DESCRIPTION:
The Magnificat

Luke 1:39-55
Mary then set out for a town in the hills of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit, and giving a loud cry said: "You are most blessed amongst women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true!"

And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my saviour!
He has looked upon his servant in her lowliness
and people forever will call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
Holy is his Name!
From age to age his mercy extends
to those who live in his presence.
He has acted with power and done wonders,
and scattered the proud with their plans.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones
and lifted up those who are downtrodden.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but he has sent the rich away empty.
He held out his hand to Israel, his servant,
for he remembered his mercy,
Even as he promised our fathers,
Abraham and his descendants forever."

Why is Mary holy or favored?
Mary is considered of such high favor with God and Elizabeth recognizes that she is special only because of Jesus. Mary was chosen to bear Jesus by God, so God singled her out from many, many other women on the planet. Elizabeth recognized that she was bearing the son of God and so recognized that she was special.Mary was not just as normal as you and me - she was highly favored by God and greatest of all women. Not too many people have angels coming in the middle of the night to proclaim such things to them so I would say that Mary is a tad more than ordinary.

Why is Mary mentioned so much?
Without Mary's free acceptance of her calling from God we would not have Jesus in human flesh. Also, the fact that Scripture refers to her in such a special way is good enough reason to talk about her.
The frequency of the mention of Mary in any particular setting really depends on your perspective. In my experience Mary is not the core component of faith. The core of Catholicism is Jesus, not Mary.
However, we cannot simply neglect Mary. She plays an integral role in the redemption of the world. She said yes, Jesus was born and we were redeemed (by Jesus of course). One cannot simply talk about Jesus without being grateful to his mother.
Catholics do not put Mary on par with God; we just do a better job at recognizing the role she played in Christian history. Mary is certainly worthy of reverence, but not worship.The Hail Mary is not a prayer of worship, but it is a recitation of Scripture and then an asking of her to pray for us to God; much like asking our other Christian brothers and sisters to pray for us.