Mary has never been just this. In the Gospel stories we read, she questions the message that Gabriel delivers but promises her devotion to God. Then she travels by herself to visit Elizabeth, and while there, Elizabeth praises her as deeply as Jesus who is still in the womb. I remember a Gospel story that we didn't read for class where Mary pushes Jesus into his early ministry, in a sense reminding Him who He is.

Our Bible readings ended for class with Mary as the only named woman in the upper room as one of the 120 that the Holy Spirit initially blessed with tongues of fire. Even after the Biblical stories ended, Mary has been such a powerful force in the world as she appeared to the faithful all over the world. I've seen the shroud of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Mary in that context is incredibly powerful, a woman that completely ignores gender roles. Not only was Juan Diego's initial meeting with her so powerful and supernatural, but Our Lady of Guadalupe since has held the focus of believers throughout the Americas.

It must be a different woman that conservative Catholics mean when they speak of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The Mary I've read about, and that I know, is a strong young woman, who lived under the occupying forces of a world empire, accepted her role from God, and was the force that brought Jesus into the world - both in giving birth to Him, and pushing him towards his mission.