THE WORD AND THE FEAST
June 20, 2020: Remembering the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Isaiah 61: 9-11; Luke 2: 41-51
Isaiah 61: 9-11; Luke 2: 41-51
Following the Sacred Heart, we remember the Immaculate Heart - so fitting and meaningful a tradition! The Heart of Mary, immaculate originally by the grace of God, but manifests more than that... a total dedication to God and the role God has to play in the salvation history of human kind.
The heart of Mary gives us three lessons to live by.
1. The heart was pierced by sorrows as Simeon predicted. In the book of Lamentations, we come across the picture of the lamenting daughter of Sion and Mary is prefigured in this imagery. But no matter how much the heart was was pierced and hurt and tortured, it always glowed for the love of God and the fulfillment of God's will.
2. The heart of Mary was absolutely open to the working of the Spirit and it was at the beck and call of the Word. We see this right from the moment she heard the greeting from the angel. Openness to the Spirit is a matter of the heart and Mary exemplifies it to the utmost.
3. The heart of Our Blessed Mother was filled with 'God-thoughts' and that was because she kept everything that was happening in her life in her heart and pondered over them. She recognised, acknowledged and accepted interventions of God in her life, and found herself being moved and animated by the Lord, the Lord's Word and the Lord's Spirit.
Imitating Mary, let us open our hearts to God, glow for God and allow ourselves to be guided by the Lord and we will experience strongly the presence of the Lord in our hearts. May the Immaculate heart of our Blessed Mother be a guide post on our journey towards the merciful heart of God, our Father and Mother.