THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed is the Virgin Mary,
who treasured the word of God
and pondered it in her heart. LK 2:19

ISAIAH 61:9-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Mary exulted in God's goodness from the moment she understood that she was the one chosen by Him and she recognized the great favour He had bestowed on her. 

Every prophecy concerning the redemption and the salvation of the human race and the manner in which God would accomplish it commences from the very moment of Mary's fiat to the will of God. Heaven and earth waited in hushed silence, waited patiently for the few moments it took to assimilate what the Angel Gabriel was asking of her and she said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ 

Today, we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of the Woman espoused to the Holy Spirit, the Woman who is the fairest of all the daughters of the Father, and the Woman who is the Mother of the Son of God. The militant Church on earth exults with her, and with the triumphant Church in heaven at the marvels that the Lord has accomplished because she said, 'Yes'.

‘I exult for joy in the Lord,
my soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation,
he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity,
like a bridegroom wearing his wreath,
like a bride adorned in her jewels.
‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow,
as a garden makes seeds spring up,
so will the Lord make both integrity and praise
spring up in the sight of the nations.’

Today, let us set aside all our burdens and sorrows, let us dry our tears and rejoice wholeheartedly with heaven and the Church for this great gift of Mary without whose cooperation God could not have saved and redeemed us in the glorious way that He did. Alleluia! Amen! Praise the Lord!

LUKE 2:41-51 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All parents are often wounded by their children most especially when they begin to grow, mature and discover their identities. While this is the way it must be parents experience the pain when their little ones begin to pull away from them and become their own person. It is comforting to know that this was also the experience of Mary and Joseph. Little did they know at the beginning of their journey and as they set out to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover that the cup of suffering would be raised to Mary's lips and both she and St. Joseph were permitted to take a sip of it as a foretaste of what was in store for her.   

Until the time when You remained back in the Temple after the feast, You had never given them a single anxious moment. So certain were both Mary and Joseph that You were with the caravan that they did not seek You it was only after a whole day had passed that they began to look for You. It is every parent's nightmare - the loss of a child. One can well imagine their sorrow and anxiety as they made their way back to Jerusalem, perhaps on foot, and every moment seemed like an eternity as a myriad worrying thoughts crossed their minds. It took three days before they found You - both Mary and Joseph too were given a foretaste of the three days that would come years later when You were put to death, crucified, and buried until that glorious day when You rose from the dead. 

They found You in the Temple sitting among the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions that had never occurred to them before to which perhaps they were struggling to find an answer. They watched the scene before them with a mixture of relief and awe. Relief won the day when Mary whose face was etched with lines of grief as she said to You gently, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’

How startled both Joseph and Mother Mary would have been at Your reply, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ As Your Mother narrated this incident to Luke, the evangelist, she honestly confesses that neither Joseph nor she understand what You meant. However, these last lines cast a veil on the following years as we read: He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. While Your Mother stored up all these things in her heart.

For every parent, the time arrives when after we have done our best in raising our children we have to let them go. We have to cut the strings and permit our adult children to make mistakes perhaps grave ones while we pray for them unceasingly that just as You have allowed us to find our way back to You so too You will surely and gently help them to find their way back to You.