I understand that, as the mother of our Lord, she is to be commended, but the reverence Catholics have for her seems a bit overb

I'll finish the title in here: the reverence Catholics have for her seems a bit overblown to me.

Can you give specific examples?

For example, I'll provide a quote from a Catholic website: "When we let Mary into our lives, we can be assured that she will make it her direct business to draw us quickly into a deep, intimate, personal relationship with Jesus, so that we are doing what He tells us every day of our lives." Source: https://streetevangelization.com/mary/

My issue with this: Christ is the only mediator between God and man. No mere human, not even a saint, not even the very mother of the Christ, can breach the gap between them. So you can imagine that it doesn't quite sit right with me when people say that Mary has the rôle of bringing believers close to Christ. This is more or less the same issue that I have with praying to the saints: Christ made it so we can have direct access to God. So why go to Him through another mere human, saintly though they may be?

Of course, my interpretation of this may be skewed by my Protestant upbringing, but I don't think that makes my question any less legitimate.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer my question.

" why go to Him through another mere human?"

Jesus chose to come to mankind through Mary. Why should we not go to Him through Mary? He could have chosen to not be in her womb for 9 months and be taught and raised by her. But she was the channel through which He made himself manifest to the world. What's good enough for Jesus must be good enough for us right?

Did you know in bible times the most powerful women in the kingdom was not the wife of the king (he could have several wives after all, or decide to dismiss them when he wished, think of Vashti before Esther came around) it was the mother of the king who had the most influence on the king. If you could be friends with the Queen Mother then you basically were on the good side of the king.

From wiki on gebira the Queen Mother. Jesus is King so Mary is the Queen:

[In 1 Kings 2:20, Solomon said to his Mother Bathsheba, seated on a throne at his right, "Make your request, Mother, for I will not refuse you". The position of the queen mother (gĕbîrâ) was a privilege of the highest honour, and was the highest authority for a woman in Israel or Judah.]

You have a very good point, and I commend you for that. However, we do also need to consider that Heaven is what many have called, "The Upside-down Kingdom," and thereby isn't like human kingdoms. The last is first, and the first is last. The greatest feats of God's power are done through the least of us humans, and the King Himself desires intimacy with us, rather than having someone running in between Him and us.

Another thing is that God, existing outside of time, knows everything that will happen before it does, and therefore cannot be influenced, at least not in the sense that humans are. There are, yes, instances where it appears that God acts in accordance with human wills, but it is more comparable to a human father, who, already knowing their little one will need help, nonetheless waits until they ask for it.

None of us are good enough for God. We are all sinners, fallen short of God's glory, and so have to be freely justified by His grace that came through Christ Jesus. Mary was a human like the rest of us. No one really knows why God chose her; all it says is that she was highly favored. Certainly we see throughout her story she displays a very Godly and wise character, moreso than most modern girls in her age range (14-ish, according to biblical scholars), but she wasn't perfect. However, God used her nonetheless, and that is what matters.

I apologize if I accidentally took on an agressive tone. I find it difficult to make a point without sounding standoffish.

And, once again, thank you for responding. I understand that you have a lot of things on your plate, and so it means a lot to me that you bother to answer my questions.

Kate already answered

I do agree that some less learned Catholics do go overboard

Great question! I'll answer soon! A bit busy atm.

Mary was the chosen and beloved of God. She was selected, of all the many women on Earth, to mother God incarnate. So put simply, we utilize divine people and their influence upon God as something of a blessed tool- Say you were going to speak to the President. If you spoke on your own behalf, he would likely laugh it off (of course, God wouldn't do that, this is merely an example), but if you got one of his advisors to speak to him, he would take it more seriously. If you think of God as the Morgan Freeman character depicted in Bruce and Evan Almighty, he can't do everything at once. I mean, it took him seven days to create the earth. While his power is supreme, he cannot overcome that hurdle (We were made in his image, after all). Bruce Almighty put some common questions in the spotlight quite beautifully, in my opinion. God needs time, like any world leader, when he gets something on his desk, to operate. The saints are his advisors, and Mary is his secretary, to put it lightly. Say I needed a miracle. I pray with Saint Anthony in mind as the recipient. He recieves this urgent message, and goes straight to the big guy. Say that God is busy working through "winning the lottery" prayers. it would take him a (relative) while to reach your prayer otherwise, but with Anthony to step in and bring attention to your prayer, it brings your prayer special priority.
I hope this has been helpful!

Back to our discussion :)

What purpose do glasses serve? Maybe you know someone who wears glasses, how about mirrors? Magnifying glasses, microscopes, telescopes? Do you know where i'm headed with this?

Mary magnifies, amplifies, makes clearer the path to Jesus. She will never take attention away from Her Son. She never did on earth and she doesn't in heaven. She like us is called to serve Jesus. Did you know the prayers we say addressed to Mary are taken right out of the Bible, we are literally repeating what the Angel Gabrael and Mary's cousin Elizabeth said to her?. And everything we say about Mary and the honor we give her is meant to honor the Son she bore and raised and offered to God on the Cross.

So the question really is whether or not people continue to serve the same purpose in Heaven as they did on Earth. Of course, that is indeterminable until we get there.

I would like to point out that in only one instance in the Bible does Mary's interference allow Christ to perform a miracle (at the wedding in Cana), and He didn't seem too happy about it.

In most recorded instances, people got to know Jesus because they went directly to Him (such as the paralyzed man), or because He reached out to them (such as the woman at the well). Mary doesn't seem to have much role in those cases. Perhaps that's because she was still in the flesh, but it goes to show that Mary isn't necessary for building a relationship with Christ.

Another thing is that Christ said HE is the only way to the Father. Not Him plus Mary, not Him plus giving alms, not Him plus prayer to the saints, only HIM. Yes, you said that Mary leads to Christ, not the Father, but, again, Christ alone is the Way.

I was unaware that prayers addressed to Mary replicate scripture. But I'm not surprised.

I don't doubt that the intention is to honor Christ. I'm not saying that we shouldn't commend her. I totally think she should be held up as a model of Christian living. I'm just saying that the reverence Catholics have for her seems a bit overblown.

Once again, I apologize if I unintentionally took on an agressive tone. And thank you again for responding.

I appreciate you wanting to discuss. Post anytime!