May the Lord give you peace in the Holy Spirit. It is on 17th June 2023. We celebrate the memory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary right after the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The readings are from Isaiah 61:9-11 and the Gospel from Luke 2:41-51.
What was so special about this Heart of Mary we who believe in Her Son Jesus need to have today? Mary’s heart was filled with purity, faith, obedience, tenderness, docility, the spirit of service, fortitude, humility, simplicity, and gratitude, and ready to intercede for the one who lost the connection with Jesus.
There are so many events unfolding in Infront of our lives personally, socially, and globally. Many of them just pass by without affecting because we do not take them into our hearts to ruminate over and offer them to the Lord.
The Immaculate Heart of our Beloved Mother Mary could lead any human heart that seeks the presence of Jesus in its life.
The heart is the place where we make choices of choosing or rejecting God and others. The consistency of choosing God Mother Mary makes Her Heart immaculate and pure.
Only the believers have the abundance of love from two other Hearts for sure even when we are struggling to get a grip of loving others with our hearts. We have the Sacred Heart of the Saviour and the Immaculate Heart of Mary ever ready to shower us with love, purity, and longing to reach God.
The perfect love of the Mother of our Lord is for all. Honoring Mother does not reduce or distract us from loving and worshiping God and God’s only Son Jesus. On the contrary, we grow in love with God by coming closer to a Mother who offered everything to God.
We learn from the Catechism 492: “The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.
The heart of Mary is immaculate, pure, and perfect in loving God and suffering humanity. A mother runs to offer aid to those who go through pain and suffering.
The first reading points out that those who are faithful to God are blessed by God for all ages.
The responsorial Psalm praises, “My heart rejoices in the Lord my savior.” (1 Sam.2:1).
In the Gospel, we reflect on the end of infancy narrative. “His mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” (Lk.2:48)
Only the Divine Mother could understand the choices of the Son in addressing God as Father and seeking the will of the Father. There is so much anxiety, worry and fear about the future and the whereabouts of our children when left on their own. Most of the parents presume that their children would misbehave and do some mischievous things always. Seldom a parent believes that their children are looking for good, truth, and God out of their presence.
Handling teenage children need a loving father’s hand and the unjudging heart of a mother. The tension between the parent and the children is widening all the more than ever before. Just like Mother Mary, we need to believe in our children and allow them to grow in their choices and dreams to reach their goals. Every parent needs to respond in faith and love children emulating the model of Mary. “His mother treasured all these things in her heart.” [Lk. 2:51]. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary help all parents to handle children with respect and without fear and anxiety. God bless you and have a lovely day.