Why do Catholics venerate Mother Mary and Pray to Her?

Why do the Catholics venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary and Pray to Her? Is it not idol worship? Why to honor Mary and Saints? Why so much importance is given to the devotion of Mother Mary in Catholic Church? 

These are questions frequently asked by most Christians belonging to Protestant / Pentecostal denominations. Sometimes this question arises in the minds of even Catholics who are active in Charismatic Prayer movements. When Lord Jesus is our intercessor, why do we need the aid of other mediators? Answers to these questions are given by many anointed persons who have received numerous blessing through the intervention of Blessed Mother Mary. As I am also one of the billions of devotees who continue to receive innumerable blessing of the Lord through Mother Mary (even though I too had been nurturing the above mentioned doubts for a long time in life), I proudly and gladly wish to share the Divine Promptings by the Holy Spirit of God about Mother Mary.

I don't intend to explain in this post who Mother Mary is to those people who do not know who Lord Jesus Christ is. I am very sure that whoever truly Believes in the Saviour of the humanity Jesus Christ and the Holy Word of God will easily become ardent devotees of the Blessed Mother of God, if they meditate (with openness) certain events / versus in the Holy Bible.

Though there are many incidents and circumstances in the Holy Bible that command and warrant special devotion and veneration to the Blessed Mother Mary, in my opinion the wedding event at Cana is more than enough to understand the preeminence of the 'humble woman' chosen by the Almighty God, before the ages to be HIS Mother when HE is to take incarnation as a man to redeem the mankind in the fullness of time. 

As I stated above, if you have an open heart to know the Holy Will of God about respecting HIS Mother, please read the below narrated Biblical Passage (John 2:1-11) several times meditatively. Remember, if you already have your own presupposition (fed by some persons) in this matter, you will never get to know God's Wish.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out at the wedding, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water-pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer quality wine;but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. 

In the above passage in the 'Word of God' we see the Lord saying that His hour had not yet come. Yes, the Lord can never and will never commit an err. Even though His time had not yet come for His self-manifestation and to perform the first miracle, At the request of His Mother, He makes the marriage venue at Cana for His Manifestation and acts immediately! In other words, if I say Mother Mary also played a significant role in planning and executing the redemption mission of Lord Jesus, can you refute it?

We see in the 10 commandments given by God, after the first 3 pertaining to God, the fourth one is to honour one's parents (father and mother). When God wants the people to give utmost respect to their father and mother, how can we expect God to not respect His own Father and Mother? In other words, when God who is pleased when you and me respect our worldly parents (who are sinners), how much more will He not be delighted when we venerate His dear and most Blessed Mother who is 'Full of Grace' and capable of filling others with Holy Spirit with her mere presence and by just making a verbal greeting?

In the Holy Gospel of Luke Chapter 1 verse 43 we see St Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist-who got special privilege to prepare the way for the Lord and to baptize Him-) filled with the Holy Spirit of God asks Mother Mary, 'And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' (Lk 1:43)

After meditating and reading the above passage and after seeing an elderly and saintly person filled with the Holy Spirit venerating and proclaiming and declaring a universal Truth that the humble and Holy woman who carried the Son of God in her womb, is the Mother of her Lord (God), all people under the sun who believe in the God of Baptist John, Zachariah and Elizabeth and who believe in the Most Holy Spirit of God, will surely believe that Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of their Lord Jesus (true God incarnated and assumed human form) and deserves very high veneration and honor. Still if anyone has difficulty in accepting her as the Mother of God, I feel pity for that person and am afraid that he/she is possessed by some evil spirits that hate and oppose Blessed Virgin Mother's special authority granted by the Most High God to crush the head of satan! May the Mother of God pray for that person to gain vision..!