20210612 WHAT DOES IMMACULATE HEART MEAN?
12 June, 2021, Saturday, The Immaculate Heart of Mary
First reading | Isaiah 61:9-11 © |
I exult for joy in the Lord
Their race will be famous throughout the nations,
their descendants throughout the peoples.
All who see them will admit
that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.
‘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.’
Responsorial Psalm |
1 Samuel 2:1,4-8 © |
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
My heart exults in the Lord.
I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies
as I rejoice in your saving help.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread,
but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now
but the fruitful wife bears no more.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
It is the Lord who gives life and death,
he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches.
He brings men low and raises them on high.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
He lifts up the lowly from the dust,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes
to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
on them he has set the world.
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk2:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed is the Virgin Mary,
who treasured the word of God
and pondered it in her heart.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 2:41-51 © |
Mary stored up all these things in her heart
Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.
Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’
‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant.
He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart.
WHAT DOES IMMACULATE HEART MEAN?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISA 61:9-11; 1 SM 2:1,4-5,6-7; LK 2:41-51]
The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is connected with St John Eudes in the 17th century, whom St Pius called the Immaculate Heart’s Father, Doctor and Apostle. He was an exponent on the meaning of this devotion, especially in his book, “The Admirable Heart of Mary.” This feast was already celebrated in the liturgy in 1644 but was given new impetus at Fatima when Our Lady revealed to Lucia that she was the Immaculate Heart. This feast follows immediately from the celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is celebrated on the Friday after the Feast of Corpus Christi. Whilst both feasts, Corpus Christi and Sacred Heart, celebrate the love of God for humanity from different perspectives, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary focuses more on Mary’s love and devotion to God.
What do we mean when we say that Mary’s heart is immaculate? When we say someone is immaculate we mean that someone is pure and impeccable in virtues and in holiness. Indeed, Mary’s purity and holiness have been sung throughout the ages since the beginning of the Church. But some question whether by giving her this title, it would raise her to the level of divinity because it means that she is free from sin. If that were so, she would be less than human because all of us, as St John wrote, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 Jn 1:10) Right from the outset, we must therefore make it clear that we are not created as sinners. God created us in His image and likeness but because sin entered the world through Adam, all have sinned. (Rom 5:12) So being a sinner is to live less than an authentic human life.
What does it mean to live an immaculate life? St James wrote, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” (Jms 3:13-18) St Paul wrote, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil 4:8) Mary’s immaculate heart shows us what an authentic life should be. She is the model of holiness and how we must live our life to find true happiness and peace.
Her immaculate heart was shown in her purity of mind and heart. She had no evil intentions in her heart to inflict evil or hurt anyone. She was not reactive even towards the enemies of her Son. She always had kind thoughts for people, never uttering anything negative about others. Even when people called her Son, “mad” she did not pass judgment on them. Instead, she went with her relatives to see for herself. There was no defensiveness of any sort. So much so, she won the praise of our Lord when He replied, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:34f) Even at the passion, we did not hear her utter any vindictiveness or complaint or accusation of injustice being done to her only Son. No, she suffered silently and patiently. We can be sure she would have joined her heart with her Son’s when He prayed “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) She was forgiving like her Son. Even with wicked and sinful people, her heart remained pure, forgiving and understanding. She just stood underneath the cross and wept.
Secondly, her immaculate heart was seen in her pure service, without self-interests and egoism. Her concern was always to be of service to God and to the people. She was ready to be at the service of God even when God called her for a mission that would break her heart when her Son was rejected and put to death. Indeed, as Simeon prophesied, “a sword would pierce your own soul too.” (Lk 2:35) In spite of the uncertainties and daunting challenges ahead of her in conceiving Jesus as a virgin, she was docile to do the will of God. Her fiat to God’s choice was truly a humble response without any sign of pride or self-interest. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)
Her heart was also one of service to her fellowmen. When she was at Cana in Galilee, her concern was that the wedding couple had no wine left to entertain the guests. She was not thinking about herself or about being recognized for the good work she did. Quietly, without the knowledge of the wedding couple and even the chief steward, she spontaneously and gently told her Son, “They have no wine.” (Jn 2:3) And then left everything to her Son and the servants. She did not serve to get glory or appreciation. This too was the case when she visited Elizabeth after the angel told her that her cousin was pregnant in her old age. Her only concern was the need to go and assist her. She did not think of herself, that she was already pregnant. She took the long and arduous journey of 130 km across the hilly country to visit Elizabeth and stayed with her for three months. She was there not to boast about her being chosen to be the mother of the Messiah but to share the joy of Elizabeth and to assist her.
Her intention of service was always pure. Unlike her, some of us serve with ulterior motives, to get honour, recognition, appreciation and publicity. For the little good we do, we want to announce to the whole world. When we give some donations, we want everyone to know how generous we are, when what we give is just a token from our abundance. We give to receive something. We serve to be acknowledged.
But does being immaculate mean that she had no human emotions? Indeed, she had. In today’s gospel, she was anxious when she found our Lord missing. She was worried like any parent would if their child was lost or found missing. But when she found Him sitting among the teachers in the Temple, she did not rile or scream at Him for causing them to worry. But she gently shared her anxiety with Him. “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” She too would have been anxious when people thought that Jesus was out of His mind. So being immaculate does not mean being less than human. It simply means that we have purity of mind and heart towards God and our fellowmen, without any selfish motives or egoistic intentions, conscious or unconscious.
Of course, such a life is primarily also a grace of God. Indeed, holiness is more the work of God in us than our work. What is required of us, as was required of Mary, is our docility to God’s grace in our lives. She was always working under the grace of the Holy Spirit. In the Magnificat, she made it clear, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant … for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (Lk 1:46-49) This is what the first reading from Isaiah also wants to emphasize, the grace of God. “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Holiness is God’s grace, true for us and for Mary!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment