Many seem to have a problem with the idea of granting to Mary the mother of Jesus any particular or special place in salvation. Certainly the one ex cathedra pronouncement by a pope in recent history has gone against the grain of many – that Mary is the Immaculate Conception. Leaving that aside, I know that many Christians, including many Roman Catholics, do not really understand or appreciate Mary’s title as Queen of Heaven, which is celebrated in the Catholic Rosary as one of the Glorious Mysteries.

I would like to share one citation from Scripture. The scripture is from 1 Kings 2: 19, “So Bathshe'ba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adoni'jah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king's mother; and she sat on his right.”

Just to remind everyone, Bathshe'ba is the woman King David had seen taking a bath when he was on the roof of his palace. David had an affair with her and she became pregnant. Unable to make it look like a legitimate pregnancy, David arranged for the death of her husband in a battle. He subsequently took Bathshe'ba into his household. The child from that relatiohship did not survive, but a later son, Solomon, became David's successor.

Let us consider the Davidic Kingdom as a model for, or perhaps more properly as a reflection of the Kingdom of Heaven. Most of us have heard and read plenty of prophecies on that topic; it should not be a foreign idea. To save space (and my fingers!) I ask you to stipulate that Jesus IS the King of Heaven. Let us further accept that there are plenty of scriptural references to Jesus as the ultimate King and that He, as Son of David, is a Davidic, as well as Divine King.

Solomon had a precedent for enthroning his mother beside him. From my reading of history in the ancient Middle East, the Queen Mother had a very special place in many, if not most of these kingdoms, far more than any wife. Solomon’s mother was seated at his right hand, and had an important role in ruling the kingdom. In a verse from the same book is an anecdote where Bathsheba makes a request of her son. He states that she may ask and that he will not refuse her.

I doubt that anyone missed the similarity here with the story of the wedding feast where Jesus, upon his mother's request, performed his first public miracle. Jesus did not refuse his mother when she brought the problem about an insufficient supply of wine at the wedding feast. Mary was also present at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. She was very much a part of the first Christian community.

If one believes in saints at all I cannot imagine not including Mary in that number. If she is a saint, then she is in Heaven with her Son. If He lives and reigns as King of Heaven, then it is no great leap of faith or of imagination to find that Mary, as Queen Mother, has a dynamic, direct and vital role in God’s Plan far beyond being “merely” the vessel that brought Him into the world.

Permitting oneself to incorporate a devotion to or veneration of Mary as Queen of Heaven has scriptural as well as traditional support, and may very well be a source of richness in one’s walk of faith. At the very least, a healthy respect for her in this capacity would not be a bad idea.