Mark 10:45

Category: Mary

  • Designing the Perfect Mother

    Designing the Perfect Mother

    Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

    Isaiah 61:9-11; Luke 2:41-51

    Think for a moment: If you could design the perfect mother, what would she be like?

    If you asked me, she’d be tender; a safe haven in the storms of life. Someone who comforts us when we’re hurt, consoles us in our suffering, who nurtures and teaches – not just with words, but by her quiet, steady presence. Maybe above all, she’d be someone who not just remembers us, but treasures us.

    Isn’t that what every heart really longs for?

    The Gospel today gives us just such a mother: Mary. Yes, she is the mother of Jesus, but remember – Jesus gave her to us from the Cross. Mary is our mother, too.

    I think St. Luke understood that. While he doesn’t focus much on Mary (for good reason; the gospel is about Christ), twice he presents us with the lovely image of Mary doing something we all recognize: treasuring things in her heart.

    What’s more, Luke allows his word choice to deepen the image. First, he says that when Mary looked back on the events of our Lord’s birth, she kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart (Luke 2:19). Here, the word for kept means gathering things up carefully, like the pieces of a puzzle, and holding onto them even though they don’t fit together yet. Then today, when finding Jesus in the Temple, Luke says that Mary kept all these things in her heart (Luke 2:51). But here, his second word for kept means to treasure, to guard lovingly because it’s something you never want to lose.

    That’s Mary. She takes every word, every gesture, every event in the mystery of her Son, and holds them in the quiet, contemplative shelter of her heart. Not because she understands it all, but because she loves him.

    This, I think, goes right to the heart of Mary. When someone in a crowd once spoke of his mother being blessed, Jesus didn’t respond, blessed are those who understand; he said, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it (Luke 11:28). That’s what Mary does; she is her Son’s first and most perfect disciple. In her great love of God, Mary listens, gathers up, treasures, and obeys. Even though she doesn’t grasp it all, she remains faithful.

    Let’s allow that to give us peace. How often in our own lives do we carry things we don’t understand? We have questions that go unanswered, suffering that seems senseless. We want clarity, we want answers. Instead, God offers us His presence.

    Every time we wonder what to make of all this is a time to turn to the heart of Mary. Given to us by Christ, Mary is always near to comfort us, console us, and hold us close; a mother born of our heart’s deepest longing – to be remembered and treasured when we feel forgotten and useless. Above all, Mary remembers us to her Son and her Lord. No one brings us to Jesus more gently than Mary, and no one knows him better than she. So, when your heart is heavy, give it to her. If your path is unclear, ask her to walk it with you. And if you ever feel alone, remember that you don’t need to wish for a perfect mother. You already have one, and her heart is always open, always listening, and always holding you in love.

    —

  • Embracing God’s Promise: The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

    Embracing God’s Promise: The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

    Genesis 1:20—2:4a

    As you heard, the reading from Genesis ended with the seventh day. Did you notice that, unlike the first six days, the author didn’t say, “Evening came and morning followed – the seventh day”? That’s his way of telling us that this day is different; it symbolizes a relationship with God that was never meant to end, when Heaven is united to Earth in perfect unity and peace. As we all know, it didn’t take long for sin to disrupt that union. Still, as God shows throughout the rest of the Bible, He is always willing to offer us healing and restore that peace.

    One way God continues to do that is through the Blessed Mother. We remember particularly today her appearances in France in1858, near the small town of Lourdes. Many who have visited there have experienced God’s healing power through her intercession. Not only that, Mary’s message of trust, compassion, and renewal is a wonderful reminder that God’s mercy is always available, that He’s always calling us into a more and more sacred union with Him – like that of the seventh day.

    Who doesn’t long for that kind of peace? What joy, what happiness! It may seem like a dream, especially to many of us, who find life burdensome and full of struggles. While it’s easy to get discouraged, remember something Mary said to Bernadette at Lourdes: “I cannot promise you happiness in this life; only in the next.” I think from that we can take at least two things:

    First, while we cannot run away from the problems and struggles in this life, we do have this life. Every day, every breath, is a gift of God to us. Why not set aside a few extra moments to thank Him for life, for the privilege of waking up, being able to be here, and most of all for the gift of His Only Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ? And, as we receive Christ, thank him for keeping the promise he made to the Eleven: I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). He is always with us, always at work in our lives. Those few quiet, thankful moments never go unrewarded, and mean the most when coming from the hearts of those who suffer; God always finds ways to restore in us a measure of peace, like the healing water of Lourdes.

    Second, Our Lady reminded Bernadette about happiness in the life to come. Healing and rest are not only possible, they’re God’s promise to us! So, even when peace eludes us and life feels out of control, try to do what Mary did: Trust in God’s perfect plan and remember that He is in control. Our strength and comfort come from not from anything we can do, but from knowing that our eternal rest is secure in His love and that, if we unite our will to His and Our Lady has done, then, like her, we will one day be with God and know the unity and peace that only He can give.

    May the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes guide us toward daily moments of rest and healing, helping us rediscover that perfect union of the seventh day – a union where every day holds the bright promise of God’s eternal, loving rest.

    —

  • Mother and Queen

    Mother and Queen

    The Queenship of Mary (August 22)

    When my son was very little, he asked my wife to turn her head so he could inspect the back of it. He was convinced she had an extra set of eyes back there somewhere.

    I sympathize. It was the same with my own mom; she always seemed to know what was going on with me. Even after I grew up and would call home, just one “Hello” out of my mouth and she would say, “OK, Richard, what’s wrong?”

    Who knows a boy better than his mother?

    I’m a father myself, and I can sense some things in my children, but nothing like their mother. Call it women’s intuition, call it what you will, I think there’s a certain grace poured upon a mother that binds her to her child like no other. Maybe it’s because a mother’s womb is our exclusive home for the first 9 months of our lives; Mom is all we know and all we can know. Everything we need for life comes through her and depends on her.

    Consider that in the context of Christ and his mother. Who has ever known Christ better than she, and who would love her more than he?

    Ask yourself: How would he, who wrote the commandments, including, “Honor your father and mother,” honor his mother? She who was his exclusive home for the first 9 months of life, who cradled him in her arms, fed him, dressed him, taught him to walk, helped him learn the Scriptures he gave the world, sang to him, shared a home with him for 30 years, and ultimately laid him in the tomb – all the while pondering these mysteries in her heart and loving him as only a mother can.

    The answer can only be that he would honor her perfectly.

    As the First Book of Kings shows, the king’s mother was queen; the only person for whom he would stand when she entered the room. In Heaven, the King of kings would do no less, and giving her to us from the Cross asks that we do no less.

    Mary, our Mother and Queen, pray for us.

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