What to do with the Virgin Mary?

Last night during our evening worship, which began a three part series, what really happened in Bethlehem, we saw brief video that discussed various theories about Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In particular, we learned about the Roman Catholic doctrine of The Immaculate Conception which is, according to Roman Catholic dogma, the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus without any stain ("macula" in Latin) of original sin. So I decided to look into this a little more. Here is what I learned. The dogma says that, from the first moment of her existence, she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind, and that she was instead filled with divine grace. It is further believed that she lived a life completely free from sin. In the words of Pope Pius XII in Mystici Corporis, "she was free from any personal or hereditary sin" Her immaculate conception in the womb of her mother, by normal sexual intercourse, should not be confused with the doctrine of the virginal conception of her son Jesus.
The feast of the Immaculate Conception, is celebrated on December 8.
Now this is not an old teaching in the Roman Catholic church, it was institued in 1854. That’s very recent in terms of Church History. I was once asked if Lutherans believe in this doctrine, and my answer was no, and still is no. So what do we teach about Mary. Good question.
Lutherans tend to stick to, what it says in the bible and in the Creeds. That pretty much leaves us with, “she was the mother of Jesus, and in Matthew’s Gospel it says, she was a virgin.” Although as we heard last night, the word virgin in Hebrew can also simply mean young woman. To be honest with you, I never gave Mary much thought, and I don’t believe we spent any time on her in Seminary. So I’ve got to look into this some more.
Actually, I think it’s a loss, that we don’t spend more time on Mary. Why? Because Christianity is overly masculine. We talk of God as Father, Jesus as Son, and although the Greek Orthodox tradition holds the Holy Spirit as a feminine pneuma, most of the time it’s an it. We would benefit from a feminine element in the godhead.
In the 1950’s the Roman Catholic church started a doctrine called the Assumption of Mary.

It teaches that the Virgin Mary, "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." This means that Mary was transported into Heaven with her body and soul united. This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. In those denominations that observe it, the Assumption is commonly celebrated on August 15, a Holy Day of Obligation in many Roman Catholic jurisdictions.
In his August 15, 2004, homily given at Lourdes, Pope John Paul II quoted John 14:3 from the Bible as a scriptural basis for understanding the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be." According to Catholic theology, Mary is the pledge of the fulfillment of Christ's promise. However, many theologians disagree with this interpretation of Scripture, and believe that Christ was speaking about his preparation of Calvary and the crucifixion for the remission of sins.

The Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung was very excited about this dogma, because it both added a feminine element to the trinity, but also made the Trinity a gathering of four not three. Making it a Quadrinity??? Jung felt that four was a more complete number reflecting wholeness.

Maybe we do need to recover Mary in our tradition. The question is how to do it, in a way that is responsible and appropriate. Any ideas? Post them in the comments section below?