The Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Lam. 2:2.10-14.18-19, Lk. 2:41-51. After the celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated, reminding us of the special link and connection that Jesus our Lord has with His Mother Mary. The Marian devotion is not an end in itself, since the love of her heart is meant as a paradigm for the way we should love and trust God. Sometimes we become so busy with things that we miss the divine action around us. We fail to put our trust in God and see how Jesus touches our lives. We focus on ourselves and our problems and fail to see what God would have us do in the situations in which we find ourselves. The message from God for us is simple; God is saying: “Trust Me, do not worry, no matter what happens. Think deep on how I have taken care of you and I will continue to take care of you, if you just seek My rule over you.” Today's first reading describes the crying over the destruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the exiling of the people because they had chosen to listen to false prophets. This happened because the people had not fully trusted in the Lord.

In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches us how to trust in God in His obedience not only to His Father’s will but to the human parents God has given Him to watch over Him as He grows up. Through this action Jesus shows us how to relate to His Mother, for the Immaculate Heart of Mary leads us closer to God, rather than becoming an alternative object of devotion. The focus on her heart as Immaculate or sinless means that she is uniquely able to really love God the way God should be adored. Honouring the Immaculate Heart is another way of honouring her as the one chosen to be the Mother of Christ, recognising her extraordinary holiness and the immense love she had for Jesus as His Mother, drawing her to share and co-operate in His redemptive sufferings. The focus of this devotion is to unite mankind to God through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, through a process of consecration and reparation. We may consecrate ourselves to Immaculate Heart of Mary as a way of being completely devoted to God, with Mary as our intermediary in this process of consecration. Due to the analogy between Jesus and Mary, the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is linked to consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to which it remains subordinate and dependent.

May the Lord help us to treasure all that God is doing in our life by reflecting on them in our heart and become a Temple fit for the greater glory of God! Amen!! Good morning and do have a happy weekend!!!