“Mary Is My Homegirl”

Marytshirt

In what might be dubbed a sequel to my post Growing Protestant Devotion To Mary, here is a report on teenage girls who are becoming, er, chummy, with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"They’re wearing ‘Mary Is My Homegirl’ T-shirts and bracelets, and not all of them are Roman Catholic.

[…]

"’Mary Is My Homegirl’ T-shirts made by Teenage Millionaire, a California-based clothing company, have become one of the company’s biggest sellers nationwide and recently got a mention on The Gilmore Girls, a humorous TV drama about a mother-daughter relationship.

"The shirt sports a figure of the Virgin Mary, some made in gold or silver lame on a black background.

"’In the past, there have been reservations about what some people see as "Mary-olatry [sic, Mariolatry]," or seeming to worship Mary,’ said the Rev. James Lyon, pastor of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in downtown Columbia.

"’The new position is that there’s nothing wrong with appropriate devotion. The key is to keep in mind that Mary can be seen as someone who points the way toward her son, Jesus Christ.’"

GET THE STORY.

Although the Rev. Lyon’s comments are great and sound downright Catholic (he even calls Mary "an intercessor for the people of God"), a quick peek at the t-shirts the article discusses leaves me thinking that this is less a case of teenage devotion to Mary than a case of fad-following. But if the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, then perhaps this fad might ultimately lead to a religious interest in Mary, which in turn might lead in the direction that the Rev. Lyon noted that all true Marian devotion ultimately leads.

14 thoughts on ““Mary Is My Homegirl””

  1. This is absurd!
    And indicative of the constant,yet tiresome “accommodatist” and extremely reductionist approach found in the Church seeking to make things “relevant” and “hip”
    This very same impulse may be to blame for the rise of such abominations as “christian” rock and preacher/manager Joe “jessica” Simpson…
    Mary isn’t hip and should be trivialize as such…
    Stop struggling to be relevant, hip, and edgy.
    Start being true…
    In this culture, the medium is the message: it is terribly offensive and WRONG to permit Mary and “homegirl” to be commingled.
    Nevermind, how truly silly, puerile, and dopey it looks on those who would don such an article of clothing…

  2. There you go agin, Michelle, with your trad-baiting.
    Hee-hee.
    Lighten up a little, Michael. By itself, there is nothing inherently sinful in these items of clothing.
    I WOULD want to make certain, before I presumed to wear something like this, that my relationship with Our Blessed Mother was more than just cursory. In other words, I wouldn’t bother with the shirt if I seldome prayed the Rosary or failed to entrust myself to the Immaculate Heart.
    There might be one exception to that, though. If some of the sweatshirts were kept in the sacristy, they could be handed out at Mass to those who “forget” to dress modestly. I know some of those girls must be FREEZING!

  3. I only time I ever thought the “Jesus is my Homeboy” message was appropriate was when I saw such T-shirts being worn by former gang members who literally replaced their “homeboys” with Jesus. It was a conversation starter when they went out to evangelize others, and gang members immediately realized what it meant: That they were willing to die for their Homeboy.
    Incidentally, about 10 years ago there were lots of young black men wearing T-shirts that said “I’m down with Jesus”. I did a double-take a couple of times because the “I’m” part didn’t register.
    As for the “Mary is my homegirl” icon… Well, these T-shirts seem no different than the fad a few years ago of wearing Krishna or Buddha pictures on the front of a shirt. It’s just “cool” to do it.

  4. Of course, the Church of England never abandoned Marian devotion, so it would seem that much is being made of little.

  5. At the risk of being hit by someone’s rocker (;)), visit Phatmass.com for more shirts made by Catholics with a sense of humor. And check out the Catholic hip hop while you’re at it. 😀

  6. This latest fad can only point to Christ. I see nothing wrong with it. Oh, and Mary *is* my home-girl. As a matter of fact, you can spot Mary trough-out my home as you probably could most catholics. 🙂
    ~Perry

  7. as stated previously …
    …and evident by the name of the clothing company, there is LOTS and LOTS of money to be made in Jesus’ name (and now our Blessed Mother’s) and the stampede is on; by believers and non-believers alike to cash in on the marketability of our Saviour and His Church.
    hey, that’s what makes America great, eh? that entrepreneurial zeitgeist

  8. We all seem to have forgotten that this isn’t the first time Mary has appeared on an article of clothing. So I think she’d be “down” with this. ^_^
    What Tim says is right though:
    “I WOULD want to make certain, before I presumed to wear something like this, that my relationship with Our Blessed Mother was more than just cursory. In other words, I wouldn’t bother with the shirt if I seldome prayed the Rosary or failed to entrust myself to the Immaculate Heart.”
    I think one’s level of spiritual intimacy is key. I’m very close to my patron and patroness, and pray to them all the time, so I love to mention them somewhat lightheartedly sometimes, and wouldn’t even mind having a shirt with them on it. If my devotion to them wasn’t strong it might be a case of disrespect, but since it is it’s more a sign of affection. I think stuff like this can be a sign of affection for some people too.

  9. It could be seen as a sign of respect if you love Our Lord and Our Lady. But the first time I saw these shirts the false Madonna was wearing the “Mary” shirt and Ashton Kucher was wearing the “Jesus” shirt.
    (Aren’t they BOTH kaballa-ists?)

  10. Jimmy, I fully agree with you that, if the shirts are worn with good intent, devotion will grow. But I can assure you, as part of the market demographic for these shirts, that they are meant for no such thing. All “graphic tees” are designed for one of two purposes: either the graphic is abstract/obscure in order to demonstrate arcane knowledge (that’s the best way I can put it), or an obvious cultural reference for use as a conversation piece – the people in the conversation essentially share a moment both in recognition/acknowledgement and in mockery of the reference.
    Basically what I’m trying to say is that the whole graphic tee culture is fundamentally ironic – the whole point is to kill the sacred cow. I’m sure some people will buy this shirt because they are in fact close to Mary, but the vast majority will wear it as a joke. After all, would folks who are close to Mary call her their “homegirl?” I wouldn’t.

  11. “Lighten up” possibly…but Tim J better not give up this day job…post – to cute by half..

  12. I teach confirmation prep at my parish and one of my students showed up in a hooded sweatshirt with a painted “Our Lady of Guadalupe” on it. I thought it was awesome.
    It tells the kids around her thats its Ok to show your faith in a time where the ACLU feared world says “keep your faith to yourself”.

  13. This is an issue that I feel strongly about. I think people should just lighten up, myself and my closest friends absolutely love Christian themed t-shirts. We wear them for two reasons:
    1. To show our support because we are sick of Christianity being perceived as a dying, irrelevant religion.
    2. The images are just so beautiful. They inspire spiritual feelings in us so we hope they do the same for others. I used to be a satanist, not from fashion but because I truly felt it, it was actually the beauty and “vibe” of Mary’s images that made me turn away from that stuff. Images I saw on posters and t-shirts, not in some tucked away little church.
    In no way are we trying to be ironic or kill the sacred cow. Maybe sad tarts like “Madonna” and morons like Kutcher are being ironic but celebrities are warped and attention seeking anyway, everyone knows Ciccone uses religion to generate interest. BFD, it will be Japanese Shinto tomorrow!
    What is so wrong with people calling Mary their homegirl? Not everybody is a white middle class traditionalist, if that is some people’s culture and their way of tribute then so be it, how can a religion be a major force for good if it can’t be accomodated with the many variations of “normal”?
    To those people who wear the shirts purely as a fashion statement, well, at least they are putting Mary and Jesus in the public eye!

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