Mary’s love for God teaches us how to belong to Him in time and eternity
Reflections on the readings for the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (June 9, 2018): 2 TM 4:1-8; PS 71:8-9,14-15,16-17,22; LK 2:41-51
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
In saluting the Immaculate Heart of Mary we revere the magnificent beauty of her pure love for God.
While she never had the stain of sin on her soul, our Blessed Mother offers to all God’s children – sinners though we are – an example of fidelity to our Eternal Father, His Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit. Because God was and is everything to her, she yearns to reveal God’s infinite mercy to us and show us how to respond in humble gratitude. We can ask the Mother of God, the Mother of Christ, to accept us as her children, too. We can ask her to help us be true disciples of her Son, so that we can say, along with St. Paul: “I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for His appearance” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Jesus surely rested His head against her beating heart as a baby and a little boy, and at the last, when His battered body was laid in her arms after the Crucifixion. We can ask our Mother to teach us to embrace His compassion and share it with others. And we can ask our Mother to open the gates of heaven for us, hold us close, and then joyfully present us to Her Son and our Savior.
Suggested missionary action: Let us say the World Mission Rosary, asking Mary to care for missionaries and to encourage all those who are just starting to recognize Jesus as their Savior.
