Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr Jun de Ocampo SVD – Cologne, Germany
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
St. Augustine said that Mary first conceived Jesus in her heart through faith before she conceived him in her womb.
Conceiving Jesus in her womb and delivering him to the world could have been a simple ordinary task for any normal woman. But the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus took more thank an ordinary normal woman’s body. It needed a heart full of trust and obedience in God, a heart that can say “Fiat” (Be it done).
As we celebrate today the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we honor the heart that beats only for God. In this sense, the heart of Mary was immaculate because Mary did not allow any other ulterior motives and personal agenda to influence her actions. All she did was to allow God’s will to be the deciding factor in all her choices.
In the gospel today, we find Mary bringing the child Jesus to the Temple of Jerusalem like any other God-fearing mother was expected to do. She looked for Jesus she he appeared to have been lost, like any caring mother would do. The answer of Jesus “I must be in my Father’s house” must have easily shocked any loving mother, but for Mary, she “kept all these things in her heart.”
May our hearts be patterned after the heart of Mary. We may not have to carry Jesus in our bodies, but we can keep Jesus in our hearts. We may not be immaculate like Mary, but like her may we have no other ulterior motives that that of allowing God’s will to be the deciding factor in our choices.
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