Feast Of The Immaculate Heart Of Mary

2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Luke 2:41-51

DO YOU PONDER ABOUT THE CHOICE YOU MAKE?

In a world where there is so much trouble, so much anger and bitterness, so many broken relationships, so many unhealed hurts, accumulated resentments, and hardened hearts, there is nothing more life-giving than to carry on Christ’s ministry of forgiveness, reconciliation, love, and peace. Today’s feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is closely connected to the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was celebrated yesterday. These two hearts are one not only by human origin but also from the fact that the two hearts seek the will of God the Father. Two hearts are full of compassion, mercy, and grace.

In today’s gospel, after searching for Jesus for three days, the parents of Jesus found him in the Temple- listening to the teachers of the law and asking them questions. When the Mother reported their experience in searching for him, He responded that they should know that he is busy doing his Father’s affairs. She never uttered a word of complaint or negative reaction, she saw the hand of God in all these things. She pondered all these things in her heart.

This feast underlines the desire of Christ to do the still of God the Father and the joys and sorrows of Mary in doing the will of God, her virtues of obedience and humility, her love for God and for Jesus, and her love for all people. Although Mary did not understand many things immediately in her life, her heart, purified by the Holy Spirit, was confident of God’s love, protection, and providence.

These days, we are surrounded by so many activities with family, work, community, and even church responsibilities and events that we don’t make the time to get in touch with our heart time. Mary had many instances where she pondered many things in her heart. She found peace in her heart of hearts, the space she alone could interact with God. This was her holy space where she gained the strength to meet the challenges of daily life as the mother of Jesus.

Let’s make the effort to set time aside to BE WITH GOD to enter into that holy space where we meet our God, where we can receive nourishment for the journey and be truly at peace.

Fr Joseph Osho